Seminar Abstract

For decades, at least through the Cold War and into the US-led invasion of Iraq, the Middle East formed a highly conflicted, but rather durable “regional security complex” (Barry Buzan). It was defined by the geopolitical conflict between East and West, the region’s oil-dependent political economy, and rather stagnant political systems. Change was limited, but the “stability” the regional states seemed to provide was a false one at best and today, we see a region in flux.

About the Speaker 

Volker Perthes has been Executive Chairman and Director of SWP (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik), the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, since October 2005.

In 2015/2016 he also served as UN Assistant Secretary General and Senior Adviser to the UN Special Envoy for Syria; from 2016 – 2018 he chaired the Ceasefire Task Force (CTF) for Syria on behalf of the UN.

Volker Perthes earned his doctoral degree in 1990 and his habilitation in 1999 from the University of Duisburg. He was an assistant professor at the American University of Beirut from 1991 to 1993, and has been teaching International Relations at Humboldt University Berlin and other schools.

Volker Perthes serves on various national and international bodies such as the Scientific Advisory Council of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) (as chairperson), the International Advisory Council of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS) or the Robert Bosch International Advisory Council.

Dr Perthes is a frequent commentator in German and international media on German and European foreign and security policy, international relations and geopolitics, and regional dynamics and transitions in the Middle East.