Wolfgang Ischinger | |
---|---|
Chair of the Munich Security Conference | |
In office 2008–2022 | |
Preceded by | Horst Teltschik |
Succeeded by | Christoph Heusgen |
German Ambassador to the Court of St. James | |
In office March 2006 –June 2008 | |
President | Horst Köhler |
Preceded by | Thomas Matussek |
Succeeded by | Georg Boomgaarden |
German Ambassador to the United States | |
In office June 2001 –March 2006 | |
President | Johannes Rau Horst Köhler |
Preceded by | Jürgen Chrobog |
Succeeded by | Klaus Scharioth |
Personal details | |
Born | Wolfgang Friedrich Ischinger April 6,1946 Beuren,Esslingen,Germany |
Spouse | Jutta Falke-Ischinger |
Children | 3 |
Alma mater | University of Bonn,University of Geneva,The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy |
Wolfgang Friedrich Ischinger (born April 6,1946) is a German diplomat who served as chairman of the Munich Security Conference from 2008 to 2022. [1]
From 2001 to 2006,Ischinger was the German ambassador to the United States,and from 1998 to 2001,he was Staatssekretär (Deputy Foreign Minister) in Berlin. He was Germany's ambassador to the Court of St. James's (the United Kingdom) from 2006 to May,2008. He was also Global Head of Government Relations of Allianz SE from March 2008 until December 2014. He serves on the supervisory board of Allianz Deutschland AG,on the European Advisory Board of Investcorp (London/New York) and on the governing board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. [2] He has been described as "Germany's best-connected former diplomat". [3]
Ischinger was born in Beuren,Baden-Württemberg,near Stuttgart,Germany. In 1963–64,he was an American Field Service foreign exchange student in Watseka,Illinois,where he graduated from the local high school in June 1964. After German Abitur,Ischinger studied law at the University of Bonn,Germany and the University of Geneva,Switzerland and obtained his law degree in 1972. He earned a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford,Massachusetts,in 1973.
From 1973 to 1975,Ischinger served on the staff of the Secretary General of the United Nations in New York. He joined the German Foreign Service in 1975,and has served in Washington,D.C.,Paris,and in a number of senior functions in the German Foreign Office. In 1982,he became personal assistant to Hans-Dietrich Genscher,West German foreign minister and leader of the Free Democratic Party. [4]
From 1993 to 1995,Ischinger was director of the Policy Planning Staff under Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel;from 1995 to 1998,as director general for political affairs (political director),Ischinger participated in a number of international negotiating processes,including the Bosnia Peace Talks at Dayton,Ohio,the negotiations concerning the NATO-Russia Founding Act,as well as the negotiations on EU and NATO enlargement and on the Kosovo crisis.
As Staatssekretär (deputy foreign minister) under Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer between 1998 and 2001,Ischinger represented Germany at numerous international and European conferences,including the 1999 G8 and EU summit meetings in Cologne/Germany and the 2000 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at the United Nations in New York.
In 2007,Ischinger was the European Union Representative in the Troika negotiations on the future of Kosovo,which ended up leading to the declaration of independence of Kosovo and the recognition of Kosovo by most EU member countries,the United States,and a number of other countries,in February,2008. Reportedly,Ischinger entered the talks "with only one goal and idea:for Kosovo to become independent in the end,with the Serbian authority's willing consent". [5]
From 2019 until 2020,Ischinger co-chaired the Transatlantic Task Force of the German Marshall Fund and the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung (BKHS),alongside Karen Donfried. [6]
Ischinger has published widely on foreign policy,security,and arms control policy as well as on European and transatlantic issues.
Since 2011,Ischinger also acts as advisor to Fair Observer on global politics and security topics. [20]
Ischinger is married to Jutta Falke,a journalist and writer,and the couple have one child. Ischinger also has two children from a previous marriage with Barbara Ischinger (born 1949). Before departing from Berlin to Washington,D.C.,in 2001,Jutta Falke-Ischinger was the Berlin bureau chief of the German weekly "Rheinischer Merkur".
