Carl BILDT

Carl BILDT

Carl Bildt has served as both Prime Minister of Sweden in 1991-1994, and Foreign Minister of Sweden in 2006-2014. During the first period, his government initiated major liberal economic reforms, as well as negotiated and signed membership agreement with the European Union.
Subsequently, he served in international functions with the EU and UN, primarily related to the conflicts in the Balkans. He was Co-Chairman of the Dayton peace talks on Bosnia and become the first High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995-1997. Later, he was the Special Envoy of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to the region.
After stepping down as leader of the Moderate Party of Sweden in 1999 and leaving Parliament in 2000, he was also engaged in corporate boards in Sweden and the US, as well as different international think-tanks.
Returning as Foreign Minister of Sweden, he came to be seen as one of the most prominent and vocal of European foreign ministers during his year in office. He was one of the initiators of EU’s Eastern Partnership and pushed the EU forward on issues of the Middle East. Carl Bildt has continued to push the use of social media in international diplomacy.

Alec Ross
Alec Ross
Senior Advisor on Innovation to the Secretary of State of the United States, 9th YES Annual Meeting, 2012
«The government role in innovation and entrepreneurship should principally be to unleash it»