GREAT DECISIONS TOPIC: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 

SPEAKER: Dmitry Vovchuk, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

This presentation will provide an overview of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as we approach the Alliance’s 75th Anniversary. The discussion will cover NATO’s mission, capabilities, relevance, enlargement, and future.

BIOGRAPHY

Mr. Dmitry Vovchuk joined The Cohen Group after serving in numerous key roles at the US Departments of State and Defense, National Security Council, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He also held several leadership positions in financial services and management consulting.

Mr. Vovchuk was selected to the Civil Service as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2006. He led the interagency process to invite new members into NATO at its Summit in Bucharest, Romania, supported the development of NATO’s renewed Strategic Concept, and managed US policy priorities for the Alliance’s International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan. Mr. Vovchuk also served as a Political Officer at the US Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense during the 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Subsequently, Mr. Vovchuk coordinated the work of the White House Task Force responsible for the 2012 NATO Summit hosted by President Obama in Chicago and served as the National Security Council Director for Eastern Europe, managing the development and execution of US policy for a region stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Mr. Vovchuk later served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary General of NATO. In that role, he managed the transition of NATO’s combat operations in Afghanistan to its Resolute Support Mission and helped achieve key milestones in NATO’s ballistic missile defense program. Mr. Vovchuk also led the process to conduct a full review of the US integrated campaign plan as the Director for Strategic Planning in the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy to Counter ISIS.

Outside of government, Mr. Vovchuk advised global consumer goods and health care companies on organizational change and strategic alignment as a Principal with the McChrystal Group. He was a registered financial representative and served as Chief of Staff at Ally Bank, supporting the Executive Director for its auto, deposits, online brokerage, and wealth management customer care and experience division.

Mr. Vovchuk is the recipient of the State Department’s Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, completed a five-year term membership with the Council on Foreign Relations, and teaches foreign policy as an Adjunct Professor in the Political Science Department at Queens University of Charlotte.

He received a Master’s of Arts in US National Security Policy at Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts from Drew University.