Ambassador Michele Valensise was elected today, by the Members’ Assembly, as the new president of the International Affairs Institute (IAI). He succeeds Ambassador Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, who has held the position since 2013, and will take office at the beginning of next year.
Ambassador Valensise, currently president of the Italian-German Center for European Dialogue Villa Vigoni on a joint proposal from the Italian and German governments, has for years been a protagonist of our country’s foreign policy as Secretary General of the Farnesina and at the helm of important diplomatic representations Italians in the world.
Thanks to his skills in the field of international relations, Ambassador Valensise will be able to give a strong boost to the consolidation and development of the IAI’s activities. After the election, he declared: “I am honored by my election as president of the International Affairs Institute, at the end of the mandate of my colleague and friend Ferdinando Nelli Feroci. By tradition, experience and commitment, the IAI occupies a leading place in the study of international relations and its role is even more relevant in a world marked by challenges and uncertainties. I am certain that the Institute’s great wealth of knowledge will continue to be a precious resource for the sector and for Italy and I am happy to be able to make my contribution to such a prestigious institution.“
Ambassador Nelli Feroci will continue to contribute to the IAI’s work thanks to the experience he has built up during his four terms as President of the Institute. ‘Today the IAI Assembly,’ he said after the vote, ’approved the name of the next President. At the end of four terms, and as part of a physiological rotation, I will therefore be stepping down as President of the Institute at the beginning of 2025. They have been wonderful years in which I hope to have contributed to the growth of IAI, I have learned a lot, and above all I have been able to appreciate the extraordinary qualities of those who work at the Institute with passion, competence and dedication. I hope I can continue to contribute to the work of the Institute. And I wish my successor, Michele Valensise, to whom I am bound by feelings of friendship and esteem, my warmest wishes for a good work’.