Born in Granada (Spain) in 1975, Alvaro Ballesteros has developed his entire professional carrier in the international arena. He is an international expert in the field of International Security, Institution Building and International Relations. He currently works as Director of GSLS (Global Strategic Logistical Services), the company he founded with a team of international experts in 2014. From 2009 to 2014, he worked in Belgrade for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), seconded by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Ballesteros worked as Senior Political Officer and as Liaison Officer of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo. In the second part of 2014, Ballesteros worked briefly as President of the Executive Board of the Atlantic Council of Serbia, the organization member of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) tasked with developing outreach communication campaigns to explain the benefits of transatlantic cooperation to the Serbian public opinion. Prior to that, from September 2007 to March 2009, Ballesteros served as Chief of the Analysis and Reporting Cell within the Department for Security and Public Safety of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo. His department cooperated with the Kosovo Centre for Public Safety Education and Development (KCPSED), and Mr. Ballesteros attended coordination meetings with local and international partners, producing analysis reports and providing expert advice to his Department’s Director. Before joining the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Mr. Ballesteros worked from January 2006 to August 2007 as Executive Director of the European Academy for International Training (EAIT), an international training centre for civilian, police and military personnel to be sent to international missions abroad. At the EAIT, Mr. Ballesteros coordinated the academy activities and lectured about the EU’s Security Strategy and the fight against Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) in international missions. From February 2004 to December 2005, Mr. Ballesteros worked for the EU in fYRo Macedonia, as Law Enforcement Monitor and THB Project Leader within the EU Police Mission “EUPOL PROXIMA”. During his service with this EU mission, he worked closely with Police Officers from all over Europe and local Police, Judges, Prosecutors, and NGOs, assisting them in the fight against Organized Crime and institution building efforts. He also worked very closely with the NATO Liaison Office in Skopje. In 2004, Mr. Ballesteros received the ESDP Service Medal granted by the office of SG/HR Dr. Javier Solana. From October 2001 to February 2004, Mr. Ballesteros worked also in Macedonia, for the OSCE Spillover Monitoring Mission to Skopje (SMMS), as a Rule of Law Officer, specialized in the fight against THB. During this time he cooperated with Police, Judges, Prosecutors and specialized NGOs in the nascent field of the fight against THB. Throughout these years he also developed a close cooperation with the US Department of Justice programmes ICITAP and OPDAT, regularly attending their workshops and seminars as guest speaker and facilitator. In 2000 and 2001, Mr. Ballesteros worked for the OSCE Electoral Monitoring missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Belarus, where he supervised and monitored the organization of elections according to international standards. With a solid international education, Mr. Ballesteros is a PhD candidate in Communication Sciences, holds an MA in International Security and a BA in History (specialized in International Relations). A graduate from the EU specialized training centres in Sweden (Folke Bernadotte Academy) and Austria (ASPR Schlaining), Mr. Ballesteros is the first Spaniard to graduate from the Leaders’ Programme on Advanced Security Studies at the George C. Marshall Center -College of International and Security Studies- in Garmisch (Germany). His academic education also includes studies of Foreign Languages and Law. Mr. Ballesteros has developed a close cooperation with several specialized NGOs and international institutions working on soft security issues, and has attended numerous conferences and workshops on international cooperation, fight against Organized Crime, Human Rights, and institutional development in the Balkans. He is frequently invited as guest speaker and facilitator/moderator. He has also written many articles on international politics and cooperated in international documents about the fight against THB. His research paper on Human Trafficking, NATO and international peacekeeping operations was published in 2007 in the PfP Consortium Journal “Connections”, his mentor being US Marine Corps Col. James Howcroft. Mr. Ballesteros has worked as facilitator and mediator in different international training programmes for Judges, Prosecutors, Police and specialized NGO staff held by the ICMPD and the UNDP. In 2004 and 2005, Mr. Ballesteros took part in the works of the interagency expert Working Groups set up by the UN and NATO to design the training packages regarding THB prevention and awareness for international troops deployed in peacekeeping operations. In 2005, Mr. Ballesteros received NATO’s official gratitude for his contribution towards implementing the 2004 NATO “Zero Tolerance” policy regarding Trafficking in Human Beings. In 2009, he was the only Spaniard invited by US Armed Forces’ European Command to the Expert Working Group meeting organized by the Marshall Centre in Munich in order to discuss the Security Challenges of the Euro-Asian region in 2020. Mr. Ballesteros became Honorary Member of the Belgrade Research Centre for Defence and Security in January 2015.