Ivo Daalder

Ambassador Ivo H. Daalder is a globally respected expert on international affairs, geopolitics, and geoeconomics whose career has spanned public service, academia, and think tanks on both sides of the Atlantic. Born in The Hague, the Netherlands, he later moved to the United States, where he pursued his education at Georgetown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a Ph.D. in political science, and also studied at the Universities of Kent and Oxford. Daalder’s expertise in security policy, diplomacy, and transatlantic relations has made him a sought‑after voice on global issues in media, academia, and public forums.

Daalder served as U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama, where he played a key role in shaping NATO’s strategic responses to emerging security challenges, including Afghanistan, Libya, and the evolving geopolitics of Europe and Eurasia. Prior to that, he held senior positions on the U.S. National Security Council during the Clinton administration, focusing on national security and nonproliferation issues. He was also senior advisor on nonproliferation policy to Senator Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and worked on the Obama‑Biden transition team.

In the policy sphere, Daalder has worked at premier research institutions including the Brookings Institution, Center for American Progress, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He has served as president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and is now president emeritus. While there, he helped expand the organization’s research, public outreach, and influence on U.S. foreign policy.

He is widely published, with more than ten books on foreign policy and security, including the acclaimed “The Empty Throne: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership,” co‑authored with James Lindsay.

A frequent commentator on television and radio, Daalder’s analysis appears in major newspapers around the world. He is also the host of the weekly podcast “World Review with Ivo Daalder,” which brings together leading journalists to unpack global events. His international leadership roles have included membership in the World Economic Forum’s Global Action Council and service on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Panel of Eminent Persons on European security.