Ronald Neumann

Prior to working in Iraq, he was Ambassador in Manama, Bahrain (2001-2004), Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near East Affairs (1997-2000) with responsibility for North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and Ambassador to Algeria (1994 to 1997). He was Director of the Office of Northern Gulf Affairs (Iran and Iraq; 1991 to 1994). Earlier in his career, he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and in Sanaa in Yemen, Principal Officer in Tabriz, Iran and Economic/Commercial Officer in Dakar, Senegal. His previous Washington assignments include service as Jordan Desk officer, Staff Assistant in the Middle East (NEA) Bureau, and Political Officer in the Office of Southern European Affairs.

Ambassador Neumann is the author of a memoir, Three Embassies, Four Wars: a personal memoir (2017) and The Other War: Winning and Losing in Afghanistan (Potomac Press, 2009), a book on his time in Afghanistan. He has returned to Afghanistan repeatedly and is the author of a number of monographs, articles, and editorials focusing mainly on Afghanistan and stabilization. At the Academy he has focused particularly on efforts to maintain adequate State and USAID budgets and staffing and upgrade professional formation to enable these institutions to carry out their responsibilities. Ambassador Neumann is on the Advisory Boards of the non-profit school for Afghan girls, the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), Spirit of America, the Middle East Policy Council, and the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan. He is a member of the Combat Infantryman’s Association.

Ambassador Neumann speaks some Arabic and Dari as well as French. He received State Department Superior Honor Awards in 1993 and 1990. He was an Army infantry officer in Viet Nam and holds a Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal and Combat Infantry Badge. In Baghdad, he was awarded the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal. In 2018, he received the American Foreign Service Association’s award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy. He earned a B.A. in history and an M.A. in political science from the University of California at Riverside and is a graduate of the National War College. He is married to the former M. Elaine Grimm. They have two children.

Deborah McCarthy

Ambassador (ret) Deborah A. McCarthy is an expert on U.S. foreign and national security policy. In her diplomatic career, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania (2013-2016), Deputy Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Greece and at the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua. In Washington, she was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Senior Advisor for Counter Terrorism and Special Coordinator for Venezuela.

Currently, she is the U.S. Lead Negotiator to the UN Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime for the Department of State. Just prior, she was a Fellow at Harvard University in the Advanced Leadership Initiative. From 2017 to 2023, she was the host and producer of the Academy’s podcast series “The General and the Ambassador^®”.

She is a non-resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and at the Finnish Institute for International Affairs. She is a member of the American College of National Security Leaders and of the Advisory Council of the MSFS Program at Georgetown University.
Ms. McCarthy received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and a joint Masters in Economics and Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Kathleen Stephens

Ambassador (ret.) Kathleen Stephens is the President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI). A former U.S. Foreign Service Officer, she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2008 to 2011. Her other overseas assignments included postings to China, former Yugoslavia, Portugal, Northern Ireland, where she was U.S. Consul General in Belfast during the negotiations culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and India, where she was U.S. Charge ‘d Affaires (2014-2015).

Ambassador Stephens also served in a number of policy positions in Washington at the Department of State and the White House. These included acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2012), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2005-2007), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (2003-2005), and National Security Council Director for European Affairs at the Clinton White House.

She was a William J. Perry Fellow for Korea at Stanford University between 2015 and 2018. She is currently board chair of The Korea Society, a Mansfield Foundation Distinguished Fellow, Pacific Century Institute board chair, and vice-chair of the board of trustees for The Asia Foundation.

Philip Reeker

Ambassador (ret.) Philip T. Reeker is the Chair of the Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program and Partner and Lead of the Europe & Eurasia practice at Albright Stonebridge Group.

Ambassador Reeker served as Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in the United Kingdom (2021-22), and was Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia (2019-21). Before retiring from the Foreign Service he was the Secretary of State’s Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations. Earlier in Ambassador Reeker’s extensive diplomatic career, he was the U.S. Ambassador to North Macedonia, Civilian Deputy and Policy Advisor to the Commander of U.S. European Command based in Germany, U.S. Consul General in Milan (responsible for northern Italy), and Deputy Chief of Mission in Budapest, Hungary. In Washington, he also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Europe, the Balkans, and Holocaust Issues; as Director of Press Relations; and as Deputy Spokesperson of the State Department.

Ambassador Reeker received numerous awards during his distinguished career, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award) and the American Citizens Abroad Thomas Jefferson Award. He was also named a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Ambassador Reeker earned his B.A. from Yale University and a Master of International Management/MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. He is proficient in Italian, Hungarian, Macedonian, and German.