Speaker

Dr Volker Perthes is an internationally renowned scholar, commentator, and former UN diplomat. He is currently associated as a Senior Distinguished Fellow with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). 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. Prior to this, from 2005 to 2020, Perthes was Executive Chairman and Director of SWP, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. In 2015-2016, he also served as UN Assistant Secretary-General and Senior Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria. Perthes earned his doctoral degree in 1990 from the University of Duisburg. He was an assistant professor at the American University of Beirut from 1991 to 1993, a professor at Humboldt University Berlin from 2006 to 2019, and also taught international relations at other schools. Perthes is a renowned scholar, speaker and policy advisor, and author of numerous books and articles on the Middle East, Europe, and international affairs. His latest book “The Multipolarisation of the World. A Geopolitical Guide” was published (in German) by Suhrkamp-Verlag, Berlin, in 2026. Perthes is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Delphi Economic Forum.