Carl Bildt

Special Representative

Carl Bildt is a CIGI distinguished fellow, effective December 2014. He is chair of the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG), a two-year initiative launched in January 2014 by CIGI and Chatham House that will produce a comprehensive stand on the future of multi-stakeholder Internet governance.

Carl served as Sweden’s foreign minister from 2006 to 2014, and was prime minister from 1991 to 1994, when he negotiated Sweden’s European Union (EU) accession. A renowned international diplomat, he served as EU Special Envoy to the former Yugoslavia, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Nations Special Envoy to the Balkans and co-chairman of the Dayton Peace Conference. Carl has served as adviser to the European Space Agency and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

Previously, he was a member of the boards of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Centre for European Reform, both in London, and the European Policy Centre in Brussels. He also served as a board member of the Washington-based RAND Corporation and the Aspen Institute in Rome.

Carl holds honours and decorations from several countries, including Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia and the United Kingdom. In November 2014, Canada’s foreign minister presented Carl with the John Diefenbaker Defender of Human Rights and Freedom Award. In addition to his role at CIGI and with the GCIG, Carl is a board member of Crisis Group, an international non-governmental organization, and is a member of the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis’ advisory board.

Carl attended Stockholm University and holds an honourary degree from the University of St. Andrews, where he is also a fellow at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence.