Jeffrey Rathke is the President of the American-German Institute at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.
Prior to joining AGI, Jeff was a senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Program at CSIS, where his work focused on transatlantic relations and U.S. security and defense policy. Jeff joined CSIS in 2015 from the State Department, after a 24-year career as a Foreign Service Officer, dedicated primarily to U.S. relations with Europe. He was director of the State Department Press Office from 2014 to 2015, briefing the State Department press corps and managing the Department’s engagement with U.S. print and electronic media. Jeff led the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur from 2011 to 2014. Prior to that, he was deputy chief of staff to the NATO Secretary General in Brussels. He also served in Berlin as minister-counselor for political affairs (2006–2009), his second tour of duty in Germany. His Washington assignments have included deputy director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs 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 also served at U.S. Embassies in Dublin, Moscow, and Riga, which he helped open after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mr. Rathke has been awarded national honors by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as several State Department 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.
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Episode 60: Economic Headwinds—U.S. and German Responses to Russia’s War in Ukraine, Energy Transition, and Inflation
While the U.S. and German governments successfully adopted expansionary fiscal policies to deal with massive economic disruptions brought about by the COVID 19 pandemic, they are now faced with new …
Episode 59: Germany’s Shifting Political Landscape—State Election Edition #2
This month’s election in Germany’s largest state, North Rhine-Westphalia, saw a resurgence of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), growing support for the Green Party, further decline of the Social Democratic …
Episode 57: U.S. and European Responses to Economic and Strategic Challenges from China
On this episode of The Zeitgeist, Daniel Gros, Member of the Board and Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), joins AGI President Jeff Rathke and Peter …
Episode 56: War in Ukraine: How are the United States and its NATO Allies Responding?
A Conversation with Ambassador Julianne Smith, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Russia’s war in Ukraine has entered a new phase, after the Ukrainian forces’ spirited and effective resistance forced Russia …
Episode 55: Russia’s War on Ukraine and Europe’s Response
On this episode of The Zeitgeist, Stavros Lambrinidis, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States, joins AGI President Jeff Rathke and Peter Rashish, Director of AGI Geoeconomics Program. …
Episode 53: The Changing Dynamics of German Politics
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, and the Liberal FDP has just passed 100 days in office, faced with Russia’s war on Ukraine and …
Jeff Rathke in Foreign Policy on Germany’s Dramatic Strategic Shift
AGI President Jeff Rathke’s recent piece, “Putin Accidentally Started a Revolution in Germany” was published in Foreign Policy on Sunday. He analyzes rapidly changing foreign policy positions in the Scholz government …
