Otto-Wolff-Lecture

»The West and the Rise of the Rest – Toward a New World (Dis)Order?«

With the Otto-Wolff-Lecture series, Otto Wolff Fourndation and Amerika Haus e.V. NRW invite renowned experts from the USA to come to Cologne and to discuss vital political issues of our times. The lecture series is dedicated to Alfred von oppenhem and Otto Wolff von Amerongen, two friends who had dedicated their lives to the fostering of transatlantic relations. They had both presided the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and played a significant role for the City of Cologne and the research on international politics.

 

Charles A. Kupchan is known for his witty and provocing analyses of international relations. On the occasion of the Otto-Wolff-Lecture Kupchan talked about the dramatic change in the shift of world powers. He put special focus on the foreign policy agenda of the Obama-administration and on the relations between the U.S. and Europe. The hot spots of Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran are of highest priority on the American foreign policy Agenda and Russia, too, is of vital interest. Europe and Germany are not top priority anymore, says Kupchan. The west is no longer the sole player in international relations, according to Kupchan's argumentation. New emerging powers are entereing the stage and Europe doesn't present itself as a strong partner in coping with the challenges in Afghanistan and it neighbouring countries.

 

Dr. Kupchan has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard University's Center for International Affairs, Columbia University's Institute for War and Peace Studies, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales in Paris; he is currently a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Kupchan was Director for European Affairs on the National Security Council during the first Clinton administration. Before joining the NSC, he worked in the U.S. Department of State on the Policy Planning Staff. He is the author of "The End of the America Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-first Century" (2002) and numerous other books and articles on international and strategic affairs.

Moderation: Ingo A. Zamperoni, anchor of ARD-Nachtmagazin

Photo Credits: Rudolf Wiechert