Institute of Modern Russia

Donald N. Jensen is a resident fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations in the Nitze School of International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he writes extensively on the politics and foreign policies of Russia and the former Soviet states. He is a regular commentator on post-Soviet affairs for CNBC, Fox Business, and the VOA Russian Service. From 1996 to 2008 he was associate director of broadcasting and director of research at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, where he was instrumental in expanding the station’s broadcasting to Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, and the North Caucasus, and broadening its web presence. He served in Moscow and Sofia as a Foreign Service officer from 1985–1996, and was a member of the first ten-man U.S. team to inspect Soviet missile bases under the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1988. Jensen received his B.A. from Columbia University and his master’s and Ph.D. in government from Harvard University. He is fluent in Russian.