Klaas Keirse is a Belgian career diplomat, currently on sabbatical while pursuing the mid-career Master in Public Policy at Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs. Prior to Princeton, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Mexico City. Previously he was Counselor for Political Affairs (US domestic politics / Congressional liaison) and International Development (World Bank / IMF) in Washington DC. Before joining the Belgian Foreign Service, he was an Associate Human Rights Officer in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, working with the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. As a Research Fellow at the KULeuven Centre for Political Research, he focused on Belgian political history since the 1980s. He graduated as a Master in Modern History (Magna Cum Laude, KULeuven, 2009) and holds Bachelor’s degrees in History and in Laws, and served as Chairperson of the National Union of Students in Flanders (VVS).