Amb. R. L. Walker International Relations & Diplomacy Series // Portugal: a NATO Ally and European Partner
February 4, 2026 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
$10.00 – $15.00
The Charleston Library Society is honored to host Ambassador of Portugal, Francisco Duarte Lopez, as part of our ongoing Ambassador R. L. Walker International Relations & Diplomacy Series that was initiated in 2021. In conjunction with the Zeitgeist Foundation, we are pleased to partner in honoring the Anniversary of the German-French Friendship Treaty, where their organization, along with the Alliance Française, invites an Ambassador of the E.U. (someone neither French nor German) to share insights into their perspectives on the European Union.
About Ambassador Lopez:
Before he was appointed Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations, Ambassador Mr. Duarte Lopes served at Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lisbon, where he was promoted to the rank of Ambassador in December 2015. He had previously assumed the rank of Political Director in July 2014. He served as Director-General for European Affairs from January 2012 and as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State for European Affairs from June 2011 to January 2012. From October 2009 to June 2011, he served as the diplomatic adviser to the Prime Minister.
From August 2005 to September 2009, Ambassador Duarte Lopes was the coordinator at Portugal’s Permanent Representation to the European Union, where he was previously Counsellor in charge of Institutional Affairs. From 2003 to 2004, he was Director for Institutional Affairs at the Foreign Ministry. Before that, he served as an adviser to the Secretary of State for European Union Affairs from 2002 to 2003.
He also headed the Ministry’s Human Resources Section between 2000 and 2002 and served as Chargé d’affaires at Portugal’s Embassy in Denmark from 1995 to 200.
Born in Castelo Branco, Portugal, Ambassador Duarte Lopes holds a law degree from the Faculdade de Direito de Lisboa. He began his professional service as an attaché in the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Section in 1989, before being posted to Pakistan from 1993 to 1995.
About the Ambassador R. L. Walker International Relations & Diplomacy Series:
During the summer of 2021, the Library Society received a very generous gift to establish a program series honoring a South Carolina scholar and diplomat, Richard L. (“Dixie”) Walker, who also happens to be the father of Anne W. Cleveland, a long-standing and transformative Executive Director at the Charleston Library Society. In 1981, Walker was chosen by President Ronald Reagan to serve as his ambassador to the Republic of Korea. After unanimous confirmation by the U. S. Senate, he served with distinction at that post until 1986, longer than any other American ambassador. Walker was on the faculty of Yale University when he was recruited by Governor Donald Russell to organize a new program in international studies at the University of South Carolina (USC) that he headed until 1972. In 1961, he founded the Institute of International Studies and headed it until 1981, as it grew into a preeminent national and international center of research, conferences, consultation and publications. In 1996, the Institute was renamed the Richard L. Walker Institute in his honor. The lecture series will cover a multitude of topics, and we hope that the viewers gain fresh perspectives on the challenges facing the intersecting spheres of international relations & diplomacy.