International Security Forum Bonn 2022
September 29 - October 2, 2022
The International Security Forum Bonn, since many years, serves as a platform to convene distinguished international experts and practitioners of security and foreign policy to debate the future of transatlantic relations and key challenges in international politics. The aim is to identify ways and means for a successful German, European and transatlantic foreign and security policy and to develop and discuss comprehensive strategic solutions to pressing security challenges.
From 29 September to 2 October 2022, the ISFB will take place for the seventh time in the UN and federal city as the most significant international security conference in North Rhine-Westphalia and all neighboring federal states. After two years of digital/hybrid implementation during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, in 2022, the ISFB will again be conducted entirely in person.
The ISFB is composed of a transatlantic conference day, the Main Day (on Sept. 29), which focuses primarily on traditional security policy issues, and the new Bonn Future Lab on Strategic Foresight (Sept. 30 - Oct. 02).
The International Security Forum Bonn 2022 will take place under the patronage of Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst. The Main Day under the title "Zeitenwende - A New Era in International Relations and Security Cooperation", international experts will gather in Bonn to discuss the future of transatlantic relations in the shadow of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. What transformations await the Transatlantic Alliance and German, American and European foreign and security policy in the face of Russian acts of violence on the EU's borders? Which thematic issues, but also which regions and developments there, will be of decisive importance for the alliance and the security of its members in the coming years? The experts will also discuss the growing problem of antisemitism from a global perspective. What does this phenomenon imply not only for society but also for transnational security cooperation and the fight against antisemitism? Another panel will focus middle powers. Getting into the shadow of debates about Great Power dynamics, the experts will elaborate what new opportunities do middle power bring to security cooperation in the face of geopolitical upheavals.
The Bonn Future Lab is a new multi-day format consisting of two core segments: First, an international conference day, which will focus on global megatrends, especially from a security but also from a development perspective (in 2022: "Climate Change and Security"). In a second step, this international conference day will be combined with a Strategic Foresight Workshop, in which the techniques and methods of strategic foresight will be conveyed to young multipliers ("decision-makers of the day after tomorrow"), who have previously gained an insight into the current scientific debates through the expert discussions with renowned national and international experts. The Bonn Future Lab is part of the project Sicherheitsforschung.NRW.
More information about this year’s International Security Forum can be found below.
Main Day: "Zeitenwende" - A New Era in International Relations and Security Cooperation
Thursday, September 29, 2022
10.30 a.m.
Registration and Coffee
11.30 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch
Rector, University of Bonn
11.35 a.m.
Introduction
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie
Henry Kissinger Professor for Security and Strategic Studies and Director of CASSIS, University of Bonn
Opening Remarks
Hendrik Wüst (digital)
Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Karl Kaiser (digital)
Former Adjunct Professor for Public Policy and Senior Fellow, Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Angus Robertson MSP (digital)
Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Scottish Government, Edinburgh
12.05 p.m.
Panel Discussion I
"Religion, Conflict and Politics – A View from both Sides of the Atlantic"
Keynote Speech
Prof. Dr. Scott Appleby
Marilyn Keough Dean, Keough School of Global Affairs, Professor of History, University of Notre Dame/Indiana
Discussion
Prof. Dr. Josefina Echavarría Alvarez
Director of the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM), Associate Professor of the Practice, University of Notre Dame/Indiana
Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber
Professor of History and International Affairs, University of Aberdeen
Chair
Prof. Dr. Colin Barr
Director, Clingen Family Center for the Study of Modern Ireland, Professor of Modern Irish History, University of Notre Dame/Indiana
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie
Henry Kissinger Professor for Security and Strategic Studies and Director of CASSIS, University of Bonn
1.30 p.m.
Lunch Break
2.15 p.m.
Panel Discussion II
"Antisemitism as a Growing Problem in an Age of Uncertainty - A Global Perspective"
Impulse Statement
Dr. Felix Klein
Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, Berlin
Statement
Dr. Wilhelm Sandrisser
Deputy Director General – Head of Security, Psychological Service, Security Academy, Austrian Ministry of the Interior, Vienna
Discussion
Mag. Lisa Fellhofer
Director, Austrian Fund for the Documentation of Religiously Motivated Political Extremism, Vienna
Dr. Remko Leemhuis
Director, AJC Berlin Lawrence & Lee Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations, Berlin
Chair
Dr. Mayssoun Zein Al Din
Executive Director, Academy of International Affairs NRW, Bonn
3.45 p.m.
Coffee Break
4.15 p.m.
Impulse statements
"The Impact of Current Global Challenges on the Transatlantic Agenda"
Jürgen Trittin
Member of the German Bundestag, Spokesman on Foreign Affairs of the B90/The Greens Parliamentary Group, Berlin
"Consequences of Global Power Shifts for Transatlantic Defense Cooperation"
Jan Techau
Head, Speechwriting Unit, Federal Ministry of Defence, Berlin
4.45 p.m.
Panel Discussion III
"Zeitenwende" and the Future of Transatlantic Relations
Discussion
Dr. Andrew B. Denison
Director of Transatlantic Networks, Königswinter
Prof. Dr. Stephen Gethins
Professor of Practice in International Relations and Strategic Adviser on External Relations, University of St. Andrews
Dr. Elisabeth Hauschild
Senior Vice President External Affairs, Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG, Berlin
Dr. Seth A. Johnston
Visiting Professor in the Center for American Studies at Heidelberg University (Germany), adjunct faculty in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army.
