The war of aggression by Russian forces against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, which violated international law, and the attack by Hamas on Israeli territory on 7 October 2023, have once again highlighted the need for a situation picture based on intelligence information for a forward-looking security policy.
The aim of the research project is to record the changing role of the Federal Intelligence Service and to determine its contribution to foreign and security policy decision-making processes in the Federal Republic of Germany, in particular its contribution to the security and military situation picture, as well as its role in the formulation and fulfilment of the executive tasks of the Federal Government, and in this way to determine the resulting need for adaptation in German foreign and security policy in implementation of the systemic change associated with the turnaround. 
Particular attention will be paid to the terrorist threat, as seen in the changed security situation after 9/11 in 2001 and in the wake of the Bundeswehr's foreign missions in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Africa and in connection with the current war in Ukraine. The question of intelligence service control by the German Bundestag and the debate on the necessity of an overall national security provision (‘networked security’) play a special role. 
The individual aspects of the topic will be discussed in non-public sessions with contemporary witnesses. The intention is to incorporate the results of the research project in a report and also to publish them in a monograph in the course of 2026. The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Project management and contact person: Ulrich Schlie (uschlie@uni-bonn.de)