H.E. Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger

German Diplomat, Munich Security Conference (Former Chair), President of the MSC foundation

His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger is the President of the Munich Security Conference Foundation Council. He served as Chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) from 2008 to 2022. He teaches at the Hertie School in Berlin and the University of Tübingen.

His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger began his diplomatic career in 1973 in the cabinet of the UN Secretary-General in New York. In 1975, he joined the Federal Republic of Germany’s Foreign Service. In 1993, he was named Director of Policy Planning and in 1995 Political Director. In this role, His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger led the German delegations during the Bosnian Peace negotiations in Dayton/Ohio in 1995, the negotiations on the NATO-Russia Founding Act in 1996/1997, and the Kosovo crisis in 1998/99. In 1998, he was appointed State Secretary (Deputy Foreign Minister) of the German Federal Foreign Office. From 2001 to 2006, he served as German Ambassador in Washington, DC, and, from 2006 to 2008, in London.

In 2007, he represented the EU in the Troika negotiations on the future of Kosovo. In 2014, Ambassador (ret.) His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger served as the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-In-Office in the Ukraine crisis. In 2015, he chaired the OSCE-mandated “Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security as a Common Project” tasked with providing advice on how to build a more resilient European security architecture.

In 2008, His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger took over the chairmanship of the MSC. Under his leadership, the MSC grew to more than 70 staff members and increased its annual budget to more than 15 million Euros, funded via corporate partnerships and international sponsors.

His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger was also Global Head of Government Relations, at Allianz SE, Munich, from 2008 to 2014, and served on supervisory boards of the Allianz Group.

His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), and serves on several nonprofit boards, including the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the American Academy Berlin, the Atlantik-Brücke, the Yalta European Strategy Group (YES), and the Atlantic Council, Washington D.C. He also serves on the International Advisory Board of Investcorp, London, the Global Advisory Board of Kekst CNC, and the Advisory Board of Palo Alto Networks.

His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger has received numerous honours and awards, including the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Grand Cross with Star). He is a Commander of the French Legion of Honor and was the 2008 recipient of the Leo Baeck Medal. In 2015, His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger was awarded the Manfred Wörner Medal. He has received honorary doctorates from universities in Geneva, Pristina and Yerevan. In 2018, he received the prestigious NunnLugar Award for “Promoting Nuclear Security”. In 2021, he received the Hanns Martin Schleyer-Prize.

His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger studied law at the universities of Bonn and Geneva and obtained his law degree in 1972. He earned an MA degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and did postgraduate work at Harvard Law School, Cambridge/USA. His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger is married to author and journalist Jutta Falke-Ischinger. He has three children. He is a licensed skiing instructor and loves mountaineering and hunting.

His Excellency Mr Wolfgang Ischinger has published widely on foreign and security politics. In 2014, “Towards Mutual Security” edited by him was published. His book “World in Danger”, first published in German in 2018, is now available in English and Romanian.