Aaron Wess Mitchell (born April 1, 1977) is an American strategist, historian and former diplomat who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2017 to 2019. In 2019 he co-founded The Marathon Initiative, a grand strategy think tank, with Elbridge Colby.
Early life and education Mitchell was born in Lubbock, Texas, in 1977. He received a B.A. in history from Texas Tech University, where he later received a Distinguished Alumni Award. He received an M.A. in German and European studies from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, where he was awarded the 2004 Hopper Award. He received his DPhil in Political Science from Freie Universität Berlin.
Career In 2005, Mitchell co-founded the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) with Laurence E. Hirsch. At CEPA he argued that U.S. foreign policy should shift away from the focus on nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan to a focus on competition with major powers Russia and China and maintaining a balance of power in key regions. He was an early proponent of using deterrence-by-denial to defend frontline U.S. allies from Russian or Chinese attack. Where deterrence-by-punishment seeks to dissuade aggression by threatening retaliation against the attacker, deterrence-by-denial seeks to dissuade aggression by making the object of attack itself more resistant to attack. Mitchell's 2016 book Unquiet Frontier (co-authored with Jakub Grygiel) has been cited as having influenced the shift in U.S. national security in the first Trump administration toward an emphasis on great-power competition.
First Trump administration In July 2017, President Donald J. Trump appointed Mitchell to become the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, a capacity in which he served into 2019. In this role, he was responsible for diplomatic relations with the 50 countries of Europe and Eurasia, as well as the institutions of NATO, the EU, and OSCE.
As Assistant Secretary, Mitchell played a principal role in formulating Europe strategy in the first Trump administration.U.S. Policy in Europe: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, Second Session, June 26, 2018. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2018. Available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115shrg37954/html/CHRG-115shrg37954.htm (accessed July 13, 2025). Mitchell's approach to policy emphasized Europe's role in strategic competition between the United States and Russia and China. In a speech at the Heritage Foundation on June 5, 2018, he advocated for a policy of "strategic renovation" aimed at improving the performance of alliances to offset U.S. global burdens.Mitchell, A. Wess. "Anchoring the Western Alliance." Speech at the Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC, June 5, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2025, from https://www.heritage.org/europe/event/the-transatlantic-bond-preserving-the-west In Congressional testimony on June 26, 2018, he argued for increasing Western European burden-sharing, competing for influence in East-Central Europe, and increasing U.S. involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean.Mitchell, A. Wess. "U.S. Policy in Europe" (written testimony). Statement before the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, June 26, 2018. Washington, DC. Retrieved July 13, 2025, from https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/062618_Mitchell_Testimony.pdf
While at State, Mitchell criticized Western European allies for "failing to take strategic competition seriously" by maintaining close commercial and energy ties with China, Russia and Iran while relying on the United States for security. He was an advocate for European allies increasing defense spending, increasing purchases of U.S. liquefied natural gas, and lowering EU tariff barriers against U.S. goods.Mitchell, A. Wess. "U.S. Policy in Europe" (written testimony). Statement before the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, June 26, 2018. Washington, DC. Retrieved July 13 2025, from https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/062618_Mitchell_Testimony.pdfMitchell, A. Wess. "U.S. Policy in Europe" (written testimony). Statement before the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, June 26, 2018. Washington, DC. Retrieved July 13 2025, from https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/06%2026%2018%20US%20Policy%20in%20Europe.pdfMitchell, A. Wess. "European Energy Security: U.S. Interests and Coercive Russian Diplomacy" (written testimony). Statement before the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, December 12, 2017. Washington, DC. Retrieved July 13 2025, from https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/121217_Mitchell_Testimony.pdfMitchell, A. Wess. Remarks at Carnegie Europe. Press Club Brussels Europe (Belgium), date unspecified. Retrieved July 13 2025, from https://www.pressclub.be/press-releases/flash-u-s-assistant-secretary-wess-mitchells-remarks-at-carnegie-europe
Mitchell increased the U.S. diplomatic focus on East-Central Europe. During his tenure, the United States for the first time held strategic dialogues with the countries of Austria, Greece and Italy. Mitchell supported the Three Seas Initiative,Mitchell, A. Wess. "European Energy Security: U.S. Interests and Coercive Russian Diplomacy" (written testimony). Statement before the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, United States Senate, December 12, 2017. Washington, DC. Retrieved July 13, 2025, from https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/121217_Mitchell_Testimony.pdf increased U.S. participation in efforts to resolve the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, and played a role in the resolution of the Greece-Macedonia dispute.
