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About Frederick Kempe

Fred Kempe is the president and chief executive officer of the Atlantic Council. Under his leadership since 2007, the Council has achieved historic, industry-leading growth in size and influence, expanding its work through regional centers spanning the globe and through centers focused on topics ranging from international security and energy to global trade and next generation mentorship. Before joining the Council, Kempe was a prize-winning editor and reporter at the Wall Street Journal for more than twenty-five years. In New York, he served as assistant managing editor, International, and columnist. Prior to that, he was the longest-serving editor and associate publisher ever of the Wall Street Journal Europe, running the global Wall Street Journal’s editorial operations in Europe and the Middle East.

In 2002, The European Voice, a leading publication following EU affairs, selected Kempe as one of the fifty most influential Europeans, and as one of the four leading journalists in Europe. At the Wall Street Journal, he served as a roving correspondent based out of London; as a Vienna Bureau chief covering Eastern Europe and East-West Affairs; as chief diplomatic correspondent in Washington, DC; and as the paper’s first Berlin Bureau chief following the unification of Germany and collapse of the Soviet Union.

As a reporter, he covered events including the rise of Solidarity in Poland and the growing Eastern European resistance to Soviet rule; the coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia and his summit meetings with President Ronald Reagan; the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon in the 1980s; and the American invasion of Panama. He also covered the unification of Germany and the collapse of Soviet Communism.

He is the author of four books. The most recent, Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth, was a New York Times Best Seller and a National Best Seller. Published in 2011, it has subsequently been translated into thirteen different languages.

Kempe is a graduate of the University of Utah and has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where he was a member of the International Fellows program in the School of International Affairs. He won the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism’s top alumni achievement award and the University of Utah’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.

For his commitment to strengthening the transatlantic alliance, Kempe has been decorated by the Presidents of Poland and Germany and by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Content

Inflection Points Today

May 17, 2025

A remarkable week for a rising Turkey

By Frederick Kempe

Turkey has gained relevance as an indispensable player from the Black Sea to the Levant, and from Central Asia to Europe.

Conflict Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

Inflection Points

May 15, 2025

Trump can cement his Middle East successes by calling Putin’s bluff

By Frederick Kempe

After lifting Syria sanctions and semiconductor restrictions, Trump has a historic opportunity when it comes to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Artificial Intelligence Conflict

Inflection Points Today

May 13, 2025

Trump’s remarkable Middle East tour is all about striking megadeals and outfoxing China

By Frederick Kempe

The Trump administration would rather swim in a stream of Gulf investments than get bogged down in the region’s enduring problems.

Artificial Intelligence Economy & Business

Inflection Points

May 8, 2025

The lesson of VE Day 80 years later: Discard the ‘false choice’ between US values and interests

By Frederick Kempe

This epoch has shown the United States at its best. Yet clinging to the status quo isn’t a policy designed for the future.

Freedom and Prosperity International Norms

Inflection Points Today

Apr 24, 2025

In defense of ‘boring’: A European leader’s message to Trump

By Frederick Kempe

EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis spoke at the Atlantic Council in Washington on April 23, making the case for greater predictability.

European Union International Financial Institutions

Inflection Points Today

Apr 8, 2025

‘How did things ever get so far? It was so unfortunate, so unnecessary.’

By Frederick Kempe

As a global trade war heats up, The Godfather films offer a way to think about US President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy and the market fallout that has resulted.

Economy & Business International Markets

Inflection Points

Apr 3, 2025

Why the markets keep getting Trump wrong

By Frederick Kempe

Investors repeatedly miscalculated US President Donald Trump’s far-reaching intentions regarding tariffs ahead of his announcements on April 2. Is this time different?

Economy & Business International Markets

Inflection Points

Mar 31, 2025

‘What you’re witnessing is a revolution.’ Making sense of Trump’s head-spinning moves.

By Frederick Kempe

As the past week made clear, the Trump administration is pushing ahead with what it sees as a revolution in the US approach to the world.

Economy & Business NATO

Inflection Points

Mar 10, 2025

Here’s a Ukraine peace plan Trump can use to deter—not appease—Putin

By Frederick Kempe

Putting the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine squarely on the table provides leverage in negotiations with Russia, a new essay argues.

Conflict NATO

Inflection Points

Mar 2, 2025

Zelenskyy and Europe confront the first contours of the Trump World Order

By Frederick Kempe

The Ukrainian president’s tempestuous recent meeting at the White House was a window into a larger transformation of global order by the US president.

Europe & Eurasia International Norms