The Hon. Steven Vanackere, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, delivers the closing address at the German Marshall Fund's 2010 Brussels Forum.
Bio
Steven Vanackere
Steven Vanackere is the deputy prime minister of Belgium, as well as the Belgian minister of foreign affairs. He previously served as the Belgian minister of civil service, public enterprise, and institutional reform. From 2007-2008, Mr. Vanackere was the minister of welfare, public health, and family affairs in the Flemish Regional Parliament. Since 2006, he has been an alderman in the Brussels City Council for economics, trade, port, and Flemish affairs. Mr. Vanackere was a member of the Flemish Regional Parliament from 2004-2007. For five years, he served as the deputy director general of MIVB/STIB, the urban public transport company of Brussels. From 1993-2000, Mr. Vanackere was the managing director of the Port of Brussels, and from 1991-1993, he was the deputy chief of Cabinet to the Minister of Budget, Finance, Civil Service, and External Relations for the Brussels Capital Region Government.
Study of the relations of states with each other and with international organizations and certain subnational entities (e.g., bureaucracies and political parties). It is related to a number of other academic disciplines, including political science, geography, history, economics, law, sociology, psychology, and philosophy. The field emerged at the beginning of the 20th century largely in the West and particularly in the U.S. as that country grew in power and influence. The study of international relations has always been heavily influenced by normative considerations, such as the goal of reducing armed conflict and increasing international cooperation. At the beginning of the 21st century, research focused on issues such as terrorism, religious and ethnic conflict, the emergence of substate and nonstate entities, the spread of weapons of mass destruction and efforts to counter nuclear proliferation, and the development of international institutions.
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