May 2: WACC Ambassadors Circle Dinner: A Panel with H.E. Dirk Wouters, Caroline Vicini, and other experts

“The Future of The US – European Relationship”

Both sides of the Atlantic share a commitment to free trade markets, energy security, and global cooperation. However, our news headlines are now often dominated by political and economic disputes between the EU and the USA. Join us to hear from expert panelists on the current state of the US – European relationship, as well as the power and potential of our joint future:

• H.E. Dirk Wouters, Ambassador of Belgium to the U.S.
• Caroline Vicini, Deputy Head of Delegation of the E.U. to the U.S.
• Jamie Fly, Senior Fellow and the German Marshall Fund
• Dr. Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security

The Center for a New American Security’s “Across the Pond, In the Field” program engages audiences around the country to better understand the transatlantic relationship, trade, alliances, and other foreign policy issues.

Program Parner

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World Affairs Council of Charlotte
UNC Charlotte – CHHS 227
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28223

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Biographies

H.E. Dirk Wouters
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the United States of America

Dirk Wouters was appointed Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the United States of America in Washington DC from September 2016. The Ambassador represents His Majesty The King of the Belgians and Belgium’s federal government in the United States of America and in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. He is responsible for the direction and work of the Embassy and its Consulates, including bilateral political and economic relations, visa and consular services.

Ambassador Wouters’ career has included both multilateral and bilateral assignments and has been primarily focused on European affairs. 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 is no stranger to the United States, having lived in New York while Deputy Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations (1995-2000), with a special responsibility for coordination and for overseeing the work in the political, military, economic and development section. In this position, he was involved in the creation of the International Criminal Court. During his tenure, Dirk Wouters was also an active participant in the Open-ended Working Group of the General Assembly on the Reform of the Security Council. Mr. Wouters is the former Chairman of the Association of diplomats of the Belgian Foreign Service.

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.

Ambassador Wouters is currently a guest professor on European issues at the Catholic University of Louvain. He has lectured at the University of Brussels on European Integration (2001); at the Catholic University of Leuven on Diplomacy and Foreign Policy (2007- 2012); and at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) on EU-crisis management (2006-2008).

Mr. Wouters is the author of the White Paper on the Amsterdam Treaty (1997) submitted by the Belgian government to Parliament and delivered several speeches to the United Nations General Assembly. He is the Co-author of a book for a 10-series Television Program on the Internal Market in Europe and gave several presentations for think tanks and universities in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Dirk Wouters was born in 1955. He is married to Katrin Van Bragt and they have one daughter and three grandsons. Ambassador Wouters speaks Dutch, French, English, Italian and German. Mr. Wouters is an accomplished long-distance runner and an Italian culture enthusiast.

Caroline Vicini
Deputy Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union to the United States

Prior to joining the Delegation, Ms. Vicini served as Chief of Protocol, with the rank of Ambassador, at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm, Sweden. During her five years in this position, she was the focal point on all issues related to the Vienna Convention for Stockholm’s 109 foreign missions, and in charge of all high-level visits to the Swedish government. Ms. Vicini had the pleasure to receive President Obama on his first visit to Sweden in 2013.

From 2008 to 2009, Ms. Vicini worked in Washington, DC, as managing director for the public affairs company, Kreab Gavin Anderson serving Scandinavian corporate clients.

From 2004-2008, Ms. Vicini was the DCM at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC, a posting that coincided with the construction and inauguration of the new chancery by the Potomac River in Georgetown. During her tenure in Washington, she led the project team that developed the House of Sweden’s public diplomacy program.

From 1999 to 2004, Ms. Vicini worked in security policy and military affairs at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first as Head of the Pol-Mil section and thereafter as Deputy Head of the Department of European Security Policy. She handled policy areas including: CBMs, defense material, the initial development of the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), and matters related to the intelligence agencies.

Ms. Vicini’s earlier postings include Algiers, Paris, Dublin, and Rome, where she also worked at the headquarters of the World Food Program. She has a Master’s in Business Administration from the School of Economics at Gothenburg University. Caroline Vicini is married and has two daughters.

Jamie Fly
Senior Fellow and Director, Future of Geopolitics and Asia Programs, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Jamie Fly is a senior fellow and director of the Future of Geopolitics and Asia programs at The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). He also works with the Alliance for Securing Democracy at GMF. He served as counselor for Foreign and National Security Affairs to Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) from 2013–2017, serving as his foreign policy advisor during his presidential campaign. Prior to joining Senator Rubio’s staff in February 2013, he served as the executive director of the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) from its founding in early 2009. Prior to joining FPI, he served in the Bush administration at the National Security Council (2008–2009) and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (2005–2008). He was director for Counterproliferation Strategy at the National Security Council, where his portfolio included the Iranian nuclear program, Syria, missile defense, chemical weapons, proliferation finance, and other counterproliferation issues. In the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he was an assistant for Transnational Threats Policy, where he helped to develop U.S. strategy related to the proliferation of missiles as well as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. For his work in the Department of Defense, he was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. Fly received a BA in international studies and political science from American University and an MA in German and European studies from Georgetown University.

Dr. Andrea Kendall-Taylor
Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program, Center for a New American Security

Andrea Kendall-Taylor is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. She focuses on national security challenges facing the United States and Europe, including Russia, populism, and the strength of the Transatlantic alliance. Prior to joining CNAS, Andrea served for 9 years as a senior intelligence officer. From 2015-2018 she was Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In that role Andrea led the U.S. intelligence community’s production of strategic analysis on Russia, represented the IC in White House policy meetings, provided direct analytic support to the National Security Council, and advised the DNI and his senior staff on key developments and emerging issues. Prior to joining the NIC, Andrea was a senior analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) where she focused on Russia and Eurasia, the political dynamics of autocracies, and democratic decline.

Dr. Kendall-Taylor is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Her work has been published in numerous political science journals, including the Journal of Peace Research, Democratization, and Journal of Democracy, as well as Foreign Affairs, the Washington Post, the Washington Quarterly, and Foreign Policy. Dr. Kendall-Taylor received her B.A. in politics from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She was also a Fulbright scholar in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, where she conducted her dissertation research.