Episode 111: Trade and Transatlantic Economic Security

Jeffrey Rathke is the President of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.

Prior to joining AICGS, 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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jrathke@aicgs.org

Jennifer Thornton leads Business Roundtable's advocacy on trade and international policy. BRT's Trade & International Committee advocates for policies that strengthen the rules-based system for international trade and investment so that American companies and their workers can compete effectively in the global economy.

Prior to joining BRT, Ms. Thornton served as Trade Counsel to the Republican Members of the Committee on Ways and Means in the United States House of Representatives. In this capacity, she advised the caucus on a broad portfolio of international trade issues, including the U.S. trade relationship with the European Union, China, and Africa, the implementation of the WTO Agreements and U.S. free trade agreements, and all digital trade, investment, and intellectual property issues. Prior to her tenure on the Committee, Ms. Thornton spent ten years in the Department of State and in the Office of the United States Trade Representative litigating international investment disputes and negotiating international investment agreements. From 2014 to 2017, she served as Senior Policy Advisor and Counsel to Deputy United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Robert W. Holleyman II, and managed the full range of trade policy issues in his portfolio, including all matters involving China. Prior and subsequent to her government service, Ms. Thornton practiced law for ten years in New York and Washington representing both corporate and sovereign clients in international arbitration and investment disputes.

Ms. Thornton is currently a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School and has previously served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas and George Mason University Law Schools, where she has taught courses in international trade and investment law. She has also spoken and published regularly on U.S. trade and investment policy.

Ms. Thornton holds a JD from the University of Chicago Law School, an MPhil from Cambridge University, and a BA from Wellesley College.

Peter S. Rashish, who counts over 30 years of experience counseling corporations, think tanks, foundations, and international organizations on transatlantic trade and economic strategy, is Vice President and Director of the Geoeconomics Program at AICGS. He also writes The Wider Atlantic blog.

Mr. Rashish has served as Vice President for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he spearheaded the Chamber’s advocacy ahead of the launch of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Previously, Mr. Rashish was a Senior Advisor for Europe at McLarty Associates, Executive Vice President of the European Institute, and a staff member and consultant at the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, UNCTAD, the Atlantic Council, the Bertelsmann Foundation, and the German Marshall Fund.

Mr. Rashish has testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade and the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia and has advised three U.S. presidential campaigns. He has been a featured speaker at the Munich Security Conference, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the Salzburg Global Seminar and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jean Monnet Institute in Paris and a Senior Advisor to the European Policy Centre in Brussels. His commentaries have been published in The New York Times, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and The National Interest, and he has appeared on PBS, CNBC, CNN, and NPR.

He earned a BA from Harvard College and an MPhil in international relations from Oxford University. He speaks French, German, Italian, and Spanish.