Alexander “Sasha” Kasanof is the new Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Balkans as well as Press and Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.  

He took this post on 19 of July and is the successor of Gabriel Escobar. He served previously as Executive Assistant to former Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and Acting Under Secretary for Political Affairs John Bass.  

Sasha has served overseas in Ireland, Turkmenistan, Chile, and Ukraine.  He received the James Clement Dunn Award for Excellence for his work as Political Counselor at U.S. Embassy Kyiv during the Maidan Revolution and Russia’s subsequent invasion of Ukraine. His assignments in Washington include: Director of the Office of Global Policy and Programs in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Deputy Director of the Executive Secretariat Staff (“the Line”), Director of the Office of Eastern European Affairs, and Deputy Director of the Office of Caucasus Affairs and Regional Conflicts.  

He is a graduate of the National War College, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Hamilton College.  Sasha speaks French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.