On December 5, the most important foreign policy challenges for Germany and Europe were discussed at this year’s Berlin Foreign Policy Forum by Körber-Stiftung in cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office. What are the consequences of the uncertain domestic situation in Germany for Europe? How will the transatlantic relations develop? What are the security prospects for Europe’s Eastern and South-Eastern neighborhood? Do historical lessons from the Peace of Westphalia offer possible solutions for conflicts in the Middle East? How can a military escalation with North Korea be prevented?

Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel opened the Berlin Foreign Policy Forum with a keynote speech, followed by a discussion on the future of the European project with Sir Julian King, EU Commissioner for the Security Union, Niels Annen, Member of the German Bundestag, Elmar Brok, Member of the European Parliament, as well as Steven Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for The New York Times in Europe, and French political scientist Dominique Moïsi. Cem Özdemir, Co-Chair of Alliance 90/The Greens, addressed key questions of German and European foreign policy in an interview with DER SPIEGEL.

At the Berlin Foreign Policy Forum, Körber-Stiftung launched its new foreign policy publication THE BERLIN PULSE. THE BERLIN PULSE includes the results of a new, representative survey on foreign and security policy, asking Germans about their opinion for instance on increasing defense spending or France’s reform proposals for the EU. Prominent international authors, such as Condoleezza Rice, Jens Stoltenberg and Timothy Garton Ash, outline their expectations towards German foreign policy. You can find all results and contributions here: www.theberlinpulse.org.

Radmila Šekerinska, Minister of Defence of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, discussed the security prospects for the countries in Europe’s Eastern and South-Eastern neighborhood with Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federal Assembly, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO Secretary General, as well as Michael Georg Link, Member of the German Bundestag.

Afterwards, Kenneth R. Weinstein, President of the Hudson Institute, and Dr. Nathalie Tocci, Special Advisor to High Representative Federica Mogherini, debated the future of transatlantic relations.

In the afternoon, historical lessons from the Peace of Westphalia for current conflicts in the Middle East were under discussion. Among others, Seyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour, Deputy Foreign Minister for Education and Research of the Islamic Republic of Iran, addressed the question how the Middle East can be stabilized in the long term.

The Berlin Foreign Policy Forum concluded with a discussion about the North Korean nuclear crisis with Russian deputy foreign minister Igor Morgulov, Special Advisor to the President of Korea Chung-in Moon, as well as Fu Ying, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress in Beijing and Roderich Kiesewetter, Member of the German Bundestag.

Once a year, the Berlin Foreign Policy Forum gathers an international group of 250 eminent politicians, government representatives, experts and journalists. More than half of the participants come from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. Since its initiation in 2011, the Berlin Foreign Policy Forum has become the most important forum for foreign and security policy debates in Berlin.