Wolfgang Ischinger
Boards are being asked to make capital, supply, and people decisions inside a security environment most executives have never operated in. The post-1989 assumption that geopolitics was a backdrop to business has collapsed, and the rules underwriting global trade are now negotiated, contested, or ignored in real time. Leaders need a credible read on where the transatlantic system is heading, not a news summary.
Wolfgang Ischinger is the former Chairman of the Munich Security Conference and a former German ambassador to Washington and London who helps boards and executives make sense of geopolitical risk and the transatlantic system.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Wolfgang Ischinger
- Direct, first-person reading of the security order from someone who chaired the world’s leading security forum for fourteen years and ran German embassies in Washington and London.
- Operational mediation experience, including the 2007 EU Troika on Kosovo, that distinguishes him from commentators whose authority is only analytical.
- A published strategic argument, set out in “World in Danger” (Brookings, 2021), about Germany’s responsibility, European leadership, and the transatlantic link. Boards get a structured thesis, not a tour of the headlines.
- Convening credibility at the most senior level: heads of state, defence ministers, NATO leadership, and Fortune 500 chairs are part of the network he has worked with for decades.
- Bilingual fluency in the Washington and Berlin policy systems, which is rare among speakers offering geopolitical perspective to European and US executive audiences.
Biography highlights
- Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, 2008 to 2022. Now President of the MSC Foundation Council.
- German Ambassador to the United States, 2001 to 2006. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, 2006 to 2008.
- Deputy Foreign Minister of Germany, 1998 to 2001.
- EU representative on the 2007 Troika negotiations on the status of Kosovo.
- Author, “World in Danger: Germany and Europe in an Uncertain Time”, Brookings Institution Press, 2021.
- Professor Emeritus at the Hertie School, Berlin, and Founding Director of its Centre for International Security. Recipient of the Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of Germany, the French Legion of Honour (Commander), and the Nunn-Lugar Award.
Biography
The Munich Security Conference grew under Wolfgang Ischinger from a small annual gathering into the West’s most important strategic forum, with a year-round policy operation and a budget over 30 million euros. He chaired it from 2008 to 2022, the years in which the assumptions underpinning European security were dismantled in public.
Before that he was Germany’s senior diplomatic figure in the two capitals that matter most to the transatlantic system. He served as Ambassador to the United States from 2001 to 2006, then as Ambassador to the United Kingdom until 2008. As Deputy Foreign Minister from 1998 to 2001 he was inside the policy machinery during the Kosovo intervention and NATO’s eastward enlargement. In 2007 he led the EU side of the Troika negotiations on Kosovo’s status.
His book “World in Danger” (Brookings, 2021) sets out the argument he brings to executive audiences: the eclipse of an unchallenged American order, the re-emergence of great-power competition, and the case for a more capable Europe inside a renewed transatlantic alliance. The argument is structural, not topical, which is why it travels into boardroom conversations about exposure to China, energy security, and the credibility of NATO commitments.
He now teaches at the Hertie School in Berlin, where he is Professor Emeritus of Security Policy and Diplomatic Practice and founding director of the Centre for International Security. He holds the Grand Cross with Star of the German Order of Merit, the rank of Commander in the French Legion of Honour, and the Nunn-Lugar Award for promoting nuclear security.
Key speaking topics
- Transatlantic relations and the future of the Western alliance
- European security and defence policy
- Geopolitical risk for boards and senior executives
- Russia, Ukraine, and the European security order
- Germany’s strategic role in Europe
- US foreign policy and its implications for European business
- Multilateral institutions and the rules-based order
Ideal for
- Boards and executive committees of multinationals with material exposure to Europe, the United States, China, or Russia
- Chief strategy officers, heads of government affairs, and risk leaders setting geopolitical scenarios
- Leadership and partner conferences in financial services, energy, defence, and industrials
- Closed-door briefings for chairs and CEOs preparing for European or transatlantic policy shifts
Audience outcomes
- A clearer view of where the transatlantic relationship is heading and what it means for cross-border strategy
- A working framework for thinking about European security and the credibility of NATO commitments
- A better-calibrated read on Russia, Ukraine, and the wider security order in Europe
- An informed perspective on Germany’s strategic posture and its implications for European business
- Direct exposure to how senior diplomatic figures actually think about risk, signalling, and negotiation
Talks
A structured read of the international security order, drawing on the argument set out in his Brookings book.
Key takeaways:
- How great-power competition is reshaping the operating environment for Western firms
- Where Europe needs to act if it is to remain a serious actor in global politics
- The condition of the transatlantic link and what would strengthen or further fracture it
An assessment of European strategic autonomy, enlargement, and the EU’s capacity to act in a contested global order.
Key takeaways:
- The internal political constraints on European foreign and security policy
- Where the EU has institutional weight and where it remains structurally limited
- What a more capable Europe would actually require from member states
A practitioner’s reading of transatlantic economic and political ties for senior business audiences.
Key takeaways:
- The political drivers behind US trade, technology, and investment policy
- Where European businesses are most exposed to transatlantic friction
- How to read Washington signals from a European boardroom
Videos
Books
Fees
| EUR | GBP | USD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Country | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| Asia Pacific | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| Europe | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| Middle East & Africa | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| South America | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| United Kingdom | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| US East Coast | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| US West Coast | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| Virtual | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |