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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

Mar 20, 2024

Break up TikTok, arm Ukraine

By Frederick Kempe

The United States and its allies need to address both Russia’s military threats and Chinese influence operations.

China Cybersecurity

Inflection Points Today

Feb 27, 2024

The ‘Voice of Poland’ appeals to Americans on Ukraine: ‘Now is the moment to act’

By Frederick Kempe

Having grown up in a Poland under Soviet communist rule, Sikorski sees the battle as one against a new array of autocrats.

Conflict Defense Industry

Inflection Points Today

Feb 5, 2024

The Ukraine imperative for global security

By Frederick Kempe

Real success in Ukraine can only come if US leaders across ideological lines remind Americans of history’s enduring lesson: dithering before despots can only produce disaster.

Conflict Eastern Europe

Inflection Points Today

Jan 30, 2024

The Qatari prime minister on what this weekend’s hostage negotiations say about the future of the Middle East

By Frederick Kempe

The success of Qatari mediation will be a leading indicator of what is possible.

Conflict Crisis Management

Inflection Points Today

Jan 29, 2024

The United States is unprepared for this nightmare scenario

By Frederick Kempe

We face three perilous regional challenges and autocratic powers who are growing dangerously close to each other, unified mostly by their determination to blow up the status quo.

Indo-Pacific International Norms

Inflection Points Today

Jan 25, 2024

How the prospect of a second Trump presidency is already shaping geopolitics

By Frederick Kempe

Look around the world, and you’ll find dozens of examples of the Trump hedge and put.

Democratic Transitions Elections

Inflection Points Today

Jan 12, 2024

Xi’s biggest problem isn’t Taiwan

By Frederick Kempe

Taiwan's free elections expose the Chinese leader's challenges at home.

China Elections

Inflection Points Today

Jan 11, 2024

Davos and ‘the decade of wasted opportunity’

By Frederick Kempe

As the world continues to face low growth and high borrowing costs, can leaders meeting in Davos help keep the economic turbulence at bay?

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia
Sign reading "Vote Here Vote Aqui"

Inflection Points Today

Jan 5, 2024

Democracy’s decisive year—globally

By Frederick Kempe

What’s undeniable is that the world will see more significant elections, embracing more democratic countries in the world, than I can ever remember.

Africa Americas

Inflection Points Today

Jan 4, 2024

Xi Jinping’s real New Year’s message

By Frederick Kempe

Xi Jinping's New Year's message was more about vulnerability than strength.

China East Asia