In Conversation with Ambassador Pjer Šimunović

This Dole Forum will focus on Croatia’s experience in public diplomacy in the United States and examine key aspects of U.S.–Croatia bilateral cooperation. The discussion will also offer perspectives on current U.S. foreign policy and Croatia’s priorities.

H.E. Pjer Šimunović is Croatia’s Ambassador to the United States since September 2017. Together with a career in journalism and academic research he served in various high-level positions in the Croatian Government, in the fields of national security, defense and diplomacy, as Director of the Office of the National Security Council, Ambassador to Israel, Defense State Secretary in charge of defense policy, National Coordinator for NATO and Assistant Foreign Minister in charge of international organizations and security, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy in Paris and Deputy Head of Department for Analysis at the Foreign Ministry. He worked as a journalist with the BBC World Service Radio in London, with the magazine Europ in Paris, and with the Croatian daily ‘Večernji list’ in Zagreb, covering international affairs. A regular speaker on political and security issues at many conferences and seminars, he is the author of a range of security studies and articles published in the leading international journals. Ambassador Šimunović holds an M.A. degree from the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. He is decorated with the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur de la République française.

Dr. Qëndrim R. Gashi is a mathematician and diplomat, currently serving as a visiting professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. From 2016 to 2021, he was Kosovo’s Ambassador to France, also covering Portugal, Andorra, and Monaco. Dr. Gashi has served in supervisory boards of various private and state institutions, and think tanks, and has received numerous  scholarships, awards and honors – including the insignia of Commander of the French Legion of Honor in 2022. He holds a Ph.D. (2008) from the University of Chicago, and M.A. St (2003) from the University of Cambridge, and a Diploma (2002) from the University of Prishtina. He was the Spring 2023 Dole Fellow, leading the series Building Democracy in the 21^st Century.