Paris and Berlin No Longer Look Outward to Secure Europe

By Jeffrey Rathke

Jeffrey Rathke is a senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Program at CSIS. Previously, he served as director of the State Department Press Office, from May 2014 to June 2015 (and acting deputy spokesperson in April and May). He joined the Foreign Service in 1991 and retired in June 2015. Mr. Rathke served in Kuala Lumpur as counselor for political affairs (2011-2014). Prior to that, he was deputy director of the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General in Brussels. He also served in Berlin as minister-counselor for political affairs (2006-2009). His Washington assignments have included deputy director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs (EUR/RPM) and duty officer in the White House Situation Room and State Department Operations Center. Mr. Rathke was a Weinberg Fellow at Princeton University (2003-2004), winning the Master's in Public Policy Prize. He served at the U.S. embassy in Dublin (2001-2003), covering multilateral politics during Ireland's tenure on the UN Security Council. From 1999 to 2001, he was posted in Moscow and was responsible for relations with the Russian legislative branch in the Political Section. He was assigned to the U.S. embassy in Berlin (1994-1996) and helped open the U.S. embassy in Riga (1992-1994). Mr. Rathke has been awarded several Superior Honor and Meritorious Honor Awards. He holds an M.P.P. degree from Princeton University and B.A. and B.S. degrees from Cornell University. He speaks German, Russian, and Latvian.