Mitchell was responsible for a series of diplomatic thaws involving countries with which the United States had formerly maintained antagonistic relationships. He reopened dialogue with Serbia and Hungary and was the first senior U.S. diplomat to travel to Minsk in more than a decade. Some observers criticized these moves for engaging with non-democratic regimes. Others defended them as an attempt to offer these countries a viable Western strategic alternative to Russia and China Mitchell described the policy as an effort to "compete for positive influence" in strategically vital regions.
Mitchell was an advocate for increased U.S. diplomatic involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean. He shifted from longstanding U.S. policy by upgrading relations with Greece and normalizing relations with Cyprus. This paved the way for the so-called 3+1 Format, a trilateral framework involving Greece, Israel, Cyprus and the US, as well as the EastMed Act, which formalized closer US strategic cooperation with Greece and Cyprus.
Mitchell played a lead role in negotiating a diplomatic deal between the United States and Turkey known as the "Manbij Roadmap" that reduced tensions in northern Syria.
In relations with Russia, Mitchell was an advocate for supporting the national independence of Ukraine and Belarus while engaging diplomatically with Russia when its interests aligned with those of the US. He was a frequent defender of Trump's Russia policy in Senate hearings. He was credited with creating a U.S. "deterrence by denial" strategy to support Ukraine and for what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called "diplomatic jujitsu" in organizing NATO support for the U.S. decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty.
Mitchell played a role in securing the release of the American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson from Turkish prison. He also played a role in persuading the German government to facilitate the deportation of the alleged Holocaust prison camp guard Jakiw Palij, the "last known Nazi collaborator living in America."
In a January 4, 2019, letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Mitchell stated personal and professional reasons for his decision to resign from his post. In an interview, he said he had not taken this decision in a protest at the Trump administration's policies.
After stepping down as Assistant Secretary, Mitchell was named by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to co-chair a commission to review the political cohesion of NATO in response to French President Emmanuel Macron's claim that the Alliance was "braindead."Brzozowski, Alexandra. "NATO expert panel to determine how to revive ‘brain dead' alliance." *Euractiv*, April 1, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2025, from https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence/news/nato-expert-panel-to-determine-how-to-revive-brain-dead-alliance/ Mitchell co-chaired the commission with former German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière. The body's report, which was released on November 25, 2020, called for NATO to institute reforms aimed at shifting from a focus on Afghanistan to competition with Russia and China.North Atlantic Treaty Organization. *NATO 2030: United for a New Era – Final Report of the Reflection Group Appointed by the NATO Secretary General*. Brussels, 1 December 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2025, from https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2020/12/pdf/201201-Reflection-Group-Final-Report-Uni.pdf
Post-administration career In 2019 Mitchell co-founded with Elbridge Colby The Marathon Initiative, a 501c3 think tank that studies great-power competition. Mitchell's work at The Marathon Initiative has focused on the so-called "simultaneity problem," or problem of two-front war in American strategy. He has advocated for a sequential approach to dealing with the threat of simultaneous conflicts with Russia, China and Iran.Mitchell, A. Wess. ONA Report. The Marathon Initiative, 14 February 2022. Available at: https://www.themarathoninitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ONA-Report_Mitchell_TMI_FINAL-220214.pdf(accessed July 13, 2025).Mitchell, A. Wess & Jakub Grygiel. Getting Strategic Deprioritization Right. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Net Assessment and published by The Marathon Initiative, 23 June 2023. Available at: https://themarathoninitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Marathon-Initiative_Getting-Strategic-Deprioritization-Right96.pdf (accessed 13 July 2025). He has advocated for a "diplomacy first" approach to reduce tensions with major U.S. adversaries.Mitchell, A. Wess. "America is overextended. Here's a better way forward." The Washington Post, 2 July 2025. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/02/middle-east-sequencing-strategy-china/ (accessed 13 July 2025).
Political views Mitchell is a conservative. He has argued against a "transformationalist" U.S. foreign policy based on democracy promotion and nation-building and in favor of basing policy on a traditional conception of U.S. national interests and maintenance of a balance of power in key regions. He has criticized globalization and the decision to admit China to the WTO. He has argued against using U.S. foreign policy to promote progressive political causes.Mitchell, A. Wess & Christopher Vassallo. China's "New" Diplomacy: Opportunities for American Statecraft. The Marathon Initiative, 20 February 2024. Available at: https://themarathoninitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Chinas-New-Diplomacy_vF.pdf (accessed 13 July 2025).
Mitchell is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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