Ambassador William B. Taylor is vice president, Europe and Russia at the U.S. Institute of Peace. In 2019, he served as chargé d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv and as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009. During the Arab Spring, he oversaw U.S. assistance and support to Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria. He served in Jerusalem as the U.S. government's representative to the Mideast Quartet. He served in Kabul in 2002 and in Baghdad in 2004.

In the 1990s, Ambassador Taylor coordinated U.S. assistance to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He earlier served on the staff of Senator Bill Bradley.

Ambassador Taylor is a graduate of West Point and Harvard’s Kennedy School and served as an infantry platoon leader and combat company commander in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and Germany.

Publications By William

Ukraine: The Next 10 Months Can Shape Hopes for Peace

Ukraine: The Next 10 Months Can Shape Hopes for Peace

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

By: Ambassador William B. Taylor

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine moves toward its second full winter, observers note that typically heavy rains and then cold may enforce a season of slower fighting. But the war’s most meaningful “next season” may well be not the winter but the nine to 10 months until next summer. Three factors critical to Ukraine’s defense and Europe’s security will evolve by the summer in ways that could open a path toward a just and lasting peace — or could leave the region facing indefinite warfare and threat.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Ambassador William Taylor on Zelenskyy’s U.S. Visit

Ambassador William Taylor on Zelenskyy’s U.S. Visit

Monday, September 18, 2023

By: Ambassador William B. Taylor

With Ukraine’s counteroffensive making slow, grinding progress, President Zelenskyy will meet with U.S. officials this week in search of long-term assurances “that once he pushes the Russians out of his country, they won’t come back,” says USIP’s Ambassador William Taylor, adding: “The ultimate assurance … is membership in NATO.

Type: Podcast

15 Months on, Ukrainians Remain United on Freedom, Rule of Law

15 Months on, Ukrainians Remain United on Freedom, Rule of Law

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

By: Ambassador William B. Taylor

Two days into Ukraine’s unfolding counteroffensive, a soldier just back from one of the first probes into Russian defensive lines called me on WhatsApp, giddy with excitement, to report his unit’s unexpected success. “We were told to push them back 600 meters,” he said, “but we got so little resistance, we pushed them back six kilometers! The Russians were soft!”

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

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