An Evening with Belgian Ambassador Dirk Wouters
Join LSE alumni for a virtual discussion with Dirk Wouters, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium
to the United States of America in Washington DC since September 2016.
An LSE alumnus himself, Ambassador Wouters will share his insights on
U.S. - Belgian affairs over the last 15 years,
and share how his LSE education prepared him for his career in foreign affairs.
An audience Q&A will follow the Ambassador's remarks.
Thursday, September 3rd, 2020 at 7:00pm (Eastern Time)
Virtual event through LSE Zoom.
About Ambassador Dirk Wouters
Dirk Wouters was appointed Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the United States of America in Washington DC from September 2016.
Dirk Wouters joined the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980. His career started in the consular and disarmament departments, and he went on to dealing with economic and technology issues at the Belgian Embassy in Rome. From 1986, Mr. Wouters was appointed to several important functions in European Affairs, including within the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the EU. He was also directly involved in several negotiations on revision of the European Treaties (Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice, and Lisbon). In 1992, Mr. Wouters received a second assignment in Rome dealing with political and economic issues. In 2001, he was appointed coordinator of the Belgian Presidency and headed for some years the Department of European Coordination and Integration in the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Brussels.
Dirk Wouters then assisted Jean Luc Dehaene as Vice President of the Convention on the future of the European Union. From 2003 to 2009, he was Permanent Representative of Belgium to the Political and Security Committee of the European Union, at the time when the common foreign and security policy was framed under the leadership of J. Solana. In 2009, Mr. Wouters was called to the office of Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as his diplomatic advisor and Sherpa. After that, as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dirk Wouters was one of the main architects of the successful Belgian EU-Presidency and key foreign policy decisions on Afghanistan and Libya. He was the Permanent Representative of Belgium to the European Union from 2011 to 2016.
Mr. Wouters studied at the University of Antwerp and obtained a B. A. in Law and a B. A. in Economics in 1975. During that time, he was student representative to various committees. He then graduated from the Institute of Higher Studies in Geneva (1976) and obtained a M.S. in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (1979). He also holds a Master of Law from the University of Louvain (1978), where he was Chairman of the student’s European Policy Club.
Please email chapter leaders at washingtondc@aflse.org with questions.
Event is free to attend. Registration required.