Karen Donfried

Dr. Karen Donfried recently stepped down as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, where she served as Secretary Antony Blinken's top adviser on Europe and Eurasia during Russia's war against Ukraine. Prior to this role, she was the president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and held various positions at the White House, National Intelligence Council, Congressional Research Service, and the U.S. Department of State's Policy Planning Staff. Donfried is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Council on Germany. She has served as a senior fellow at Harvard University, on the Strategic Committee of Sciences Po's Paris School of International Affairs, and on the Board of Trustees of Wesleyan University, her undergraduate alma mater. Donfried holds a Ph.D. and M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, a magister from the University of Munich, and a bachelor's in government and German from Wesleyan University.