18 Facts About Alexander Vershbow

Alexander Russell "Sandy" Vershbow was born on July 3,1952 and is an American diplomat and former Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Alexander Vershbow earned an MA at Columbia University in 1976 in International Relations and Certificate of the Russian Institute.

Alexander Vershbow learned to play the drums at a young age and kept up his passion abroad including occasionally playing in bands with other Ambassadors while on foreign assignments.

Alexander Vershbow was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council.

Alexander Vershbow was the first recipient of the Department of Defense's Joseph J Kruzel Award for his contributions to peace in the former Yugoslavia.

Alexander Vershbow was US ambassador to Russia from 2001 to 2005.

Alexander Vershbow is famous for ignoring the official ceremony of giving his letter of credence to Russian President Vladimir Putin, for which the reason of "a planned vacation" was given.

The US Office of Trafficking in Persons and American NGO MiraMed Institute, which was the first nonprofit to work against trafficking of women and girls from Russia, brought pressure to have Ambassador Alexander Vershbow to withdraw his support since it was contrary to US policy.

Alexander Vershbow pressed North Korea on the issues of human rights and superdollars, calling the government a "criminal regime", and called on them to return to the Six-Party Talks.

Together with Hill, who was the Assistant Secretary of State, Alexander Vershbow pioneered a strategy of speaking directly to the Korean people through the internet and by actually appearing and speaking at street rallies.

Alexander Vershbow spoke out in favor of the expansion of the US base at Pyeongtaek.

Some local residents demonstrated against the expansion; Alexander Vershbow asserted that they were "out of step" with the sentiments of most residents of the area.

Alexander Vershbow was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.

Alexander Vershbow was leading sessions for the chief of staff of Egypt's armed forces, Lt.

Alexander Vershbow was the Deputy Secretary General of NATO from February 2012 to October 2016 after serving for three years in the Pentagon as the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.

In remarks to a small groups of reporters on May 2,2014, reported by AP, Alexander Vershbow said that after two decades of trying to build a partnership with Russia, NATO now feels compelled to start treating Moscow as an adversary.

Alexander Vershbow has become a frequent media commentator on national security affairs and predicted the Russian government would not respond militarily to the Trump administration's bombing of Syria in response to the Asad regime's use of chemical weapons in 2017.

Alexander Vershbow's wife, Lisa Alexander Vershbow, is a designer of contemporary jewelry.