Gro Harlem Brundtland

Gro Harlem Brundtland     (politician)
Born	Gro Harlem 1939-04-20 Bærum, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Alma mater	University of Oslo, Harvard University
Children	1
Spouse	Arne Olav Brundtland
Member of	Club de Madrid, Council on Foreign Relations/Global Board of Advisors, European Leadership Network, Global Preparedness Monitoring Board
Party	Labour
Prime Minister of Norway  In office 3 November 1990 - 25 October 1996 Deputy Johan Jørgen Holst, Thorvald Stoltenberg Preceded by Jan P. Syse Succeeded by Thorbjørn Jagland  Prime Minister of Norway  In office 9 May 1986 - 16 October 1989 Deputy Knut Frydenlund, Thorvald Stoltenberg Succeeded by Jan P. Syse  Prime Minister of Norway  In office 4 February 1981 - 14 October 1981 Preceded by Odvar Nordli Succeeded by Kåre Willoch  Director-General of the World Health Organization In office 13 May 1998 - 21 July 2003  Leader of the Labour Party In office 12 September 1979 - 25 October 1996 Deputy Margaret Beckett, Roy Hattersley, Denis Healey, John Prescott  Minister of the Environment In office 1 July 1974 - 19 March 1979

Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian politician, who served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway (1981, 1986–89, and 1990–96)and as Director-General of the World Health Organization from 1998 to 2003. She is also known for having chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development which presented the Brundtland Report on sustainable development.

Career

Gro Harlem Brundtland is born in a bourgeois family in the rich parts of Oslo, Norway's capital. Her father, Gudmund Harlem was defense minister for the Labour government during the Cold War, from 1961-65. In 1963, Gro graduated with a medical degree, a cand.med. from the University of Oslo. She took her master's degree at Harvard University in 1965, as a Master of Public Health, at the same time as her husband, security academic Arne Olaf Brundtland's stay there at the Harvard Center for International Affairs (founded by Henry Kissinger).

Brundtland joined the Labour Party, and had a meteoric career, maybe thanks to the networks of her father and husband.

She entered the government in 1974 as Minister of the Environment.

By 1981, she was prime minister in a short 8-month period despite only 4 years of parliamentary experience. She consolidated her party leadership, and became Norwegian Prime Minister for two further, and more durable, terms. The second ministry was from 9 May 1986 until 16 October 1989; The third ministry was from 3 November 1990 to 25 October 1996.

Brundtland belonged to the moderate (ie economically liberal) wing of her party, and made sure the party kept it's dedication to NATO.

She led the extensive efforts to get the country to join the European Union in 1994, thwarted by a referendum. Norway is still not part of EU. Brundtland received the EU's 1994 Charlemagne Prize, for her service for European unification.

As Prime Minister Brundtland was given the nickname "mother of the nation" by the press.

During her third ministry, the Norwegian government in 1993 took the initiative to sponsor secret peace talks between the Government of Israel led by Yitzchak Rabin and the PLO led by Yasser Arafat. This culminated with the signing of the Oslo Accords, branded as an equitable deal, but which in rality consolidated Israeli control over the area.

After the end of her term as PM, Brundtland was then elected Director-General of the World Health Organization in May 1998. In this capacity, Brundtland adopted a far-reaching approach to public health, establishing a Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, chaired by pro-market liberal economist Jeffrey Sachs.

Brundtland is also a member of the Club of Madrid and Deputy Chair of The Elders.

Quotes

In a 2017 interview, she complained "We are losing control of what people are told"

"When it comes to technology and democracy, more control is needed over the internet, and with social media. They cannot be a garbage can where gravely erroneous things can stand there unchallenged. The challenge is that concepts like freedom of speech stand high in people's consciousness. This is of course important, but if we interpret freedom of speech too broadly, it also includes the right to spread false opinions."

 

Events Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
A Spreading Plague	14 February 2019	14 February 2019	Germany Munich Munich Security Conference/2019	Tabletop simulation of a global biological warfare attack predicting an apocalyptic outcome. Included several senior pandemic planners. Held February 2019.
Atlantic Storm	14 January 2005	14 January 2005	New York US	A scenario designed to mimic a summit of transatlantic leaders forced to respond to a bioterrorist attack. Recommended militarization, vaccination and stockpiling drugs. Held January 2005.
Bilderberg/1982	14 May 1982	16 May 1982	Norway Sandefjord	The 30th Bilderberg, held in Norway.
Bilderberg/1983	13 May 1983	15 May 1983	Canada Quebec Château Montebello	The 31st Bilderberg, held in Canada
Brussels Forum/2010	26 March 2010	28 March 2010	Belgium Brussels	Yearly discreet get-together of huge amount of transatlantic politicians, media and military and corporations, under the auspices of the CIA and NATO-close German Marshall Fund.
Munich Security Conference/2015	6 February 2015	8 February 2015	Germany Munich Bavaria	"400 high-ranking decision-makers in international politics, including some 20 heads of state and government as well as more than 60 foreign and defence ministers, met in Munich to discuss current crises and conflicts."
Munich Security Conference/2020	14 February 2020	16 February 2020	Germany Munich Bavaria	The 56th Munich Security Conference, in 2020, "welcomed an unprecedented number of high-ranking international decision-makers."
Munich Security Conference/2023	17 February 2023	19 February 2023	Germany Munich Bavaria	Annual conference of mid-level functionaries from the military-industrial complex - politicians, propagandists and lobbyists. The real decisions are made by deep politicians behind the scenes, elsewhere.
Munich Security Conference/2024	16 February 2024	18 February 2024	Germany Munich Bavaria	Annual conference of mid-level functionaries from the military-industrial complex - politicians, propagandists and lobbyists - in their own bubble, far from the concerns of their subjects
Preventing Global Catastrophic Biological Risks	14 February 2020	16 February 2020	Germany Munich Security Conference Munich	Simulation of a global influenza pandemic predicting an apocalyptic outcome. Held February 2020, with a who-is-who of pandemic planners. Held February 2020.

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