Ronald Dietrich Asmus (June 29, 1957 – April 30, 2011) was a

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diplomat and political analyst. As U.S. Deputy

Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs ...

for European Affairs (1997–2000), he was instrumental in the expansion of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

to include former members of the Eastern bloc and acted as a leading policy designer in the U.S.–Europe relations.

Biography

Asmus was born to a family of German immigrants who came to

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

after

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. He grew up in Milwaukee and

Mequon, Wisconsin Mequon () is the largest city in Ozaukee County, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, and the third-largest city in Wisconsin by land area. Located on Lake Michigan's western shore with significant commercial developments along Interstate 43, the com ...

graduating from Homestead High School. Asmus held a BA in political science from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

, a master's degree in Soviet and East European studies and a PhD in European Studies from the

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of th ...

of the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. Prior to his government service, Asmus was a senior analyst and fellow at

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

RAND The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is finan ...

and the Council on Foreign Relations, where he was an early and strong proponent of expanding NATO into

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. Asmus then served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs in the Clinton Administration from 1997 to 2000. He played an important role in the

1999 Washington summit The 1999 Washington summit was the 16th NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit, a three-day meeting held in Washington, D.C. on April 23–25, 1999. Held at the height of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the summit commemorated th ...

of NATO, when Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined the Alliance. For his diplomatic work, Asmus was decorated by the US Department of State and the governments of Estonia, Georgia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden. Asmus later served as the executive director of the Brussels-based Transatlantic Center and was also responsible for strategic planning at the

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972 through a gift from the We ...

of the United States. During this time he also worked as a part-time advisor to Georgian president

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

. Asmus authored ''Opening NATO's Door: How the Alliance Remade Itself for a New Era'' (Columbia, 2002), about the push to open NATO to Eastern European countries, and ''A Little War that Shook the World'' (Palgrave Macmillan, January 2010), about the

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

between

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and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 2008. Being one of the most persistent advocates for the integration of Georgia into the European Union and NATO, Asmus viewed the conflict in terms of a larger Russia–West relations and argued that it was Georgian independence, and its Westward orientation, which angered Russia and set the groundwork for war. Asmus died of a lung cancer-related illness in Brussels on April 30, 2011. The U.S. Department of State, governments of the Baltic states and Georgia expressed their condolences over the death of Asmus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asmus, Ronald D. 1957 births 2011 deaths American diplomats American political scientists American people of German descent People from Mequon, Wisconsin Writers from Milwaukee Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people