We are delighted to announce our December speaker, Ambassador Jess Baily, who will speak on the timely topic “Along Europe’s fault lines: Turkey, NATO, and the U.S.” Turkey is by far the most problematic member of NATO, and with President-elect Trump a NATO skeptic, we are likely to see major changes in the Atlantic Alliance, with implications for the war in Ukraine and for U.S. foreign policy.

Ambassador Jess Baily is a senior diplomat skilled at policy and program development, strategic communication, relationship building and cross-cultural negotiations. He has been a leader of interagency responses to crises and complex challenges in Turkey, Iraq, and the Balkans. Ambassador Bialy is also an advocate for strengthening national security institutions and building trust through educational and professional exchanges.

Ambassador Baily began his career as a Public Diplomacy Officer in the Netherlands, Turkey, Thailand, Senegal and Bangladesh, from 1985-2005. During 2005-2007 he served as Director of the Washington Foreign Press Center, in which capacity he led U.S. government engagement with 2000 resident foreign media representatives while developing a fresh vision for the Center. In 2007-2008 he led a Regional Reconstruction Team in Erbil, Iraq, as senior U.S. representative to the Kurdistan Regional Government.

In 2008-2010 Ambassador Baily was Director of United Nations Political Affairs at the State Department, and from 2010-2011 was Director of the Southern European Affairs bureau at State. During 2011-2014 he served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Turkey. He was Ambassador to North Macedonia 2015-2019, and Leader of the COVID-19 Interim Report in 2020-2021. Since 2021 he has served in retirement as a member of the Foreign Service Grievance Board.

Ambassador Baily holds a BA (summa cum laude) from Yale University, and an MA in European History from Columbia.