Rainer O. Bless, Visiting Fellow

Beginning mid-April 2009, the Center has enjoyed the contributions of Visiting Fellow Rainer O. Bless from Grainau, Germany. Rainer studied at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, where he specialized in public international law and law of the European Union. After his graduation, he had several assignments focusing on the legal aspects of German law enforcement and international security. He worked for several months as an assistant lawyer at the District Attorney’s Office in a Special Prosecution Unit and the East Hesse Police Department’s Legal and Internal Affairs Division in Fulda, Germany. In Summer 2008, he was assigned to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Office of the Secretary General, Executive Management Section and Legal Services Section at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna, Austria, where he was tasked with the assessment of political and legal issues in connection with the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. Before coming to the ICLRS, Rainer worked as a Junior Fellow at the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where he researched issues pertaining to International Humanitarian Law.  Rainer’s contributions to the Center’s resources on the European law of religion continue to be invaluable.