Draft:Ambassador and Professor Raoul Delcorde

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Ambassador Raoul Delcorde is a Belgian diplomat with a strong academic background, who is a passionate advocate for education and training on diplomacy and European studies.He began his higher education in 1974 in a preparatory class for humanities ('Khâgne') at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, then at the Sorbonne, where he studied history and philosophy until obtaining his master's degree in 1979. He moved then to Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) in the early 1980s at University of Louvain, where he studied political science, culminating in a master thesis on the Persian Gulf published as a book in Paris in 1983, and a position as a research assistant in Louvain-la-Neuve.

Ambassador Delcorde began his career as Belgian Deputy Head of Mission to Pakistan in 1984 after ranking first (1) on the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs admission exams (diplomatic exam/concours diplomatique). His knowledge of Persian and Middle Eastern culture was instrumental in his ability to understand the mental universe of Afghan fighters who had moved to Pakistan following the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

In 1990, Ambassador Delcorde moved to New York, where he was appointed counselor at the Belgian Permanent Mission to the United Nations. In 1991 – 1992, Belgium became a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Ambassador Delcorde was a member of the Belgian delegation to the Security Council. His position coincided with the first Gulf War and the rebirth of the UN Security Council, where States such as Belgium could play a role in the emergence of new concepts such as the "right of humanitarian intervention". Ambassador Delcorde participated in elaborating these concepts while in New York.

He then moved to Vienna as the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Belgian Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), where he was involved in the transformation of this diplomatic conference into a real organization. In parallel to his diplomatic career he was able to complete a Ph.D degree in political science at the University of Louvain with a thesis on the geostrategy of the Indian ocean (1993), which was published.

From 1996 until 2000, Ambassador Delcorde served as Minister-Counsellor at the Belgian Embassy in Washington DC, one of the most prestigious Belgian embassies in the world. During his time, he was instrumental in following the major trade disputes between the United States and the European Union (EU), which resulted in difficult negotiations at the World Trade Organization. Upon his return to Brussels in 2000, he was appointed as Deputy Director of the Directorate General for Europe and participated in the Belgian Presidency of the EU.

Ambassador Delcorde received his first ambassadorship to Sweden in 2003, where he facilitated and supported the strong diplomatic relations existing between Belgium and Sweden. This was an interesting period marked by Belgium's interest in the Swedish model of social and environmental standards. He returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007, where he served as Deputy Director General for Multilateral Affairs and Globalization. He coauthored a book on 'The Diplomatic Career in Belgium' and gave presentations on the diplomatic profession and how to prepare for what is considered the most prestigious civil service examination in Belgium. This teaching was complemented by the writing of a richly illustrated book entitled 'Belgian Diplomats', with a preface by the Minister of Foreign Affairs . A true reference in the field, this book traces the history of Belgian diplomacy since the country's independence (2). Raoul Delcorde also published a lexicon of diplomacy, illustrated with numerous examples, entitled 'The Words of Diplomacy'.

Ambassador Delcorde was honored to receive his second ambassadorship to Poland in 2010. The position required significant diplomatic work related to the substantial convergence between Belgium and Poland on strengthening European institutions. Poland, which joined the EU in 2004, was holding EU presidency for the first time.

In 2014, Ambassador Delcorde assumed the position of head of mission in Canada. During his four-year tenure, he was actively involved in ensuring the ongoing important transatlantic partnership between Belgium and Canada (3), including organizing the State Visit of the Belgian royal couple to Canada, which further highlighted the bilateral relations between the two countries (4).

Upon his return to Belgium in 2018, Ambassador Delcorde was called upon to assume a senior position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brussels. He was promoted to the rank of minister plenipotentiary 1st class. In 2019 he was elected a full member of the Royal Academy of Belgium, Class of Letters and Moral and Political Sciences (5). During the same year, he was elected associate member of the Académie des sciences d'outre-mer, in Paris (6).

Ambassador Delcorde retired from the diplomatic service in April 2020 after a career of 35 years with the title of Honorary Ambassador of Belgium. He now devotes his time to educating future diplomats and those interested in European history and politics through academic teachings and books.

References

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  1. Moniteur belge, 30.10.1984, p.14395

[1]

  1. «  »,[2] sur Éditions Mardaga - Maison d'édition, 7 January 2019

[3]

  1. «  »,[4] sur La Presse, 28 Septemer 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbx3iPlxtxo[5]

  1. «  »[6] La Presse, 28 September 2018
  1. [7] sur www.academieroyale.be
  2. [8][9]
[edit]
  1. ^ "La diplomatie d'hier à demain". Éditions Mardaga (in French). Retrieved 2025-09-15.
  2. ^ "La diplomatie d'hier à demain".
  3. ^ Léveillé, Jean-Thomas (2018-09-28). "Diplomatie: la Belgique et le Canada se «redécouvrent»". La Presse (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2025-09-15.
  4. ^ Léveillé, Jean-Thomas (28 September 2018). "Diplomatie: La Belgique et le Canada se «redécouvrent»". La Presse.
  5. ^ Global Affairs Canada (2017-06-28). Belgium's Ambassador Wishes Canada a Happy 150th!. Retrieved 2025-09-15 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ "Belgium's Ambassador Wishes Canada a Happy 150th!". YouTube. 28 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Détail".
  8. ^ "Académiciens – Académie des sciences dʼoutre-mer".
  9. ^ "Académiciens – Académie des sciences dʼoutre-mer" (in French). Retrieved 2025-09-15.
  10. ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ceta-raoul-delcorde-deal-1.3816902
  11. ^ http://diplomatic-world.com/?p=4143