Wolfgang Ischinger was Chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) from 2008 to 2022 and has since been President of the Board of Trustees of the Munich Security Conference Foundation.
After studying law and international relations in Bonn, Geneva and Boston, Wolfgang Ischinger worked in the office of the UN Secretary-General in New York before joining the Foreign Service in 1975. There, from 1982 to 1990, he served as a personal aide to the then Federal Foreign Minister Genscher. From 1993 to 1995, he was Head of the Planning Staff and, from 1995, Political Director at the Federal Foreign Office. From 1998 to 2001, Wolfgang Ischinger served as State Secretary, and from 2001 to 2006 as Ambassador in Washington, followed by a posting in London until 2008.
In 2007, he represented the EU in the Troika negotiations on Kosovo, and in 2008 he took over as Chairman of the Munich Security Conference. Under his leadership, the Security Conference grew from a staff of two to a workforce of approximately 70 permanent employees, with a budget of over 15 million euros per year funded by partners and numerous international sponsors. From 2008 to 2014, he also served as Chief Representative of Allianz SE, Munich.
Wolfgang Ischinger’s Speaking Topics
- The Global Power Shift
- Security policy, the financial crisis and resource scarcity: reflections on the geopolitical situation
- Europe and global challenges
- Diplomacy and power: on the use of military means in international politics
- Shaping change: the international order in times of global power shifts
In 2014, former Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger represented the OSCE in efforts to promote national dialogue in Ukraine, and in 2015 he chaired the OSCE’s ‘Panel of Eminent Persons’ on strengthening the European security architecture.
Wolfgang Ischinger is a co-founder and partner of Agora Strategy Group AG, a geostrategic consultancy based in Munich, and advises companies, international organisations and governments on political and strategic issues. He teaches at the Hertie School in Berlin and is an honorary professor at the University of Tübingen.
Among other things, he is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and sits on various supervisory and advisory boards, for example at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the Atlantik-Brücke, the Yalta European Strategy Group (YES) of the American Academy, Berlin, and the Atlantic Council, Washington D.C. He is also a member of the international advisory board of Investcorp, London, and serves on the supervisory and advisory boards of other international companies.
Former Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger is a highly regarded discussion partner and much sought-after speaker on foreign and security policy issues. With his level-headed and well-informed approach, Wolfgang Ischinger impresses audiences with his expertise in his lectures.