Robert (R.H.) Serry, MA

Chairman

Robert H. Serry (born 1950 in Calcutta) is a former Dutch career diplomat with extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy and crisis management having served with NATO and the United Nations. In March 2015 he completed a seven year appointment as the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, based in Jerusalem. For NATO he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Crisis Management and Operations (2001-2005) and was involved in NATO’s operations in the Balkans and Afghanistan.

Mr. Serry was involved in ‘second track’ diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinians and took part in the Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid (1991). He also gained experience in informal contacts with non-state actors in conflict theaters in the Balkans and Middle East.

 

As a Dutch diplomat Mr. Serry was posted in Moscow, New York (United Nations) and as the first ambassador to newly independent Ukraine. Following his assignment in Kiev he became responsible for Dutch assistance to economies in transition in Central- and Eastern Europe at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Mr. Serry also served as Dutch ambassador in Dublin, Ireland.

 

In 2015-16, Mr. Serry was holding the Sergio Vieira de Mello Visiting Chair in the School of Diplomacy and International Relations of Seton Hall University, USA. He currently holds the position of Chairman of UPEACE Centre The Hague, which represents in Europe the interests of the University for Peace, established by the United Nations in Costa Rica.

 

Mr. Serry is the author of The Endless Quest for Israeli-Palestinian Peace: A Reflection from No Man’s Land (2017, New York). He also published Standplaats Kiev (Amsterdam, 1997), a reflection on Ukraine’s first years of independence.

 

Mr. Serry obtained his degree in Political Science (MA with honors) from the University of Amsterdam and was nominated Commandeur in the order of Oranje Nassau by the King of the Netherlands. He was also decorated by the Presidents of Ukraine and Palestine for his work.

 

Mr. Serry is married and has three children.