![Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Stiftung_Wissenschaft_und_Politik_%28SWP%29%2C_logo.svg)
The German Institute for International and Security Affairs (german: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik; SWP) is a German
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
in
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...
and
security studies. A semi-official organization with close links to the federal government, it advises the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...
(the
German parliament
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...
) and the federal government on
foreign and security policy issues, and also advises decision-makers in international organisations relevant to Germany, above all the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
,
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
. SWP is regarded as one of Europe's most influential think tanks in international relations. It is headquartered in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
and incorporated as a foundation.
History and structure
SWP was set up in 1962 in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
. On 21 January 1965, the Bundestag unanimously decided that the German government would become a member of the foundation. In 2001 the headquarters of the foundation and its research institute moved from Ebenhausen near Munich to Berlin. Since then it has been housed in a listed building on Ludwigkirchplatz.
To help it carry out its role as a civil-law foundation, SWP receives institutional funding at a rate determined by the Bundestag. This grant is approved annually on production of a budget by SWP, is paid from the
Chancellery budget and covers all costs generated by SWP's core activity. SWP also conducts special research projects that receive third-party funding. In the financial year 2016, the SWP was federally funded to the tune of 12.3 million
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s. This support was supplemented by 2.53 m from external sponsors.
Every two years, the guiding framework is redrafted by SWP's research department and the institute's leadership, before being submitted to the SWP Council for confirmation and then being put to the vote. Overall, the guiding framework concentrates on general issues in the two-year time frame, with particular reference to the current and foreseeable state of affairs in international politics. It sets specific thematic challenges and topics, for instance the
United Nations’ sustainability goals (SGDs),
refugees and migrants, the dissolution of regional structures in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
, and international
crisis management
Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. The study of crisis management originated with large-scale industrial and envir ...
(examples from the 2017–2018 research framework).
Within the established guiding framework, SWP is free to carry out and structure projects and research as it sees fit. This safeguards SWP's unhindered ability to address long-term issues as well as current events in international politics. Examples include analyses and texts on the crisis in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
; the nuclear agreement with
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
; projects on refugee flows and
development cooperation
Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: developm ...
; and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and Its Regional and Global Conflicts: Domestic Developments, Security Issues and Foreign Affairs.
Governance
Council
The
Council (Stiftungsrat) is SWP's highest supervisory and decision-making body. It has three “benches”:
# “the Bundestag bench”, consisting of one representative of each parliamentary party (currently 4).
# “the Government bench”: at least seven representatives of the federal government at the suggestion of the head of the Chancellery (currently 8).
# “the private bench”: at least seven eminent figures from academia, business and public life (currently 8).
Additionally, there are a president and two vice-presidents. The president and one of the vice-presidents also have to be eminent figures from academia, business or public life; the other vice-presidency is reserved for the head of the Chancellery. While the Chancellery supervises the organization of SWP, the Federal Government does not control its Council. It can neither assume the Council's leadership nor dominate voting majorities: no single “bench” can reach a simple majority by itself. Moreover, the election of members requires a two-thirds majority. The statutes thus deliberately compel the various representatives on the SWP Council to work together.
The President of SWP Council is Nikolaus von Bomhard; his vice-presidents are
Helge Braun
Helge Reinhold Braun (born 18 October 1972) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Between 2018 and 2021, he served as Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the fourth coalition governmen ...
and
Angelika Niebler. The chair of the research advisory committee is Christopher Daase (Frankfurt University).
Directors
* 1998–2005:
Christoph Bertram
Christoph Bertram (born 3 September 1937) is a German journalist who is the director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. He was director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies from 1974 to 1982. He worked f ...
* 2005–2020:
Volker Perthes
Volker Perthes (), born 16 May 1958 in Duisburg-Homberg, Germany) is a German political scientist, academic and writer. Apart from his focus on research, writing and teaching about the Middle East, he was director of the German Institute for Int ...
* 2020–present: Stefan Mair
Research
SWP research is organised into eight divisions totalling about 60 researchers: EU/Europe; Centre for Applied Turkish Studies, International Security;
the Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
;
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
,
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...
; Middle East and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
; Asia; and Global Issues.
There are currently more than 140 staff working at SWP, not counting visiting academics or researchers on fellowships. Following a decision by the SWP Council in January 2001, the staff of the Cologne-based Federal Institute for Russian, Bundesinstitut für Ostwissenschaftliche und Internationale Studien (BIOst) and the department of contemporary research at the Munich-based Institute for Southeast European Studies (SOI) were integrated into SWP.
All staff members of a research division hold university degrees, which tend be aligned with its subject. Among them are
political scientists
This is a list of notable political scientists. See the list of political theorists for those who study political theory. See also political science.
