Henrik Thune

Henrik Thune (born 1969) is a Norwegian academic, writer, politician and diplomat with more than twenty years’ experience from facilitating Norwegian-led peace- and reconciliation processes. Before his engagement at NOREF Thune was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs at The Norwegian Prime Minister’s Office (2023-2024) and State Secretary/Deputy Foreign Minister (2021-2022) in the Støre Government. He was previously the director of the Norwegian Center for Conflict Resolution (NOREF). Thune has been a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) (1997-2015).

Thune holds a PhD and two master's degrees in international relations from the University of Oslo and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has served five years as a diplomat in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2009 to 2012 he was a project manager at the Secretariat of the Norwegian Foreign Minister.

Thune has published numerous books and articles on war, conflicts and conflict resolution, the Middle East, Norwegian foreign policy, and the role of the media in international relations, and been a commentator and columnist in several Norwegian national newspapers.