Areas of Expertise

  • Security and defense policy
  • NATO
  • GSVP
  • Germany’s Zeitenwende
  • Armaments policy
  • Geopolitics

Short Bio

Dr. Patrick Keller, born in 1978, is head of DGAP’s Center for Security and Defense.

Previously, he served as head of policy and communications at BDLI, the German Aerospace Industries Association. Before that, he spent six years at the German Federal Ministry of Defense, including as chief speechwriter to Ministers Dr. Ursula von der Leyen and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. He also served as vice president of the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS).

From 2008 to 2018, Keller was coordinator for foreign and security policy at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Prior to that, he was a research associate at the Institute of Political Science and the North American Studies Program at the University of Bonn.

He studied political science in Bonn and at Georgetown University, and received his doctorate (Dr. phil.) from the University of Bonn. He has been a fellow at German and US think tanks and a lecturer at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen.

Keller has delivered more than 300 lectures at think tanks, government institutions, and universities in over 20 countries. His essays on international security and transatlantic affairs have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Survival, Internationale Politik, and the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

He is the father of three children, lives in Berlin, and enjoys the works of Peter Handke and American wrestling.

Languages

German, English

[Last updated: July 2025]

Dr. Patrick Keller

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Publications

Ein fehlgeleiteter „Friedensplan“ und seine Folgen

Author/s
Dr. Patrick Keller
Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff
Amerikaner und Russen wollten Frieden schließen auf Kosten der Ukraine und Europas. Das konnten die Europäer verhindern. Nun müssen sie handeln, um sich Respekt zu verschaffen.
Kommentar

Anmerkungen zur Wehrpflichtdebatte

Eine Wehrpflicht ist notwendig, das folgt aus den NATO-Personalplanungen. Entscheidend ist aber auch: das Signal eines Bewusstseinswandels.

Author/s
Dr. Patrick Keller
IP
Creation date

Time for Straight Talking on German Security

Germany needs to shape its own security context and that starts with its politicians speaking honestly with the public about risks and threats, and taking clear foreign policy stances. 

Author/s
Dr. Patrick Keller
IPQ
Toward a New German Foreign Policy
Creation date

Stürmische Zeiten am East River

Warum Deutschland sich in der UNO stärker engagieren muss – am Beispiel Blauhelm-Missionen und Flüchtlingspolitik

Author/s
Dr. Jana Puglierin
Céline-Agathe Caro
Dustin Dehéz
et al.
Externe Publikationen

In the media