Kurt Volker Keynote Speaker

U.S Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations (2017 - 2019)
U.S Ambassador to NATO (2008-2009)
President and Founder, Alliance Strategic Advisors, LLC (present)

Kurt Volker's Biography

Ambassador Kurt Volker is a leading commentator, writer and speaker about geopolitics and global strategy with over 35 years of experience in a variety of government, academic, and private sector capacities.

He served as a career diplomat under six U.S. Presidents, including as U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations from 2017 to 2019 and U.S. Ambassador to NATO from 2008 to 2009. During his diplomatic career, he worked with luminaries such as Senator John McCain, Colin Powell, Richard Holbrooke and many others.

Ambassador Volker is currently President and Founder of Alliance Strategic Advisors, LLC, which provides strategic advice for a diverse range of businesses. He co-founded the American University Kyiv in 2022 and serves as co-Chair of its Supervisory Board. Ambassador Volker serves on the Advisory Board of BGR Group, a Washington, D.C. based government and public relations firm, and is a Distinguished Fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis. He also serves Board of the American College of the Mediterranean, the Hungary Foundation, and on the international advisory boards of the U.S. Institute for Peace, GLOBSEC, and the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

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, DC. He teaches a masters’ class in transatlantic relations at Arizona State University and has also taught at George Washington University. He is a frequent expert commentator on the BBC, CNN, Fox News, Fox Business and other major media outlets and contributes regularly to public policy debates, through op-eds, articles, speeches, and television appearances.

Ambassador Volker began his career as an intelligence analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency in 1986, before joining the U.S. Foreign Service in 1988.

Geopolitics and Global Strategy

Russia, Ukraine, and the Future of European Security

American Politics and National Security

He has spent more than three decades at the heart of American foreign policy and transatlantic security, advising governments and leaders on some of the most consequential geopolitical challenges of the modern era.
He translates complex developments in global security, NATO, Russia, Ukraine and international diplomacy into clear strategic insights that help leaders understand an increasingly volatile world.
He served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO and U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, bringing first-hand experience of high-level diplomacy, alliance management and geopolitical decision-making.
He combines deep government experience with ongoing work across academia, business and public policy, offering audiences a uniquely informed perspective on the forces reshaping international affairs.
His briefings help executives, investors and policymakers assess geopolitical risk, anticipate global shifts and navigate the strategic implications of a rapidly changing international order.