The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) is combining a festive event on September 24 to celebrate its 70th anniversary with new initiatives to rethink foreign policy in our uncertain times. On the day before that, Young DGAP, its rapidly growing platform for students and young professionals, will host the first Strategic Youth Congress.
Festive Event
On September 24, DGAP will welcome Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as a speaker along with 300 high-level guests to its festive anniversary event in Berlin’s Tiergarten district. Leading voices from politics, business, academia, and civil society, as well as DGAP members and supporters, are expected to attend. Additional speakers will include Peter Leibinger (president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI)), Prof. Veronika Grimm (member of the German Council of Economic Experts and the DGAP Board), and Prof. Timothy Garton Ash (St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford).
New Initiatives
DGAP’s anniversary is both a milestone and a mission. It is a milestone because Germany’s oldest foreign policy institute can look back on decades of respected political research and consulting. It is a mission because, amid a historic epochal shift, the Federal Republic urgently needs foreign policy guidance, strategic ideas, and societal debate. DGAP strives to make a valuable contribution here. During the anniversary event, impulses will be shared by new research clusters on security and defense (which will open in October), geoeconomics and technology (whose new Geo-Tech Forum is in preparation), and the Karl Kaiser Forum for Strategic Issues (which will start in November).
“DGAP will be needed more than ever in the future. Without foreign policy ideas and guidance, Germany will find it difficult to cope with the upheaval in world politics,” emphasizes DGAP President Thomas Enders.
Strategic Youth Congress
The anniversary celebrations will kick off with the Strategic Youth Congress (SYC) on September 23 at the Italian Embassy in Berlin. SYC’s patron is Reem Alabali-Radovan, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.
SYC is the first foreign and security policy conference in Germany that is organized by young people for young people. One hundred fifty young professionals from politics, civil society, the military, academia, and business will discuss key issues for the future. The program includes three panels, eight workshops, and a “Young Foreign Policy Agenda.”
The conference sends an important signal to young people that they can play an active role in shaping foreign policy. Given that the average age of its new members is thirty, DGAP sees itself as the voice of a new generation in foreign policy.
DGAP – 70 Years of Foreign Policy Dialogue
Founded in 1955 by representatives of academia, business, and diplomacy, DGAP is now Germany’s most established foreign policy institute. It has accompanied the Federal Republic for seven decades in all major policy decisions and remains a key source of ideas, network, and platform.
On the occasion of DGAP’s milestone anniversary, a special edition of the journal Internationale Politik (IP) is dedicated to the role of policy advice in times of global upheaval. Learn more about the issue (published in German): Weltdenker – Politikberatung in bewerten Zeiten
Information for Media Representatives
Journalists may attend after obtaining accreditation in advance. Please register at presse@dgap.org by latest September 18, 2025. The number of spaces is limited.