Chair
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie,
Henry Kissinger Professor for Security and Strategic Studies and Director of CASSIS, University of Bonn
6.15 p.m.
Break
6.30 p.m.
Panel Discussion IV
"Tech middle powers in the geopolitical storm: new opportunities for strategic cooperation?"
Discussion
Dr. Gedaliah Afterman
Head of the Asia Policy Program at the Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy, Reichman University, Israel
Christiane Heidbrink
Research Fellow, Center for Global Studies, University of Bonn
Seung-jae HUH
Consul-General of the South Korean Embassy’s branch office in Bonn
Dr. Narayanappa Janardhan
Senior Research Fellow, Anwar Gargash Academy, Abu Dhabi
Chair
Andrea Rotter
Head of the Department Foreign and Security Policy, Hans Seidel-Stiftung, Munich
8.00 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Prof. Dr. Maximilian Mayer
Junior-Professor of International Relations and Global Politics of Technology, Institute for Political Science and Sociology and Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies, University of Bonn
8:30 p.m.
Dinner Debate (Invitation Only)
“ 'Zeitenwende' and strategic change: a new era for Paris and Berlin?"
Welcoming Remarks
Dr. Matthieu Osmont
Director of the French Institute in Bonn, Attaché for academic cooperation at the French Embassy in Germany
Impulse Statement
Jean-Louis Gergorin
Owner of JLG Strategy and Senior Lecturer at the Institut d’etudes politiques de Paris (Sciences Po)
Prof. Joachim Bitterlich
Ambassador (ret) and Professor at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP Europe)
Chair
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie
Henry Kissinger Professor for Security and Strategic Studies and Director of CASSIS, University of Bonn
Friday, September 30, 2022
10.00 a.m.
Opening & Welcoming Remarks
Dr. Enrico Fels
CASSIS Bonn
Prof. Dr. Annette Scheersoi
Vice Rector for Sustainability
Prof. Dr. Volker Kronenberg
Dean of the Faculty of Art
10.30 a.m.
Keynote Speech
“The Nexus of Climate Change and Security: Between Conflict and Cooperation”
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Scheffran
PI Cluster of Excellence “Climate, Climate Change and Society”, Hamburg University
11.30 a.m.
Input Session 1
"The Nexus of Climate Change and Security in a New Epoch of Geopolitics"
Laura Birkman
The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies
Shiloh Fetzek
International Institute for Strategic Studies, Washington DC
Yana Popkostova
European Union Institute for Security Studies, Paris
Dr. Frank Umbach
European European Cluster for Climate Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) at CASSIS
Chair
Dr. Marian Feist
German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
1.00 p.m.
Lunch
2.30 p.m.
Input Session 2
"Tackling Climate Security – Governance, Actors, Tools"
Prof. Dr. Brahma Chellaney
Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
Dr. Angélique Palle
Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l'Ecole Militaire, Paris
Prof. Dr. Susanne Schmeier
IHE Delft
Dr. Paola Vesco
Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
Chair
Dr. Florian Krampe
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
5.00 p.m.
Panel Discussion (public, digital)
"Assessing Climate and Security Research in North Rhine-Westphalia"
Introduction
"Mapping Security Research Made in NRW" (Sicherheitsforschung.NRW)
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie
CASSIS Bonn
Discussion
Dr. Ines Dombrowsky
IDOS, Bonn
Prof. Dr. Jakob Rhyner
Bonn Alliance
Dr. Lukas Hermwille
Wuppertal Institut
Prof. Dr. Shen Xiaomeng
United Nations University, Bonn
Chair
Dr. Mayssoun Zein Al Din
AIA NRW
Strategic Foresight Workshop, Oct. 1 & 2 (in German, by invitation only)
Saturday, October 1, 2022
9.00 a.m.
Wake-Up Call (public, hybrid)
"The Importance and Implementation of Strategic Foresight"
Dr. Philine Warnke
Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung
Chair
Prof. James Bindenagel
CASSIS Bonn
11.00 a.m.
Introduction & Recap
Methodological introduction
Results of the trend analysis
11.30 a.m.
Uncertainty Analysis
Plenum
2.30 p.m.
Lunch Input (public, hybrid)
“Future Global Megatrends, Development Cooperation and Security”
Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge
IDOS
3.30 p.m.
Scenario Development
Sunday, October 2, 2022
9.00 a.m.
Wake-Up Call (public, hybrid)
"A View on Climate Change and Security from the Regions"
Sebastian Vagt
Friedrich Naumann foundation in Morocco
Dr. Vanessa Gottwick
Center for Intelligence and Security Studies at the Universität der Bundeswehr
11.00 a.m.
Recap
Plenum
11.30 a.m.
Input: Backcasting
12.00 p.m.
Strategy Development I
In small groups
2.00 p.m.
Strategy Development II
In small groups
3.30 p.m.
Presentation and Discussion of the Strategies
Plenum
5.00 p.m.
Debriefing
