Ian Bond

Ian Bond, Deputy Director of the Centre for European Reform (CER), is a leading authority on European foreign policy, Russia and the former Soviet Union, transatlantic relations, and European security. He joined CER in 2013 as Director of Foreign Policy and was appointed Deputy Director in 2023, combining his deep expertise in international affairs with an extensive diplomatic career. Before entering the think-tank world, Bond spent nearly three decades in the British diplomatic service, holding senior positions that placed him at the centre of Euro-Atlantic and global security debates.

From 2007 to 2012, he served as Political Counsellor and Joint Head of the Foreign and Security Policy Group at the British Embassy in Washington, covering US policy toward Europe, the post-Soviet space, Asia, and Africa. Between 2005 and 2007 he was British Ambassador to Latvia, for which he was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order following Queen Elizabeth II’s state visit in 2006. Earlier, he worked as Deputy Head of the UK Delegation to the OSCE in Vienna, focusing on human rights, democracy, conflict prevention and resolution in the Balkans and post-Soviet region. His career also included postings at NATO Headquarters, in Moscow, and at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where his responsibilities ranged from Soviet affairs and European foreign policy to British defence strategy.

Bond holds a degree in Classics from Oxford University. His commentary and analysis, widely published by CER and leading media outlets, explore the strategic challenges facing Europe in an era of geopolitical uncertainty. Drawing on his diplomatic experience and policy expertise, he continues to shape debates on NATO–EU relations, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and the future of transatlantic cooperation.