The German Council on Foreign Relations (german: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e. V. (DGAP)) is

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

's national

foreign policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...

and policy research institute. As an independent, private,

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers s ...

and

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organisation, the Council actively takes part in political decision-making and promotes the understanding of German foreign policy and

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...

. It serves as forum for foreign policy and facilitates a comprehensive network of political,

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

decision makers. The institution aims at linking foreign politicians to the German public.

History

The association was founded in 1955 in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

. The model for the foundation was in many respects the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

in New York and the

Chatham House Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is an independent policy institute headquartered in London. Its stated mission is to provide commentary on world events and offer solutions to global challenges. It is ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The first president of the newly founded DGAP was the CDU politician, diplomat and entrepreneur

Günther Henle Günther, Guenther, Ginther, Gunther, and the variants Günter, Guenter, Guenther, Ginter, and Gunter, are Germanic names derived from ''Gunthere, Gunthari'', composed of '' *gunþiz'' "battle" (Old Norse ''gunnr'') and ''heri, hari'' "army". Gun ...

. In Bonn, the DGAP was seated in the villa at Joachimstraße 7 between 1956 and 1959 and then in the Villa Schaumburg-Lippe-Straße 6 between 1965 and 1966. In 1965 it acquired the former House of Craftsmen at Adenauerallee 131a in Bonn, including the Villa Adenauerallee 131, which in later years served as a logo of DGAP, for the first time its own building. It served as headquarters of the DGAP from April 1966 to 1999. The current seat of the DGAP is the building of the Yugoslav embassy in the embassy district in Berlin-Tiergarten.

Activities

Internationally known as the "German Council on Foreign Relations", the DGAP sees itself as a practical

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

offering demand-driven policy advice on a scientific basis. It works to actively influence the foreign policy opinion-forming at all levels. Its work is aimed at decision-makers in German politics, business, public administration, in NGOs, in the military and to the general public. DGAP publishes the bimonthly journal ''

Internationale Politik ''Internationale Politik'' (''IP'') is the magazine of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für auswärtige Politik (DGAP, German Society on Foreign Relations). It covers contemporary topics in international affairs under editor-in-chief Martin Bialecki ...

''. Also, it is among other organisers of the EU-Russia Forum. The Council provides: * A platform for discussions at conferences and in study group meetings as well as at public events. * Policy oriented analyses from research institute fellows. * Authoritative publications on contemporary topics by its journal ''

'', the ''Jahrbuch Internationale Politik'' as well as in the publications from the research institute. * Expert and extensive

documentation Documentation is any communicable material that is used to describe, explain or instruct regarding some attributes of an object, system or procedure, such as its parts, assembly, installation, maintenance and use. As a form of knowledge manageme ...

by its

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

and documentation section. High-level guest speakers have in recent years included

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

(2006),

Christine Lagarde Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (; née Lallouette, ; born 1 January 1956) is a French politician and lawyer who has been serving as President of the European Central Bank since 2019. She previously served as the 11th managing director of the ...

(2012),

Ali Akbar Salehi Ali Akbar Salehi ( fa, علی‌اکبر صالحی, ; born 24 March 1949) is an Iranian academic, diplomat and former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, who served in this position from 2009 to 2010 and also from 2013 to 2021. He se ...

(2013),

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to ...

(2014), Mohammad Javad Zarif (2015),

Paolo Gentiloni Paolo Gentiloni Silveri (; born 22 November 1954) is an Italian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Economy in the von der Leyen Commission since 1 December 2019. He previously served as prime minister of Italy from Decembe ...

(2015),

Volodymyr Groysman Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman, sometimes transliterated as Volodymyr Borysovych Hroisman ( uk, Володи́мир Бори́сович Гро́йсман; born 20 January 1978), is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukrai ...

(2018),

Nikos Kotzias Nikolaos Kotzias, GCM ( el, Νικόλαος Κοτζιάς; born 21 December 1950) is a Greek politician and diplomat who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2018. He was Foreign Minister from 23 September 2015 until his resign ...

