Ambassador Ross Wilson New Director of Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center
Washington, DC – The Atlantic Council today named Ross Wilson, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan, as the Director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center. In that position, he will be a member of the Council’s top management team with responsibility for programs and projects aimed at addressing the energy, economic and political issues of the Black Sea, Caspian and Central Asian regions.
“Ross brings a wealth of on-the-ground and Washington experience to one of the Atlantic Council’s most important initiatives,” said Frederick Kempe, chairman and CEO of the Atlantic Council. “He is a policy maker and problem solver of the first rank who understands the relationship between economic and security issues in a region that is crucial to European stability and global energy markets.”
Ambassador Wilson completed a thirty-year US diplomatic career in 2008 that included terms as American ambassador to Turkey in 2005-2008 and Azerbaijan in 2000-2003. A fluent Russian speaker, Wilson also served as Principal Deputy Advisor to the Secretary of State for the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union in 1997-2000, Deputy Executive Secretary of the State Department in 1992-1994, and Chief US Negotiator for the Free Trade Area of the Americas in 2003-2005. Other overseas assignments included tours in Moscow, Prague and Melbourne, Australia.
In the coming months, Ambassador Wilson will expand the work of the Patriciu Eurasia Center on energy and regional and economic political issues, while also developing new initiatives to foster economic and other forms of integration across Eurasia. He will also lead and manage the Council’s annual Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum that takes place in Istanbul September 29-October 1. Bringing together leading policy makers, business leaders and experts, the forum has become a leading platform to bring together the region’s major players with the aim of fostering closer cooperation to solve common problems.
Founded in 2008, the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center leads the Atlantic Council’s work related to Black Sea, Caspian and Central Asian Issues. Named for one of the region’s top business leaders and philanthropists, its mission is to foster regional cooperation and integration based on shared values, history and common interest in a free, prosperous and peaceful future for Eurasia.
The Atlantic Council seeks to renew the Atlantic community for global challenges through constructive U.S.-European leadership and engagement in world affairs. Led by Senator Chuck Hagel, chairman, and Frederick Kempe, president and CEO, the Council embodies a network of policy, academic and business leaders who foster transatlantic ties through non-partisan and cross-national discussions and studies.