Ambassador Kurt Volker provides strategic advice to BGR on a full range of international issues and serves as a member of BGR’s advisory board. Drawing on over 35 years of experience in a variety of government, academic and private sector capacities, Ambassador Volker helps BGR clients develop and execute strategies to achieve success in key foreign markets, and to navigate the complex business, government, think tank, media and public policy environment in Washington.
A former career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, he worked in official capacities for over 25 years under six presidential administrations. He served as U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations from 2017-2019, and U.S. Ambassador to NATO in 2008-2009. He was Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs for an extended period in 2008. Other Foreign Service assignments include working with Senator John McCain and the Secretary General of NATO.
From 2012-2019, Ambassador Volker was the founding Executive Director of The McCain Institute for International Leadership, a part of Arizona State University based in Washington, D.C.
Ambassador Volker contributes regularly to public policy debates, with columns published at the Center for European Policy Analysis, and frequent appearances on BBC, Fox News, CNN, Newsmax, Newsnation, and Sky News. His articles are published in such publications as the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, La Repubblica, Tagesspiegel, the Kyiv Post, EU Observer, and the American Interest, among others.
Ambassador Volker has a B.A. from Temple University and an M.A. in International Relations from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He has studied in Sweden and France and speaks Hungarian, Swedish, French, some Spanish, and is learning Georgian.
The 2BS (To Be Secure) Forum is a leading politico-security forum in Southeast Europe (SEE) that has been shaping national, regional, and international security frameworks since its inception in 2011. As the flagship event of the Atlantic Council of Montenegro, it provides an exceptional and unique platform for prominent political figures, as well as international organizations representatives, academia, security experts, business leaders, renowned global think tanks, NGO experts and innovators to generate ideas and solutions to effectively tackle and overcome the prevailing global challenges pertaining to security and stability.