Fred Tanner is the Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) since 5 October 2006. On 16 May 2007, the Swiss Federal Council awarded Tanner with the title of Ambassador.
Prior to this appointment, Tanner was Deputy Director of the GCSP, in charge of Academic Affairs and Training. At the same time he was a Visiting Professor for Swiss Security and Foreign Policy at the Graduate Institute of International Studies (HEI) in Geneva, and was responsible for the University of Geneva's Programme for Diplomatic Studies. From 1994 to 1997, on secondment from the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), he was Director of the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC) in Malta.
In the course of his distinguished academic career, Tanner held teaching and research positions at Harvard (CFIA), Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), and Princeton (CIS).
He was mandated by the OSCE Chairmanship at the time to become the Honorary Chairman of the Committee for Security Studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a position he held from 1999-2001.
Tanner holds a Ph.D. and a Master Degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University), and a Bachelor Degree from the University of Geneva.
Tanner is the author of numerous publications, including The Iraq Crisis and World Order (United Nations University Press, 2006, co-author); a “Chaillot Paper” (with H. Haenggi), Promoting security sector governance in the EU's neighbourhood; From Versailles to Baghdad (United Nations, 1993); The EU as a Security Actor in the Mediterranean (ETH Zurich, 2001); and Refugee Manipulation (co-editor, with S. Stedman, Brookings, 2002). He also published numerous articles in journals such as the Journal for Peace Research, International Peacekeeping, Mediterranean Politics, Civil War, and International Spectator.
He is married and has three children.