GMF Appoints Bonnie Glaser as Director of Asia Program and Laura Thornton as Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy
WASHINGTON—The German Marshall Fund of the United States is pleased to welcome Bonnie Glaser as director of the Asia Program and Laura Thornton as director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy. Both Glaser and Thornton will serve on GMF’s leadership team.
Glaser joins GMF from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she served as senior adviser for Asia and founder and director of the China Power Project. Glaser has worked for over three decades at the intersection of Asia-Pacific geopolitics and U.S. regional policy, and is a leading expert on China and Taiwan, as well as broader foreign policy and security developments throughout the region.
Thornton joins GMF from International IDEA in Stockholm, Sweden, an intergovernmental organization committed to advancing democracy worldwide, where she served as director of global programs. Prior to that, Thornton worked for two decades at the National Democratic Institute, serving in leadership positions in both Asia and Europe, including in Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, and Georgia.
“I am delighted to have Bonnie and Laura join GMF at this pivotal moment,” said GMF President Karen Donfried. “GMF’s mission, strengthening transatlantic relations in the spirit of the Marshall Plan, is rooted in the values of democracy. Laura’s wealth of experience promoting democracy will be an asset to our work at a time when threats to democracy are proliferating globally. Likewise, Bonnie’s deep expertise on the range of challenges posed by China will be instrumental in our efforts to align American and European perspectives and policies towards Asia.”
GMF’s Asia Program pursues the dual goals of developing common U.S.-European approaches to challenges emanating from Asia and building closer U.S.-Europe-Asia partnerships to strengthen the liberal international order at a time when it is increasingly contested. The program accomplishes these goals through research, commentary, conferences, and publications with staff based in Washington, D.C., Berlin, and Brussels. The program has region-wide projects as well as long-standing, signature initiatives related to China, India, Japan, and Taiwan.
The Alliance for Securing Democracy develops comprehensive strategies to deter, defend against, and raise the costs on autocratic efforts to undermine and interfere in democratic institutions. ASD has staff in Washington, D.C., and Brussels, bringing together experts on disinformation, malign finance, emerging technologies, elections integrity, economic coercion, and cybersecurity, as well as Russia, China, and the Middle East, to collaborate across traditional stovepipes and develop cross-cutting frameworks.
Both Glaser and Thornton will be based in GMF’s Washington, DC headquarters. Glaser begins her role on April 16 and Thornton on May 10.