On 15 September, International Day of Democracy, a public panel discussion was held under the title ‘Comprehensive Security: Strategies for Resilience in Democracies. A Comparison of Germany and Switzerland’. The discussion centred on the question of how democracies can become more resilient in the face of growing security, economic and societal risks. It became clear …
To mark the 80th anniversary of North Rhine-Westphalia, business leaders and North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Ministry of Defense Sebastian Hartmann, Chairman of the German Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee Armin Laschet, and Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, discussed the state’s future role in the European security architecture. …
As part of a panel discussion organised by AIA NRW in collaboration with the der Bonner Akademie für Forschung und Lehre Praktischer Politik (BAPP) and the Stiftung Bundeskanzler-Adenauer-Haus, political scientist Prof. Dr Gerlinde Groitl, historian Prof. Dr Friedrich Kießling and retired General Jörg Vollmer discussed the ‘turning point’ in security policy and its historical and …
Geopolitics Between Climate Change and Global Realignment A public evening event, organised as a joint initiative between the Academy and IDOS, explored the complex interplay between geopolitics and environmental change. The event formed part of the City of Bonn’s ‘May of Science’ initiative. The focus was on two current crisis regions and geopolitical hotspots: the …
Can cities save democracy? This admittedly deliberately provocative question was discussed during a panel discussion organised by the AIA at the Haus der Bilder in Bonn City Library. The event was part of our annual theme ‘Sub-national Diplomacy’. At this event, conceived by AIA Fellow Tamara Ehs in collaboration with the Academy, the panellists agreed …
Values, Weapons, Reality. Germany’s Responsibility in Peace Processes On Thursday evening, November 20, an evening event was held at the Old Town Hall in Bonn to conclude this year’s Bonn Symposium. It was organized by the Development and Peace Foundation, with the Academy of International Affairs as this year’s cooperation partner. The event consisted of …
From October 29 to November 1, 2025, the ninth International Security Forum Bonn (ISFB) took place, organized by the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) at the University of Bonn. The AIA NRW was once again a cooperation partner this year and participated with its team and fellows in the discussions on …
John Horack, Vice President for Research and inaugural holder of the Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Policy at Ohio State University, visited the Academy to discuss the future of transatlantic cooperation in space. In his keynote speech, he reviewed the history of space travel, focusing in particular on the contribution made by German engineers. He …
After many politicians long assumed that economic globalization would bring peace and prosperity, we are now seeing increasing tensions in international trade policy. Measures sold by governments as protection for domestic industry mean that many companies are faced with higher costs for imported materials and goods. Increasing protectionism and the tendency to seal off entire …