Fred Tanner has extensive work experience with the Organisation pour la sécurité et la cooperation en Europe (OSCE) and served, among other responsibilities, as Senior Adviser to the Secretary General. He was also the OSCE Project Leader of the ‘’Panel of Eminent Persons for European Security as a Common Project”.

He previously served at the Swiss MFA in Crisis Management and for seven years as Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP). During his tenure at the Swiss MFA, Dr Tanner was granted twice the title of Ambassador for his responsibilities. 

He spent four years in Malta as Director and Resident Professor at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies. He also conducted research as Practitioner-in-Residence at the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and the Stimson Center, Washington, D.C. 

Fred Tanner currently serves on the advisory board of the FES Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe, Vienna. He also served on the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, the High-level Panel on Early Warning and Rapid Reaction of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), and was a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the NATO Defence College (NDC).  

Dr Tanner holds a PhD and a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a bachelor’s degree from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. He holds the rank of Major (ret.) in the Swiss Army.