The Rise and Fall of Confessionalism in the Netherlands: Linkages to Lebanon

The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs cordially invites you to a lecture and open discussion
‘The Rise & Fall of Confessionalism in the Netherlands’
Linkages to Lebanon by H.E. Hester Somsen Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Lebanon

Location: Issam Fares Institute, Conference Room

The Netherlands and Lebanon have several similarities; both are small, coastal countries that have a multicultural society. But even in politics, the Netherlands and Lebanon show some common features. During the first half of the 20th century the Netherlands was ruled by confessionalism, where political power was carefully shared among the different communities.
In this lecture the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Lebanon, Hester Somsen, will address the rise and fall of confessionalism in the Netherlands, discussing with the audience the possible linkages with the situation in Lebanon.

Hester Somsen started working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997. In those years she has dealt with issues relating to the former Yugoslavia between 1997-2000, worked as a second secretary at the Dutch embassy in Hungary, focused on parliamentary relations upon return, followed by a year at the Department of European Integration.
In 2006 she was posted to the Dutch embassy in Tanzania with a focus on political and cultural affairs. When she returned to the Netherlands in 2009 she worked as acting and consequently head of the Crisis management and Peacekeeping Operations Division in the Security Policy Department. The division deals with all aspects of the peacekeeping and crisis management operations in which the Dutch participate, ranging from the missions in Uruzgan and Kunduz, Afghanistan, the contribution to Operation Unified Protector, the anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and the deployments of Patriots to Turkey, to the civilian missions on the Balkans and in the Middle-East.
In 2013 she was appointed Ambassador to Lebanon.