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On Defense, France Bites the Bullet, But Avoids Strategic Insolvency May 7, 2013
Iceland’s Recovery Saga Presents Opportunities for Brussels, Washington—and Beijing May 6, 2013
Which Way Forward for Europe’s Hybrid Regimes? May 2, 2013
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Events
GMF celebrates its 40 year history and Founder and Chairman, Dr. Guido Goldman at Gala Dinner May 09, 2013 / Washington, DCGMF held a celebratory gala dinner at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, Wednesday May 8.
In this podcast, GMF Vice President of Programs Ivan Vejvoda discusses last month's historic agreement to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
Anchor Elaine Reyes speaks with Andrew Small, Transatlantic Fellow of the Asia Program for the German Marshall Fund, about Beijing's potential role in brokering peace between Israel and Palestine
Press Release
Ron Asmus, GMF Brussels Office Executive Director, passes away
May 01, 2011
The German Marshall Fund is deeply saddened by the passing on Saturday, April 30, of Ronald D. Asmus, longtime Brussels Office Executive Director and Director of Strategic Planning for GMF, after a long bout with cancer. He was 53.“Ron was an extraordinary partner and a great friend,” said GMF President Craig Kennedy. “His creativity and determination touched every part of GMF. He was the driving force behind our work in Asia, Turkey, the Middle East, and the South Caucasus. He leaves a great legacy at GMF.”
(To write your own remembrance of Ron, please click here.)
Dr. Asmus was a former American diplomat who had served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from 1997-2000. He was a key part of the negotiations that led to the expansion of NATO to include the former communist countries of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
He was widely known and respected in the foreign policy community for more than two decades’ work to strengthen transatlantic relations. For his ideas and diplomatic accomplishments, he had been decorated by the U.S. Department of State as well as the governments of Belgium, Estonia, Georgia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.
Dr. Asmus became the executive director of GMF’s Brussels office in January 2005 after serving as a Senior Transatlantic Fellow since 2002 in GMF’s Washington, DC, headquarters. He played an important role in expanding GMF's operations in Brussels and its overall growth and expansion in the last decade, including a key part in GMF projects exploring common U.S. and European approaches toward Turkey, Ukraine, the Black Sea region, and the broader Middle East.
In addition to his time as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, Dr. Asmus had been a senior analyst and fellow at Radio Free Europe, RAND, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He published widely in leading journals and newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic and was the author of Opening Nato's Door (2002), about the push to open NATO to Eastern European countries, and The Little War That Shook the World (2010), about the August 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia.
The Milwaukee native and loyal Green Bay Packers fan earned a Ph.D. in European studies and an M.A. in Soviet and East European studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University. He received a B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Dr. Asmus is survived by his wife, Barbara Wilkinson, his son Erik, his mother, Christine Schroeder Wittke of Raleigh, NC, and two brothers, Peter Asmus of Stinson Beach, CA, and Jeffrey Asmus of Plano, TX.
(Editor's note: edited to reflect 2002 start date with the German Marshall Fund and add the names of his mother and brothers.)
