Bernard Rudolf "Ben" Bot (; born 21 November 1937) is a retired

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

politician and diplomat of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

(CDA). He served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 3 December 2003 until 22 February 2007 in the Cabinets Balkenende II and III. A career diplomat, he succeeded then-Minister of Foreign Affairs

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer ; born 3 April 1948) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Secretary General of NATO from January 2004 to August 2009. De Hoop Scheffer ...

who resigned to become

Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, leading NATO's international staff ...

in 2003.

Early life and education

Bot was born in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(now

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

). The son of

Theo Bot Theodorus Hendrikus "Theo" Bot (20 July 1911 – 24 September 1984) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. Bot attended a Gymnasiu ...

who served as Minister of Education, Culture and Science and Minister for Development Cooperation. He studied at the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

where he earned an L.L.M. and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in law, and attended subsequently

The Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law (french: Académie de droit international de La Haye) is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taugh ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

(

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) where he received a second L.L.M. degree from the latter.

Politics

He served in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

from 1963 to 2002, including postings at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

from 1964 to 1970, the Netherlands

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

to 1973, and at the embassy in former East-Berlin in the

DDR DDR or ddr may refer to: *ddr, ISO 639-3 code for the Dhudhuroa language *DDr., title for a double doctorate in Germany *DDR, station code for Dadar railway station, Mumbai, India *' (German Democratic Republic), official name of the former East ...

. In the period 1976-1982 he worked in the Netherlands for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, after which he was Deputy Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

(NATO) in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. From 1986 to 1989, Bot was

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

of the Netherlands to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. He served as Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague until 1992, when he was appointed as Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

in Brussels. He held that post for an unusually long period of 10 years. On 3 December 2003, Bot succeeded former NATO Secretary-General

as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the

second Balkenende cabinet The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal Peop ...

. Bot is a member of the

Christen Democratisch Appèl The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

(CDA) party. In February 2007 he was succeeded as foreign minister by Maxime Verhagen in the

fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union ( ...

. Currently, Bot is a partner of the Praaning Meines Consultancy Group and holds various public posts including President of the

Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD; Dutch: ''Nederlands Instituut voor Meerpartijendemocratie'') works to promote peaceful, just and inclusive politics worldwide. NIMD's approach is characterized by dialogue, which it facilit ...

nimd.org
Profile Ben Bot and Chairman of the Board of the

Clingendael Institute The Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael ( nl, Nederlands Instituut voor Internationale Betrekkingen Clingendael) or Clingendael Institute (''Instituut Clingendael'') is a Dutch think tank and academy on international relat ...

in The Hague.

Political positions

Bot voiced concern over the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

. Bot has expressed "understanding for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's reaction" but said "it would be hard to support Israel in case there will be many civilian casualties". Bot was interviewed by the ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

'' newspaper in December 2007, where he reiterated his 2005 position that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a mistake, and that he had to "redress" his comment in 2005 after heavy pressure from prime minister

Jan Peter Balkenende Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. (; born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010. Balkenende studied H ...

. In response, Balkenende said that he would have asked Bot to step down if he did not revise his position at the time.

Other activities

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...

(EBRD), Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors (2003-2007)2005 Annual Report

(EBRD).

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. B.R. (Ben) Bot
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Bot, Ben 1937 births Living people Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Turkey Ambassadors of the Netherlands to East Germany Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch expatriates in Belgium Dutch expatriates in Argentina Dutch expatriates in Germany Dutch expatriates in Turkey Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch people of Indonesian descent Dutch prisoners of war in World War II Harvard Law School alumni The Hague Academy of International Law people Indo people Leiden University alumni Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands People from Batavia, Dutch East Indies Politicians from The Hague Permanent Representatives of the Netherlands to the European Union Permanent Representatives of the Netherlands to NATO Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch diplomats 21st-century Dutch politicians Diplomats from The Hague