Victor Jackovich

Victor Jackovich is president of Jackovich International, a commercial and trading firm with offices in the United States (Washington, D.C.), Iraq (Erbil), Austria (Vienna), and Slovenia (Portoroz). He is also senior adviser for international affairs at General Dynamics. He left U.S. government service in 2004 after 33 years, including 13 years at the rank of ambassador. He is U.S. representative on the EU Business Advisory Council (Brussels). He also serves on the boards of the Central and East European University Network (Venice), the Center for European Perspective (Ljubljana), and numerous other associations. During 2002 and 2003, Ambassador Jackovich was senior political adviser for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, in which capacity he provided policy guidance to U.S. and coalition military, security, and counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia. He also helped conceive and implement Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). From 1999 to 2002, he was associate director of the George Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany. Prior to that, Ambassador Jackovich headed up a variety of U.S. government initiatives, including the Department of State’s Office of Southeast European Initiatives, and led the U.S. delegation at the Royaumont Process, linking U.S., European, and other international efforts in Southeast Europe.

Throughout his government service, Ambassador Jackovich has specialized in launching new operations and leading them through their formative years. During the war in the Balkans, he opened the U.S. embassy in Bosnia (1994) and spent the conflict years in Bosnia as the first U.S. ambassador there (1992–1995). He was U.S. ambassador to Slovenia (1995–1998) and helped that country’s early efforts to enter into NATO and the European Union. He headed the first U.S. representation to the independent state of Moldova (1992), directed the Department of State’s Task Force on the Balkan Crisis (1990–1991), and led U.S. delegations to international conferences on the Balkans in Geneva and elsewhere (1992–1993). Other key international assignments with the U.S. government have included Moscow, Sofia, Kiev, Bucharest, and Nairobi.    Among his many awards are the U.S. government’s Distinguished Presidential Award for diplomatic service and the American Bar Association’s Max Kampelman Award. In addition, he holds the Golden Eagle Award, conferred by the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Serb Civic Society Award; and the Distinguished Civilian Service Award, conferred by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.