The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination will host a special address on "The Future of European Security: Managing East-West Relations" by Ambassador Thomas Greminger, the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, on Friday, September 28, 2018, at 12:00 p.m. in 019 Bendheim Hall. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School, European Union Program, the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, and the Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. The event is free and open to the public. Due to limited space, to attend the event, RSVP to Rana Ibrahem.

Ambassador Thomas Greminger joined the diplomatic service of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 1990 and has held numerous senior management positions during his career. Prior to his appointment as OSCE Secretary General, he was Deputy Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, overseeing an annual budget of USD 730 million and 900 staff in Bern and abroad. From 2010 to 2015, Greminger was the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the OSCE, serving as Chair of the Permanent Council during Switzerland’s 2014 OSCE Chairmanship. Prior to his assignment at the Permanent Delegation of Switzerland to the OSCE, Greminger was Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affair’s Human Security Division, Switzerland’s competence centre for peace, human rights, and humanitarian and migration policy. Thomas Greminger holds a PhD in history from the University of Zurich and the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (General Staff) in the Swiss Armed Forces.  He has authored a number of publications on military history, conflict management, peacekeeping, development and human rights. His mother tongue is German; he speaks fluent English and French, and has a working knowledge of Portuguese. In 2012, he was awarded the OSCE white ribbon for his long-standing support for gender equality. 

The OSCE is the world’s largest security organization with 57 participating states and 11 cooperating countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The OSCE works for stability and security, human rights, democracy, minorities, socioeconomic and environmental matters for more than one and a half billion people, through political dialogue and field activities on the basis of joint principles and commitments. Its decisions are taken on the basis of consensus. Its memberstates – from Vancouver to Vladivostok – include the U.S.A. and Canada, all NATO and EU member states, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Russia and all former Soviet Union States, Mongolia, and also, as partners, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, thus making the OSCE the world’s largest security-focused international organization. View the full list of participating states and OSCE activities and documents at the OSCE website.

The keynote address is a feature of the first module of the LISD Fall 2018 Seminar Series: Emerging Foreign and Security Dimensions. The seminar is divided into three modules and is co-sponsored by the EU Program and the Woodrow Wilson School.

To RSVP or for further information regarding each module please contact Rana Ibrahem ([email protected]) and Johnathan ([email protected]).

(i.) The OSCE, The EU, ASEAN - The Institutions and Relevant Dimensions; Thursday to Saturday, September 27-29, 2018, Public Roundtable, Thursday, September 27.

(ii.) Challenges and Crises in the OSCE Realm: from Vancouver to Vladivostok; Thursday to Saturday, October 18-20, 2018, Public Roundtable, Thursday, October 18.

(iii.) The Emerging Quadripartite Relationship: USA - EU/Europe – Russia - China; Thursday to Saturday, November 15-17, 2018, Public Roundtable, Thursday, November 15.