Belgium in the UN Security Council

In 2007 and 2008, Belgium was once more a privileged observer of the international community's approach to peace and security, serving as non-permanent member at the UN Security Council (UNSC). Participating in this 'global core cabinet' for the fifth time, Belgium would build upon its historical expertise, especially in relation to Central Africa. Yet its role would not be limited to this particular region. The Belgian government aimed to contribute in a substantial way to all major issues, from North Korea to Haiti, taking the role of 'bridge builder.' This volume contains a variety of essays in light of Belgium's 2007-2008 membership of the UNSC, covering issues that were high on the international agenda, as well as more horizontal ones. The contributions, by policy officials and academics, will give a comprehensive overview of these two years and provide insight into the limits and opportunities of a smaller EU Member State in UNSC politics.

Jan Wouters is Full Professor of International Law and International Organizations, Jean Monnet Chair ad personam EU and Global Governance and founding Director of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and of the Institute for International Law at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). In Leuven, he teaches public international law, law of international organizations, the law of the World Trade Organization, space law and humanitarian and security law. At the College of Europe, Sciences Po and Luiss University he teaches EU external relations law. He studied law and philosophy in Antwerp and Yale University (LLM, 1990), was a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School and obtained his PhD at KU Leuven (1996). He taught at the Universities of Antwerp and Maastricht. He was a Visiting Professor at different universities and référendaire at the European Court of Justice (1991-1994). He is Member of the Flemish Royal Academy of Belgium for Arts and Sciences, is President of the United Nations Association Flanders Belgium, and practises law as Of Counsel at Linklaters. He is Editor of the "International Encyclopedia of Intergovernmental Organizations," Deputy Director of the "Revue belge de droit international" and an editorial board member in ten international journals. He has published widely on international, EU, corporate and financial law.

Edith Drieskens is Senior Research Fellow in Clingendael's Diplomatic Studies Programme, The Hague.

Sven Biscop obtained his degree in political science/public administration at Ghent University (Belgium) in 1998, winning the best thesis award for his work on European defence. Awarded the Paul-Henri Spaak PhD scholarship of the Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders, he defended his dissertation in 2002, published as Euro-Mediterranean Security: A Search for Partnership (Ashgate, 2003). Currently he is the director of the Europe in the World programme at Egmont - the Royal Institute for International Relations, the think tank associated with Belgian Foreign Affairs, which he joined in 2002. His research focuses on the foreign, security and defence policy of the European Union and its Member States. He also teaches, at Ghent University (since 2003) and at the College of Europe in Bruges (since 2007). He represents Egmont in the Higher Studies in Security and Defence, a course for security practitioners organized with the Belgian Royal Higher Institute for Defence, and is a member of the Executive Academic Board of the EU's European Security and Defence College (ESDC). Sven chairs the jury of the annual European Defence Agency - Egmont PhD Prize in European Defence, Security & Strategy. Sven is a Senior Research Associate of the Centre for European Studies at the Renmin University of China (CESRUC) in Beijing (since 2010), and Associate Fellow of the Austria Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES) in Baden-bei-Wien (since 2011). He sits on the scientific councils of the Flemish Peace Institute (Brussels) and of the Institut d'Etudes Stratégiques de l'Ecole Militaire (IRSEM, Paris), and on the Strategic Advisors Group of the Atlantic Council (Washington). Member of the board of the Flemish United Nations Association, he also serves on the committee of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES). He is the editor-in-chief of Egmont's journal Studia Diplomatica and its Egmont Papers, and a member of the editorial board of the journals Internationale Spectator (Netherlands), European Security (UK), and The International Organisations Research Journal (Russia).

With contributions by Sven Biscop, Karel De Gucht, Bruno Demeyere, Edith Drieskens, Jan Grauls, Nicolas Hachez, Sander Happaerts, Ria Laenen, Michel Liégeois, Ann Pauwels, Nicoletta Pirozzi, Tom Sauer, Stefan Talmon, Sara Van Hoeymissen, Luk Van Langenhove, Tine Vandervelden, Johan Verbeke, Jan Wouters and Xavier Zeebroek.