A
* Robert Abelson - Yale University psychologist and political scientist with special int ...
,
lawyers
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicitor, ...
,
economists
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...
, natural scientists,
sociologists
This is a list of sociologists. It is intended to cover those who have made substantive contributions to social theory and research, including any sociological subfield. Scientists in other fields and philosophers are not included, unless at least ...
, and
physicists
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
. Officers of the
German military
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
are also retained to share their expertise in security-related affairs.
SWP publishes all submitted analyses and reports.
“The Day After” project
As part of the project
“The Day After”, the SWP together with the
United States Institute of Peace
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other pea ...
(USIP) gave
Syrian intellectuals and representatives of various Syrian political movements the opportunity to discuss their ideas for the political, constitutional and economic development of Syria following a hypothetical replacement of
Bashar al-Assad's government. In 2011–2012, many governments and observers alike were convinced that the
uprising in Syria might well lead to the overthrow of the president, as it had in Tunisia and Egypt. The results of the project were made public in Syria and internationally via the report “The Day After. Supporting a Democratic Transition in Syria”. The project did not address ideas, plans or preparations for an overthrow or regime change. A number of Syrians subsequently founded an NGO called The Day After to publicise and discuss the results among Syrians, and to contribute to the post-war order through projects in transitional justice mechanisms, document security and national heritage protection.
The “New Power, New Responsibility” project
A paper co-produced with the
German Marshall Fund
The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union.
Founded in 1972 through a gift from the We ...
entitled “New Power, New Responsibility” (November 2012 – September 2013) called on Germany to assume more responsibility for dealing with “those who disrupt the international order”. It argued that Germany and the EU need to show more willingness to act on international security issues, recommending inter alia that “Europe and Germany need to develop formats for NATO operations that make them less dependent on US support. This will require increased military deployment and stronger political leadership. Above all, Europe must take greater security precautions in its own neighbourhood: that is its own responsibility and no-one else’s. Germany will have to make a contribution that is commensurate with its weight.” The paper attracted much attention and is said to have exerted substantial influence on prominent members of the German government. Peace activists, however, were sharply critical. During the presentation of the new White Book by Federal Defence Minister
von der Leyen, Volker Perthes emphasised that Germany was “a responsible middle power” and needed to “safeguard and transmit the European and global order along with other states”.
See also: List of participants in the project “New Power – New Responsibility”.
Information infrastructure
Around 30 members of staff work in SWP's information infrastructure, which provides information services to both SWP academics and the Bundestag and federal ministries. SWP also leads the international relations and area studies information network (FIV), which manages one of the world's largest literature databases in the social sciences, World Affairs Online. This is made available to the (professional) public via various portals, catalogues and indexes, as well as SWP's own professional portal, IREON.
Controversy
WikiLeaks
In November 2010 and January 2011
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
published memos by US Embassy staff in Berlin on two events in December 2009 and January 2010 in which SWP director Volker Perthes had participated. Inter alia, the events addressed transatlantic differences of opinion on how to deal with Iran. At the January 2010 event, Perthes raised the question of whether the US was also considering non-belligerent or non-military means of preventing a potential nuclear “breakout” on the part of Iran. The question was based on the assumption that such programmes (cyber-attacks or other forms of sabotage which could render parts of the nuclear programme inoperative without starting or provoking a war) already existed. Perthes had also voiced this assumption in an article published on Open Democracy in January 2010. It was proved correct by reports showing that the
Stuxnet
Stuxnet is a malicious computer worm first uncovered in 2010 and thought to have been in development since at least 2005. Stuxnet targets supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and is believed to be responsible for causing subs ...
attack must have started at least half a year before the January 2010 conversation at the US Embassy.
In a ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' interview about the January 2010 event at the US Embassy, Perthes said he had suggested that “unexplained occurrences” or “computer failures” were preferable to military strikes. And that military strikes or military escalation with Iran definitely needed to be avoided.
2016 hacking attack
According to a report by German news outlet ''
Spiegel Online
''Der Spiegel (online)'' is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was ''Spiegel Online'' (short ''SPON'').
It was founded in 1994 as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, '' Der Spiegel'', w ...
'', authorities suspect Russian hacking group known as "
Fancy Bear" or "APT28" was behind a December 2016 attack on SWP.
German Political Foundation 'Attacked' By Suspected Russian Hacking Group
'' Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty'', March 9, 2018.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)
Stellungnahme des Wissenschaftsrates zum Deutschen Institut für Internationale Politik und Sicherheit der Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Berlin
(PDF)
SWP auf thinktankdirectory.org
{{Authority control
Think tanks based in Germany
Security studies