Speaker: Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom

Chair: Professor Marsha Henry, The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queens University Belfast

Queen’s University Belfast is honoured to welcome Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, for a special evening lecture and conversation.

Ambassador Patriota will discuss his newly published book of essays on international relations and peace, offering insights drawn from his distinguished diplomatic career.

The evening will be hosted by Professor Marsha Henry who will lead an in-depth conversation exploring the themes of the Ambassador’s work, the evolving landscape of global diplomacy, and the role of peacebuilding in contemporary international affairs.

This event is open to:

• Students and academics across all disciplines
• Policy professionals, researchers, and members of the diplomatic community
• Anyone with an interest in international relations, peace studies, and global governance

Registration

Attendance is free, but registration is required. Please reserve your place by registering on this page.

Additional Information

Light refreshments will be available on arrival from 5.30pm.  The event will start at 6.00pm.

Please note that photography will take place during the event for promotional and archival purposes. If you have any concerns, please speak to a member of staff on arrival.

For accessibility queries, contact the Public Affairs Office at Queen’s University Belfast at publicaffairs@qub.ac.uk

About the speakers

Antonio de Aguiar Patriota was appointed Ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom in 2023.

He previously served as Ambassador of Brazil to the Arab Republic of Egypt (2019–2023) and to Italy (2016–2019), as well as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (2013–2016).  He also held the positions of Minister of Foreign Affairs (2011–2013), Secretary-General of Foreign Affairs (2009–2010), and Ambassador to the United States (2007–2009).

While at the UN, he chaired the 60th and 61st Sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Peacebuilding Commission (2013–2014).   Over the course of his diplomatic career, he has served in Geneva (1983–1987 and 1999–2003), New York (1994–1999), Beijing (1987–1988), and Caracas (1988–1990).

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1954, he graduated from the Rio Branco Institute in 1979, after studying Philosophy at the University of Geneva.   He was awarded an honorary doctorate in Public Service by Chatham University (2008) in Pennsylvania.

His published works include O Conselho de Segurança após a Guerra do Golfo (2nd ed., 2010), Discursos, artigos e entrevistas (two volumes, FUNAG, 2013 and 2016), and A Humanist Foreign Policy for a Multipolar World (FUNAG, 2025).

He is a member of the Leaders for Peace initiative, chaired by former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

Professor Marsha Henry is the Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton Chair in Women, Peace, Security and Justice.   Her research is concerned with the gendered and racialised politics of violence; militarisation; global south development; international aid and intervention; and conflict, peace, and security.    She is the author of several books, the latest of which is: The End of Peacekeeping:  Gender, Race, and the Martial Politics of Intervention (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024).  Marsha has also advised a number of national governments on women’s participation in the armed forces, combatting sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian settings, and developing anti-racist and diversity strategies in foreign policy ministries.