(2018) and

Nirmala Sitharaman Nirmala Sitharaman (born 18 August 1959) is an Indian economist and politician serving as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of India since 2019. She is a member of the Rajya Sabha, upper house of the Indian Parliament, since 2014. ...

(2019).

Network

The DGAP is a member of the

European Movement Germany European Movement Germany (EM Germany) is a non-partisan network of interest groups in the field of EU politics in Germany. It cooperates closely with all EU stakeholders on a national and European level, most particularly with the German Federal ...

Controversy

In 2019,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...

announced that it had detected

cyberattack A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricte ...

s, which occurred between September and December 2018, targeting employees of the DGAP; they are believed to have originated from a group called Strontium.

Governance

Leadership

* 1955-1973 –

* 1973-1981 – Kurt Birrenbach * 1987-1993 – Christian Peter Henle * 1993-1999 – Werner Lamby * 1999-2001 – Ulrich Cartellieri * 2001-2003 –

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

* 2003-2005 –

Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim Alfred Paul Ernst Freiherr von Oppenheim (May 5, 1934 – January 5, 2005), known in America as Alfred Oppenheim, was a German billionaire and banker. Born in Cologne, Germany, Oppenheim was a descendant of Salomon Oppenheim, Jr., who founded th ...

* 2005-2019 – Arend Oetker * 2019–present –

Tom Enders Thomas Enders (born December 21, 1958) is a German business executive who served as the chief executive of Airbus (formerly EADS, Airbus Group) from 2012 until 2019. Since 2019, he has been the president of the German Council on Foreign Relation ...

Funding

DGAP is financed through the contributions of its members, acquired project funds and contributions from sponsors and patrons, including among others, the

Federal Foreign Office , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York St ...

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

, the Robert Bosch Foundation, and the

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a st ...

.''DGAP Webseite''
"Förderer"
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Notable members

Prominent members are the former foreign minister

, the former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of Germany

Richard von Weizsäcker Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 15 April 1920 – 31 January 2015) was a German politician ( CDU), who served as President of Germany from 1984 to 1994. Born into the aristocratic Weizsäcker family, who were part of the German nobili ...

, as well as some other famous German politicians and academics

Volker Rühe Volker Rühe (born 25 September 1942) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as German Defence minister from 1 April 1992, succeeding Gerhard Stoltenberg during the first government of a reunified Germany in ...

Günter Verheugen Günter Verheugen (born 28 April 1944) is a German politician who served as European Commissioner for Enlargement from 1999 to 2004, and then as European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry from 2004 to 2010. He was also one of five vice pr ...

, Klaus von Dohnanyi, Eberhard Diepgen, Theodor Waigel,

Michael Glos Michael Glos (born 14 December 1944) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who served as Minister for Economics and Technology in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 22 November 2005 until 10 February 2009. Ea ...

Friedbert Pflüger Friedbert Pflüger (born 6 March 1955) is a former German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was a Member of the German Bundestag (1990–2006). He was Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry of Defence (2005–2006), an ...

Rudolf Scharping Rudolf Albert Scharping (born 2 December 1947) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was from 1991 to 1994 the 6th Minister President of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate and from 1998 to 2002 Federal Minis ...

Dieter Schulte Dieter Schulte (13 January 1940 – 3 September 2022)Manfred Stolpe Manfred Stolpe (16 May 1936 – 29 December 2019) was Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs of Germany from 2002 until 2005. Before, he was Ministerpräsident of the state Brandenburg from 1990 until 2002. Stolpe was, after ...

Rita Süssmuth Rita Süssmuth ( ''née'' Kickuth; ; born 17 February 1937) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). She served as the 10th President of the Bundestag. From 1985 to 1988, she served as Federal Minister for Youth, Family ...

, and

Antje Vollmer Antje Vollmer (born 31 May 1943) is a German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens. From 1994 to 2005, she was one of the vice presidents of the German parliament, the ''Bundestag''. Education and early career Vollmer was born in Lübbeck ...

References

External links

Homepage

Homepage "Internationale Politik"
{{DEFAULTSORT:German Council on Foreign Relations International relations Think tanks based in Germany