WASHINGTON, DC – The Atlantic Council is excited to announce the addition of two new fellows to the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Dr. Hans Binnendijk, formerly a NSC Senior Director for Defense Policy, will join as a distinguished fellow, and Timo Koster, Dutch ambassador-at-large for security policy and cyber, will join as an ambassadorial fellow. Both will greatly contribute to the Scowcroft Center’s core work on transatlantic security issues and NATO.

Said Scowcroft Center director Barry Pavel, “We are delighted that both Ambassador Koster and Dr. Binnendijk, two highly distinguished and widely experienced experts, are joining our team to contribute their expertise at such a critical time for the NATO Alliance. We look forward to engaging Ambassador Koster and Dr. Binnendijk across a wide range of strategic issues, particularly as we approach NATO’s seventieth anniversary.”

Hans Binnendijk served until 2012 as vice president for research at the National Defense University and director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies. He served twice on the National Security Council Staff – first as an officer for southern European affairs and later as senior director for defense policy and arms control. In addition to his time on the NSC, Dr. Binnendijk served as deputy director (and acting director) of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, and on Capitol Hill as deputy staff director and legislative director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In academia, Dr. Binnendijk served as director of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy,  director of studies at the Institute for International and Strategic Studies in London, and a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies. He also serves as an adjunct political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 20 books and has written over 200 articles and reports. He received his B.A. in history from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.A.L.D. and his Ph.D. in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Prior to joining the Council and accepting his position as the Netherlands’ ambassador-at-large focusing on security policy and cyber, Ambassador Timo Koster served at NATO headquarters in Brussels for ten years – first as defense adviser at the Netherlands’ Permanent Representation to NATO and then as director for defense policy and capabilities on the NATO International Staff. He has led a distinguished diplomatic career, including posts in Nairobi, London, and Athens, where he served as Deputy Ambassador. Within the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Koster has served in several positions, including project director and private secretary to the Minister for European Affairs. He also served as acting director for European integration in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Ambassador Koster holds a law degree from the University of Amsterdam.

The Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security produces cutting-edge analyses and develops strategies for how the United States can best work with like-minded partners to shape the future. Named in honor of two-time US national security advisor and former Atlantic Council board chairman, Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft, the Center pursues a foreign policy vision grounded in his legacy of American statecraft, built upon a foundation of bipartisanship and cooperation with America’s friends and allies.

For any questions or to request an interview with Dr. Binnendijk or Ambassador Koster, please contact us at press@AtlanticCouncil.org.

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