Media Contributions

Verpasste Chance für die Diplomatie: Warum der deutsche Außenminister hätte reisen müssen¹

In his latest commentary, Maximilian Mayer argues that the last-minute cancellation of Johann Wadephul's planned trip to China is a symptom of a deeper strategic disorientation in Germany's China policy. At a time of global uncertainty, such a visit would have provided an opportunity to rebuild lost trust and to advance Germany's strategic interests. Instead, Berlin's reactive and distrust-driven approach has narrowed both its diplomatic and economic room for maneuver. The article emphasizes that a forward-looking China policy requires sustained dialogue, diplomatic presence and "strategic empathy".

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Matthias Herdegen in an interview with Der Spiegel on October 8, 2025²

In an interview with Der Spiegel on October 8, 2025, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Matthias Herdegen commented on the defense powers of the German Armed Forces and the debate surrounding amendments to the German constitution.

Dr. Joachim Weber comments on drone defense in Germany on n-tv³

On October 6th, Dr. Joachim Weber criticized the German government's long-delayed procurement of drone defense systems on n-tv. Sparking the discussion was the increase in drone sightings over several European airports in recent months.

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Prof. Dr. Anna Katharina Hornidge in Taz article on October 3, 2025, on Katja Dörner's election defeat⁴

In an interview with Taz on October 3, Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge analyzes the Green Party's election defeat in Bonn against the backdrop of transport policy.

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Dr. Joachim Weber on Phoenix and n-tv regarding drone sightings over Denmark⁵

On September 25th and 26th, Dr. Joachim Weber spoke on Phoenix vor Ort and n-tv about the recent drone sightings over Denmark. Since the beginning of the week, several unknown drones had caused air traffic over Danish airports to come to a standstill.

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Prof. Dr. Caja Thimm in panel and interview on digital sovereignty at the “Conference Education Digitalization”⁶

Prof. Dr. Caja Thimm, Professor of Media Studies and Intermediality at the University of Bonn, took part in a panel discussion on digital sovereignty in German schools on September 24th, 2025, and subsequently gave an interview to heise online. The discussion took place during the Conference on Education and Digitalization (Konferenz Bildung Digitalisierung, KonfBD) in Berlin.

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Dr. Frank Umbach assesses the current state of US-Ukrainian relations on FOCUS Online⁷

On September 24th, Dr. Frank Umbach was mentioned in the article ““Has important information”: What could be behind Zelensky's mysterious Trump statement” by FOCUS Online. In it, the security expert assessed the current state of US-Ukrainian relations with regard to a possible strengthening of US support for Ukraine.

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Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder on ARD's Tagesgespräch program analyzing Russia's military provocations⁸

On September 24th, Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder appeared on ARD alpha's Tagesgespräch program to explain Russia's violations of NATO airspace from a security policy perspective and to classify them in relation to previous examples of Russian military provocations.

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