Nils Daniel Carl Bildt is a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He led the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999,appearing at its lead candidate in four general elections,before his appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt from 2006 to 2014. Bildt first entered the Riksdag in 1979,holding a seat until 2001. A member of the Bildt family,he is a great-great grandson of Baron Gillis Bildt,who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1888 to 1889.
Alfred Gusenbauer is an Austrian politician who until 2008 spent his entire professional life as an employee of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) or as a parliamentary representative. He headed the SPÖfrom 2000 to 2008,and served as Chancellor of Austria from January 2007 to December 2008. Since then,he has pursued a career as a consultant and lecturer,and as a member of supervisory boards of Austrian companies.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Stockholm. It was founded in 1966 and provides data,analysis and recommendations for armed conflict,military expenditure and arms trade as well as disarmament and arms control. The research is based on open sources and is directed to decision-makers,researchers,media and the interested public.
Alexander Sebastian Léonce von der Wenge Graf Lambsdorff,commonly known as Alexander Graf Lambsdorff is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP),part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe,who has been serving as the German ambassador to Russia since 2023.
Edelgard Bulmahn is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). She served as Member of the German Bundestag between 1987 and 2017. She was Federal Minister of Education and Research from 1998 to 2005. From 2013 until 2017 she was elected as one of the Vice Presidents of the Bundestag.
Wolfgang Gerhardt was a German politician and was the leader of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) from 1995 until he was succeeded by Guido Westerwelle in 2001.
Niels Annen is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021. He served as Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office from 2018 to 2021 in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Nike Wagner is a German dramaturge,arts administrator and author. She directed the festival Kunstfest Weimar,and has been the director of the Beethovenfest from 2014. The daughter of Wieland Wagner,she is a great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner,and a great-great‑granddaughter of Franz Liszt. She devoted books to the Wagner family and its cultural and political influence.
Tom Buhrow is a German journalist who has been serving as intendant of the WDR since 2013. He also served as Chair of the ARD from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021 and from 4 August to 31 December 2022.
Ronald Pofalla is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as the Chief of Staff of the German Chancellery and a Federal Minister for Special Affairs from 2009 to 2013,in the second coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. From 2017 to 2022,he was the CEO of the infrastructure department of Deutsche Bahn.
Michael Hüther is a German economist who currently serves as director of the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft. He has previously been the chief economist of DekaBank. Hüther also is an honorary professor at the European Business School International University Schloss Reichartshausen.
Eckart Peter Hans von Klaeden is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister of State at the German Chancellery from 2009 to 2013.
Dr. Joachim Pfeiffer is a former German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the Bundestag,the German federal parliament,from 2002 until 2021.
Nils Schmid is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Since 2018,he has been the SPD parliamentary group's spokesperson for foreign affairs in the German Bundestag.
The Berlin Demography Forum (BDF) is a global,non-partisan platform providing a new impetus to raise awareness of the significance of demographic change both at a national and international level. The forum brings together high-ranking politicians,scientists,business leaders,and representatives of international organisations and civil society to debate potential solutions and to contribute to sustainable development.
Michael Georg Link is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has served a member of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013 and again since 2017. In addition to his parliamentary mandate,he has been serving as the Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the Federal Foreign Office in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2022.
Peter Limbourg is a German broadcast journalist and the Director General of Deutsche Welle.
Oliver Bäte is a German business executive who is the CEO of Allianz,a position he has held since October 2014.
Helge Reinhold Braun is a German physician and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Between 2018 and 2021,he served as Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the fourth coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. He was the Parliamentary Secretary of State for Bureaucracy Reduction and Federal-State Relations at the Chancellery between 2013 and 2018.
Siemtje Möller is a German teacher and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Lower Saxony since the 2017 elections.