Speaker

Dr Volker Perthes is an internationally renowned scholar, commentator, and former UN diplomat. He is currently associated with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) as a Distinguished Senior Fellow. At the United Nations, he served, among other things, as Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Sudan and Head of UNITAMS (Feb 2021-Oct 2023), and as Head of the Independent Strategic Review of UNAMI (Iraq) (Oct 2023-March 2024) with the rank of Under-Secretary-General. From 2005 to 2020, Perthes was the Director and CEO of Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. He also taught as a professor of international relations at Humboldt-University Berlin. Perthes has authored numerous books and academic articles;he writes regularly in various newspapers and is a frequent media commentator. Most of his publications have focused on current geopolitical dynamics and international institutions;Europe and its international environment;and the Middle East.