AAFSW members and guests are cordially invited to a presentation by H.E. Pjer Šimunović’, Croatian Ambassador to the U.S., on Tuesday, September 18 at the George Marshall Center’s Burns Auditorium at 10:30 a.m. The Ambassador will speak on “Croatia’s National Security Reshaped: Countering a Wide Spectrum of Threats.”

RSVP to office@aafsw.org or 703-820-5420 by September 13, and send $5 to defray the cost of the coffee and tea service to AAFSW Reservations, 4001 9th Street N. #214, Arlington, VA 22203. Or you may pay online on the AAFSW website: https://www.aafsw.org/. Scroll down to find the donate button on the right sidebar to pay by PayPal. (You do not need a PayPal account, but may pay as a guest with your credit card.)

We look forward to seeing you!

Sheila Switzer
AAFSW Program Chair

Pjer Šimunovi

Personal & Education:

  • Born January 8, 1962 in Split, Croatia.
  • B.A. from the Faculty of Philosophy, Comparative Literature and Italian Language and Literature, University of Zagreb, Croatia (1988)
  • M.A. from the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London, United Kingdom (1997)

Professional Career:

  • Director, Office of the National Security Council of the Republic of Croatia (2016)
  • Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the State of Israel, Tel Aviv (2012-2016)
  • State Secretary (2009-2012), Defense Policy Director (2008-2009), Ministry of Defense
  • Assistant Minister, International Organizations and Security, National Coordinator for NATO and Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Working Group on NATO and MAP, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (2004-2008)
  • Adviser to the Board, Večernji list daily, Zagreb (2003-2004)
  • First Secretary and Counsellor, Political Affairs, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Croatia to the French Republic, Paris (2000-2003)
  • Deputy Head of Analytical Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998-2000)
  • Journalist, Producer, BBC World Service Radio, London, UK (1993-1998)
  • Foreign Affairs Correspondent, International Political and Security Affairs, Večernji list daily, Zagreb (1991-1993)
  • Fellow, European Affairs, Foundation Journalistes en Europe, Paris (1990-1991)
  • Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Central and Eastern Europe, Večernji list (1988-199).
  • Author of a range of international studies and articles (Frank Cass Journals, Jane’s, Routledge) dealing with the post-communist transition and security, NATO and the EU enlargement, defense industry and arms trade, stabilization operations, counter-terrorism and crisis management (including ‘The Russian military in Chechnya – a case study of morale in war’, The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, London; Frank Cass Publishers, March 1998: ‘A framework for success – contextual factors in the UNTAES operation in Eastern Slavonia’, International Peacekeeping, London; Frank Cass Publishers, Spring 1999, ‘Making of an Ally – NATO membership conditionality implemented on Croatia’, Journal of Transatlantic Studies, Routledge, Taylor & Francis, Vol. 13 No. 2, Spring 2015); regular speaker at many international conferences, seminars, workshops and round tables addressing strategic, security and defense issues.
  • Decorated with the Croatian Medal of the Order of Duke Branimir (2013), and with the Croatian Homeland War Medal 1990-92; Chevalier de la  Légion d’Honneur de la République française (2012)
  • Fluent in English, French and Italian.