The American Council on Germany will host a breakfast briefing in Washington D.C. with Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger.
Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger (1978 Young Leader) was the Chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) from 2008 until 2022 and is now President of the Foundation Council of the Munich Security Conference Foundation. He also teaches at the Hertie School in Berlin as Senior Professor for Security Policy and Diplomatic Practice. He advises the private sector, governments, and international organizations on strategic issues.
Ambassador 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, he 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 during the Kosovo crisis in 1998/99. In October 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 also represented the EU in the Troika negotiations on the future of Kosovo.
Wolfgang Ischinger studied law at the universities of Bonn and Geneva and obtained his law degree in 1972. He earned a MA degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and did postgraduate work at Harvard Law School. He is married to author and journalist Jutta Falke-Ischinger, and has three children. He is a licensed skiing instructor and loves mountaineering and hunting.