While the topic of security and insecurity has recently been discussed in particular with regard to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, it also plays a central role in other regions and areas. At an event organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and IDOS on 24 January, politicians and experts from Germany as well as from countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) reflected on how German cooperation with the MENA region can be shaped in the era of the „turning point“ declared by Chancellor Scholz. The participants in the panel discussion Niels Annen, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Lea Bou Khater, International Labour Organization (ILO), Hamza Hamouchene, Transnational Institute, Rabab El Mahdi, American University in Cairo, and Anna-Katharina Hornidge, IDOS, reflected on how Germany can support the just transition in the MENA region, especially against the backdrop of the Russian war of aggression and the looming global food and energy crisis. Thomas Claes, FES, moderated the panel. Anna-Katharina Hornidge also spoke about security policy aspects in Africa in her keynote speech at an event organised by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation on 25 January. The focus was primarily on climate change and its consequences for the security and development of the continent. Together with Prof. Dr Rolf Seitenmeier, Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO), Jochen Renger, GIZ, and Sebastian Vagt, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Ms Hornidge reflected on the ongoing discussions on Germany’s National Security Strategy, analogous discussions at the European level and asked how they relate to the recently published Africa Strategy of the BMZ and the United Nations‘ Agenda 2030. Universities are also an important actor in the context of increasing insecurity: In an event organised by CASSIS of the University of Bonn and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) on 25 January, Prof. Dr Michael Hoch, Rector of the University of Bonn, Prof. Dr Joybrato Mukherjee, President of the DAAD, Vito Cecere, Federal Foreign Office, Armin Reinartz, BMBF, and Anna-Katharina Hornidge discussed the role of universities and the place of their research in Germany’s security architecture.
