About the Aspen Strategy Group

The story of the ASG begins in 1971 with American strategist Paul Doty, who initiated an annual meeting to discuss arms control at the Aspen Institute. By the early 1980s, the group had evolved into a nonpartisan forum for discussion among academics, experts, and government officials. In 1984, former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry, Brent Scowcroft, and Joe Nye formally created the ASG. The “founding three,” highly regarded in Washington and around the world for their leadership and public service, agreed that the group would be resolutely nonpartisan. They set in place a framework of private, off-the-record discussions to which we still adhere today. We believe this is a key reason for our success and why we continue to attract to Aspen the most senior former government officials from both parties, as well as journalists, business-people, and academics.