Our Mission

From September 16 to 20, the Summer School "Artificial Intelligence, Social Machines, and the Future of Democratic Societies" took place in Bonn, led by Professors Caja Thimm and Maximilian Mayer from the University of Bonn. The event was supported by RWTH Aachen and the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Individuals, Institutions, and Societies" and was part of the joint research initiative of the University of Bonn and RWTH Aachen, "Autonomy and autonomous systems." It served as a platform for discussions on the impact of artificial intelligence on democratic societies.

This innovative handbook on China, which will be available on Routledge from October 2024, offers an in-depth analysis of the complex and changing nature of global China and calls for a reassessment of existing theories of global and regional dynamics. Through theoretical innovation, methodological reflection and analytical transformation, it opens up new avenues for critical engagement with China's global interactions.

We congratulate the CASSIS Fellows Dr. Rogelio Madrueño and Prof. Dr. Sergio Tezanos for the successful completion of the summer school on ‘The Geography of Hunger in a Multi-Crisis World’, which took place in Santander in collaboration with the University of Cantabria, the Spanish Network of Development Studies (REEDES) and with the support of the BBVA Foundation and AECID.

We are delighted to announce that Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie has taken up a visiting professorship as Joint Research Professor at the School of International Relations at the renowned University of St Andrews in Scotland on August 1, 2024. The CASSIS team and the Henry Kissinger Professorship warmly congratulate Mr. Schlie on this success!

We are delighted to announce that the Managing Director of CASSIS and space expert Dr. Enrico Fels has successfully acquired funding from the German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for the study on “Europe's Technological Sovereignty in Space”, which will begin in August 2024. Congratulations to him and the colleagues involved!

To mark the 80th anniversary of the assassination attempt on Hitler and the attempted coup d'état by the group led by Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, a colloquium organized jointly with the Army Officers' School, the July 20, 1944 Foundation, the Henry Kissinger Professorship at the University of Bonn and the Chair of European History at Chemnitz University discussed the significance of July 20, 1944 for the Bundeswehr in its current mission. The event took place on July 11, 2024 at the Offiziersschule des Heeres in Dresden.

On July 9, 2024, the Kölner Forum für Internationale Beziehungen und Sicherheit e.V. (KFIBS), in cooperation with the Bonner Hochschulgriuppe für Sicherheits- und Außenpolitik (BHAS), hosted a panel discussion on international perspectives on the Gaza war. Fenja Wiluda and Dr. Sascha Arnautović focused on the different interests in the Gulf States and the USA, which clash in the international dimension of the conflict.

What challenges does maritime security present us with in the 21st century? A lecture series in retrospect.

In an interview with NTV, Dr Frank Umbach analyses the air strike in Beirut.

In the Phoenix interview, CASSIS Fellow Dr Frank Umbach discusses Boris Pistorius' visit to Poland and Lithuania.

In the Phoenix interview, CASSIS Fellow Dr Frank Umbach analyses the results of the meeting between Selenskyj, Biden and Harris.

In an article on GMX, Prof. Dr Volker Kronenberg analyses the election defeats of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and the problems facing the party as a whole.

In an interview on Deutschlandfunk-Kontrovers, Prof. Dr Volker Kronenberg analyses the potential of Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz as candidates for chancellor.

In an article in the Berliner Morgenpost, Dr Antje Nötzold analyses how the Bundeswehr is prepared for sabotage in space.

In an interview with Phoenix der Tag, Professor Dr Volker Kronenberg analyses the upcoming state elections in Brandenburg.

In an article in the Berliner Morgenpost, Dr Nicole Renvert comments on the relationship between Elon Musk and the AFD in Brandenburg.

A scientific analysis by Maximilian Mayer, Emilian Kavalski, Marina Rudyak and Xin Zhang on the complex and transformative nature of Global China.

In the commemorative publication for Andreas Sohn, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie describes the role of the Christian faith in the German resistance against Hitler.

In his publication, Dr. Frank Umbach analyses the security policy challenges for NATO in defending critical undersea infrastructure against Russia.

On the 80th anniversary of the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie discusses the significance of the memorial day today.

More than 45 years after his death, the memoirs of the German Chancellor and father of the economic miracle Ludwig Erhard are now being published. The work is edited by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlie in cooperation with the Ludwig Erhard Foundation.

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schlies' article in the “New German Biography” provides an overview of the life and work of the diplomat Paul Metternich as German ambassador in London from 1901 to 1912, who was a great advocate of German-British rapprochement throughout his life.

In his new specialist publication, PD Dr. Hüseyin Çiçek sheds light on how the AKP is increasingly relying on soft power as a power mechanism alongside established political alliances in order to promote its interests internationally. Particular attention is paid to addressing and integrating the Turkish diaspora through emotional and cultural ties. The analysis also touches on the impact of the AKP's minority policy on its foreign policy ambitions.

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, this anthology takes stock of the current activities, legal framework, political and military lines of conflict and areas of cooperation as well as further trends and challenges in space. On the one hand, the legal, military, economic and technological challenges of the growing importance of this strategically important area are analyzed. On the other hand, the ability and need for action of selected space powers, their cooperation possibilities and conflict potentials as well as the need for international political regulation are worked out and, based on this, political recommendations for action are presented.