Klaus Scharioth (born October 8, 1946) is a former German diplomat. From 2006 to 2011 he served as Germany's ambassador to the United States. Since 2011 he has been dean of th
Mercator Fellowship on International Affairs
He is also a ''Professor of Practice'' at the

Fletcher School The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in its ...

at Tufts University and a commentator on relations between Germany and the United States.

Early life and education

Scharioth was born in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, located in the

Ruhr Area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

in western Germany. He studied law in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

and political science, sociology and psychology at

The College of Idaho The College of Idaho (C of I) is a Private college, private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over 1,000 students. The college's alumni inc ...

in Caldwell, Idaho. He is also a graduate of the Fletcher School, where he studied international relations, international law and international economics and received an MA, an MALD and his PhD. He is married with three children.

Diplomatic service

His first posts were in Quito, Ecuador (1979–1982) and at West Germany's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City (1986–1990). In the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself, he has served in the Asia, press and State Secretary's offices (1977–79), in the policy planning staff (1982–1986), and in the international law division (1990–1993). Scharioth was ''Director of the Private Office'' to the NATO Secretaries General

Manfred Woerner ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction. Byr ...

Willy Claes Willem Werner Hubert "Willy" Claes (; born 24 November 1938) is a Belgian politician who served as the eighth Secretary General of NATO, from 1994 to 1995. Claes was forced to resign from his NATO position after he was found guilty of corruptio ...

and Javier Solana in Brussels, Belgium, from 1993 to 1996. In the Foreign Ministry he thereafter held posts as Head of the Defense and Security Policy Division (1996–1997), and as Head of the International Security and North America Directorate (1998–1999). Klaus Scharioth was appointed Head of the Office of

Foreign Minister 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 ...

Klaus Kinkel Klaus Kinkel (17 December 1936 – 4 March 2019)

in 1998. Under Joschka Fischer Scharioth became Political Director (1999–2002) before serving as ''State Secretary'' of the German Foreign Office from 2002 to 2006. Scharioth presented his ambassadorial credentials to

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on March 13, 2006. In August 2011 he was succeeded by Peter Ammon.

Other activities

* Jewish Museum, Berlin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Honors

Scharioth has received honorary doctoral degrees from the

College of Idaho The College of Idaho (C of I) is a private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over 1,000 students. The college's alumni include eight Rhode ...

Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students an ...

and Old Dominion University. He has received Estonia's Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (Class II) and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

References

External links

Biographical interview
on WDR5 (in German), September 5, 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Scharioth, Klaus 1946 births Living people College of Idaho alumni The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni Ambassadors of Germany to the United States 20th-century German diplomats 21st-century German diplomats Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany