Hubertus Petrus Maria "Ben" Knapen (born 6 January 1951) is a Dutch historian and politician who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 24 September 2021 to 10 January 2022. A member of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA), he previously was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2012 and parliamentary leader in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 2019 to 2021.

Career

Knapen was the State Secretary for

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

in the

first Rutte cabinet The first Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Verhagen cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, government of the Netherlands from 14 October 2010 until 5 November 2012. The Cabinet of the ...

, serving from 14 October 2010 to 5 November 2012. His portfolio comprised

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

matters, as well as

international aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Th ...

. Then he was on the advisory board of OMFIF where he was regularly involved in meetings regarding the financial and monetary system.

Other activities

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg Meeting (also known as the "Bilderberg Group", "Bilderberg Conference" or "Bilderberg Club") is an annual off-the-record forum established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally ...

, attendee of the 1991 meeting in

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

(AfDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2010–2012)Annual Report 2010
,

Decorations

*: Knight of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

(7 December 2012) *: Grand Cross of the

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livin ...

(9 September 2021)

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. H.P.M. (Ben) Knapen
Parlement & Politiek *
Dr. H.P.M. Knapen (CDA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal 1951 births Living people Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch columnists Dutch corporate directors Dutch essayists 20th-century Dutch historians Dutch journalists Dutch newspaper editors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch political commentators Dutch political scientists Dutch political writers Dutch reporters and correspondents Dutch republicans Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Members of the Scientific Council for Government Policy Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of foreign affairs of the Netherlands People from Loon op Zand Radboud University Nijmegen alumni Academic staff of Radboud University Nijmegen State secretaries for foreign affairs of the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch businesspeople 21st-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch politicians {{Netherlands-CDA-politician-stub