Wolfgang Ischinger
Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger has been chairman of the Munich Security Conference since 2008.
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Wolfgang Ischinger's 2024 biography
About Wolfgang Ischiger
Ambassador (ret.) Ischinger is the President of the Munich Security Conference Foundation Council. He served as Chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) from 2008 to 2022. Ischinger teaches at the Hertie School in Berlin and at the University of Tübingen. Under his leadership, the MSC grew to more than 70 staff members and increased its budget to more than 15 million Euros, funded via corporate partnerships and international sponsors. He advises the private sector, governments, and international organizations on strategic issues. He has published widely on foreign, security and defense policy issues.
Wolfgang Ischinger is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and serves on a number of non-profit boards and advisory councils, including the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the American Academy Berlin, as well as the Atlantik-Brücke and the Yalta European Strategy Group (YES). He also serves on the International Advisory Council of Investcorp, London, and is member of Advisory Boards of Kekst CNC, Schwarz Group, as well as the Supervisory Board of NAX.
Having served in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations (1973-75), Wolfgang Ischinger joined the German Foreign Service in 1975, followed by a distinguished diplomatic career. From 2006 to 2008, he was the Federal Republic of Germany’s Ambassador in London and from 2001 to 2006 in Washington, DC. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister (State Secretary) of Germany from 1998 to 2001.
In 2007, he represented the European Union in the Troika negotiations on the future of Kosovo. In 2014, he served as the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-In-Office in the Ukraine crisis. In 2015, he chaired the OSCE “Eminent Persons Panel on European Security”, mandated to offer recommendations on how to build a more resilient European security architecture.
From 2008 to 2014, he was also Global Head of Government Relations at Allianz SE, Munich.
Wolfgang Ischinger studied law at the universities of Bonn and Geneva and obtained his law degree in 1972. He earned a MA degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and did postgraduate work at Harvard Law School, Cambridge/USA.
Wolfgang Ischinger's 2024 talks & topics
World in Danger: A Geopolitical Overview
In reviewing Wolfgang Ischinger’s best-seller, World in Danger, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called him “one of the most perceptive analysts of international affairs.” Portraying a world at a major turning point, Ischinger looks at the urgent challenges we face: Tensions between the U.S. and China, the re-emergence of hard-edged nationalism, and the fear that the U.S. appears to be abdicating its leadership role — while Moscow and Beijing exploit any opportunity to flame conflict between allies.
Despite these urgent challenges, Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, Germany’s most prominent diplomat and a former Ambassador to both the U.S. and the U.K., foresees a future of peace and stability. Drawing upon both history and the latest headlines, Ambassador Ischinger examines the root causes of our current state of affairs, offering a practical vision for turbulent times.
The Future of the European Union
After Brexit and beyond, how can we move forward to build a more coherent, more capable, more unified European Union?
Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger brings two perspectives to this question: As a modern European with a passionate belief in the ideal of a borderless continent where historical adversaries become allies, and as a native of the country at the core of the two largest conflicts of the 20th century. Bringing decades of experience as a diplomat and international thought leader, Ambassador Ischinger examines the current state of Europe and the challenges it faces ahead.
The Business Relationship Between the U.S. & Europe
While it’s fascinating to look at the political aspects of U.S.-European relations, the economic relationships are even more important. In Germany, for example, the U.S. has invested so heavily that U.S. interests employ roughly a million people. Similarly, German companies like BMW, Bosch and others employ roughly 900,000 people on the American side. By comparison, Germany’s or the U.S.’s investment in China is minimal compared to what they have invested, over time, in each other’s economies.
Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger provides a compelling overview of the business relationship between the U.S. and Europe, outlining why China is going to be the single biggest challenge to the transatlantic community.
New Challenges in Cyber Diplomacy
From four decades of diplomatic experience, Ambassador Ischinger knows that trust is the currency of diplomacy. But trust is also the currency in cyberspace – and even more so in cyber diplomacy. The lack of trust across the Atlantic – among governments, businesses, and citizens – when it comes to cyber policy and regulation is a serious problem.
Ambassador Ischinger explains why Europe needs to become more capable but it still cannot guarantee a secure and democratic cyberspace by itself: A common, democratic digital agenda with the U.S. and other partners is needed to set global rules of the road for cyberspace.
How Europe Views the U.S.
Wolfgang Ischinger first came to the U.S. as a teenager, attending high school in Illinois and even earning a letter jacket. He went on to study at the Fletcher School and Harvard Law School. Years later, on September 11, 2001, he began his tenure as Ambassador to the U.S. as planes crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, witnessing first-hand the trauma experienced by America and the world. His deep understanding of both sides of the Atlantic propelled him to a career as Germany’s most prominent diplomat and Chairman of the highly influential Munich Security Conference. Bringing decades of perspective from a storied diplomatic career, Ambassador Ischinger looks at the current state of U.S.-European relations — and the political, security and economic forces that are shaping the world’s most critical alliances.
Wolfgang Ischinger's 2024 speaking fees
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