The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination held a Crisis Diplomacy lunch seminar on Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. in 012 Bendheim Hall. Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, Head of the EU Delegation to the United Nations in New York, was the featured speaker. He discussed case studies of and experiences with the conduct of crisis diplomacy in the Balkans and the Middle East. The lunch was co-sponsored with the European Union Program at Princeton University.

Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting took up his position as Head of the EU Delegation to the UN in October 2011. Previously he served as the Permanent Representative of Austria to the UN. In 2009-10 he represented Austria on the UN Security Council and was President of the Council for the month of November 2009. He also served as Vice-President of the 66th General Assembly.

After serving as the Ambassador to Belgium and Head of the Austrian Mission to NATO, Mayr-Harting was Director General for Political Affairs at the Austrian Foreign Ministry from 2003-08. Previous postings include the Austrian Mission to the European Communities in Brussels (1982-86), the Austrian Embassy in Moscow (1986-90), and the Private Office of the Austrian Foreign Minister (1991-95). From 2002 to 2004, Mayr-Harting also acted as Special Representative of the Austrian Foreign Minister for the Western Balkans.

Mayr-Harting received his doctor of laws at the University of Vienna in 1977. From 1977 to 1978, he studied European law at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. In 1978, he was also awarded the Diploma of The Hague Academy of International Law.