Martin Palouš

Martin Palouš is distinguished academic and diplomat who currently serves as a Senior Fellow at Florida International University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He is also the Director of SIPA’s Václav Havel Center for Human Rights and Diplomacy initiative. Palouš was a key member of Charter 77, a dissident human rights group, and served as their spokesman. He played a significant role in the establishment of the Civic Forum in 1989 and was later elected to the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly where he served on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Palouš went on to work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first as an adviser to Minister Dienstbier and later as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for both Czechoslovakia and the newly formed Czech Republic. He also served as Czech Republic’s Ambassador to the United States from 2002 to 2005 and the United Nations from 2006 to 2010. Palouš holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Charles University in Prague and has studied philosophy, social sciences, and law at Masaryk University in Brno where he also received Ph.D in international law.