Jeffrey Gedmin (born 1958) is an American scholar and author. He is a senior fellow at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and at the

Institute for Strategic Dialogue The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) is a think tank founded in 2006 by Sasha Havlicek and George Weidenfeld that specialises in research and policy advice on hate, extremism, and disinformation. It is headquartered in London, United Kin ...

. He was president and CEO of the

Legatum Institute The Legatum Institute is a think tank based in London, UK, headed by Philippa Stroud, Baroness Stroud, a Conservative member of the House of Lords. Its stated aim is to advance the education of the public in national and international political ...

in London from 2011 to 2014 and the former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from 2007 to 2011.

Early life and education

Gedmin was born in Washington, DC, and raised in

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in music from American University and also studied musicology for a year at the

University of Salzburg The University of Salzburg (german: Universität Salzburg), also known as the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (''Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg'', PLUS), is an Austrian public university in Salzburg municipality, Salzburg state, named af ...

in Austria. He earned his master's degree in German Area Studies (Literature concentration) from American University. He received his PhD from

in German Area Studies and Linguistics. He is fluent in German.

Career

Gedmin served for nearly six years as director of the Aspen Institute in Berlin, a non-profit,

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers s ...

organization whose mission is "to foster 'enlightened' leadership and open-minded dialogue." From 1996 to 2001, Gedmin was a resident scholar and executive director of the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...

’s

New Atlantic Initiative The New Atlantic Initiative (NAI) was an international nonpartisan organization dedicated to revitalizing and expanding the Atlantic community of democracies. NAI was based at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, DC-based think tank. ...

, a coalition of international institutes, politicians, leading journalists, and business executives seeking to revitalize and expand the Atlantic community of democracies. Leading supporters and participants included

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

, and US Senators Jesse Helms and Joseph Biden. Gedmin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the board of the

Council for a Community of Democracies Council for a Community of Democracies is a Washington, D.C. based NGO which was established in order to promote global interest in and support for the Community of Democracies The Community of Democracies (C.O.D), established in 2000, is an i ...

(Washington, DC) and the Program of Atlantic Security Studies (Prague, Czech Republic). In addition, he has taught at

and

Gonzaga College High School Gonzaga College High School is a private Catholic college-preparatory high school for boys in Washington, D.C. Founded by the Jesuits in 1821 as the Washington Seminary, Gonzaga is named in honor of Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the 1 ...

in Washington, DC. Gedmin has been a frequent contributor to leading US and European newspapers and magazines, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'', the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', the ''

Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "red ...

'', the '' Daily Telegraph'', ''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter All ...

'' (in which he has been a regular columnist), ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'', and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''. Gedmin has authored several books, includin
''The Hidden Hand: Gorbachev and the Collapse of East Germany''
(1992). He edited a collection of essays title
''European Integration and the American Interest''
(1997). Gedmin served as co-executive producer for two major

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentaries: ''The Germans, Portrait of a New Nation'' (1995), and ''Spain's 9/11 and the Challenge of Radical Islam in Europe'' (2007). Gedmin left the Legatum Institute in early 2014. He is currently a Research Council Member at the

National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is an organization in the United States that was founded in 1983 for promoting democracy in other countries by promoting political and economic institutions such as political groups, trade unions, ...

, senior fellow at Georgetown University and at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. In October 2018 he was appointed editor-in-chief of

The American Interest ''The American Interest'' (''AI'') was a bimonthly magazine focusing primarily on foreign policy, international affairs, global economics, and military matters. History The magazine was founded in 2005 by a number of members of the editori ...

.url=https://www.the-american-interest.com/2018/10/23/an-important-announcement/ ''An Important Announcement''

Personal life

In 1993, Gedmin married Jeana Williams. They have a daughter.

References

External links

Profile
at rightweb.irc-online.org
RFE/RL official website

Biography
at LI.com (archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gedmin, Jeffrey Living people 20th-century American Jews American columnists American documentary filmmakers American television producers American book editors American foreign policy writers American male non-fiction writers American political writers American corporate directors American magazine writers Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American radio executives 1958 births University of Salzburg alumni 21st-century American Jews