Prof. Dr. Michael Reiterer

Prof. Dr. Michael Reiterer is Distinguished Professor at the Brussel School of Governance, the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy and adjunct professor at the University of Innsbruck, Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali “Guido Carli” (LUISS), Rome, Webster University in Vienna, the Danube University in Krems. He is Associate Fellow, Global Fellowship Initiative at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and Senior Research Associate, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW) as well as member of the Scientific Committee of the European Forum Alpbach and the Academic Advisory Board of the Centre for EU-Asia Connectivity (CEAC) at the Ruhr University.

Prof. Dr. Michael Reiterer held guest professorships at Keio University/Tokyo, Ritsumeikan University/Kyoto and Kobe University. He always pursued his academic career in parallel to his diplomatic one at the Austrian and then European foreign service. After graduating as Dr. jur. from the University of Innsbruck, post-graduate studies at the Johns Hopkins University/Bologna Centre and the Graduate Institute for International Studies in Geneva were further stepping stones towards his habilitation (PhD equivalent) in International Politics at the University of Innsbruck (2005) focusing on EU-Asia relations. EU foreign policy, EU-Asia relations, in particular with Japan and Korea, inter-regionalism, security issues, new forms of diplomacy, and human rights are the main focus of his research nowadays, having previously published extensively on international trade law and relations including WTO, trade and environment, and ASEM. He has taught at various universities in Europe and Asia.

In September 2020, Prof. Dr. Michael Reiterer retired from the European Diplomatic Service as the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Korea; previous posts include EU-Ambassador to Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein, Deputy Head of EU-Mission/Minister to Japan, Minister Counsellor at the Austrian Permanent Representation to the EU, Counsellor at the Austrian Permanent Representation to the GATT, Deputy Trade Commissioner for West Africa and to Japan.