Prime Minister George Papandreou

George Papandreou was Prime Minister of Greece from 2009 to 2011. He is currently a Member of the Hellenic Parliament. He serves in the Council of Europe and directs a committee on the future of democracy in Europe.

Papandreou has held numerous cabinet positions in the Greek government, Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 1999. He was also Minister Responsible for Government Coordination for the Bid for 2004 Olympic Games in 1997. Beginning in January 2006 he has served as President of the Socialist International, the world’s largest organization of progressive political parties.

He is a member of the Aspen Minister’s Forum, a group of former Foreign Ministers assembled by the late Madeline Albright under the auspices of the Aspen Institute. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Mercy Corps an international NGO supplying humanitarian relief around the world.

Papandreou is a globally recognized expert on the future of the EU. He is at the forefront of the discussion of the threat of the dangerous political figures that fuel nativist ethnocentrism and xenophobia. Named as one of Foreign Policy magazine’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers,” he speaks with authority on the future of the European Union with regard to the refugee crisis, economic stability, global security and shifts in geopolitical alliances. He was born and educated in the U.S., with a B.A. in sociology (1975) from Amherst College in Massachusetts and a master’s degree in sociology (1977) from the London School of Economics.