Ronald D. Asmus

Ronald Dietrich Asmus (June 29, 1957 – April 30, 2011) was a United States diplomat and political analyst. As U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (1997–2000), he was instrumental in the expansion of NATO to include former members of the Eastern bloc and acted as a leading policy designer in the U.S.–Europe relations.

Biography Asmus was born to a family of German immigrants who came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin after World War II. He grew up in Milwaukee and Mequon, Wisconsin graduating from Homestead High School. Asmus held a BA in political science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a master's degree in Soviet and East European studies and a PhD in European Studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University.

Prior to his government service, Asmus was a senior analyst and fellow at Radio Free Europe, RAND and the Council on Foreign Relations, where he was an early and strong proponent of expanding NATO into Eastern Europe. Asmus then served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs in the Clinton Administration from 1997 to 2000. He played an important role in the 1999 Washington summit of NATO, when Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined the Alliance.

Asmus later served as the executive director of the Brussels-based Transatlantic Center and was also responsible for strategic planning at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. and Georgia expressed their condolences over the death of Asmus.