World Politics on Campus

Today the biggest challenges in our world go beyond borders and pose existential risks for our societies – climate change, pandemics, loss of biodiversity, fragility and others affect all of us, but especially the poorest and most vulnerables.

Yet, multilateral institutions like the World Bank were not designed to address these challenges. The World Bank is now confronted with new demands like unprecedented crisis response and protecting global public goods. At the same time, traditional development challenges like eradicating hunger and poverty remain. The World Bank needs to put green, resilient and inclusive development at the core of its mandate. Easier said than done…

Michael Krake serves as the World Bank Group Executive Director for Germany since April 2022. Prior to joining the WBG Board, Mr. Krake held leadership positions in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) as Deputy Director-General for Sustainable Supply Chains, Food and Rural Development; Director-General for Global Health, Private Sector, Trade and Rural Development; and Deputy Director-General for Private Sector, Trade, Employment and Digital Technologies.
He also served as BMZ’s main focal point for cooperation with the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Mr. Krake spearheaded the team for Germany’s contribution to the WBG’s World Development Reports from 2019 to 2021. He is a seasoned economist specialized in international cooperation and development with over 20 years of experience in public policy, diplomacy, and the private sector. Mr. Krake serves on the Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE) and is a member of the Budget Committee (BC).

On 1 Dec 2022, Michael Krake will hold a keynote on "Dealing with multiple global crises – the role of the World Bank and how it has to evolve".

Further information about the event.

The war in Ukraine has highlighted the vulnerability of our global food system. The war reveals how much the food security of a growing world population is threatened. In addition to strengthening urgently needed emergency food aid, the deeper structural causes of the food crisis must be addressed. For example, among the many approaches needed to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of the food system are greater diversification of food markets and greater conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity.

Dr. Stefan Schmitz is the Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust (Crop Trust) based in Bonn. Prior to joining the Crop Trust in 2020, he was Chair of the Steering Committee of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), coordinated by the World Bank, and spent 20 years at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in various capacities, most recently as Deputy Director-General for food, agriculture and rural resources. He studied geography and mathematics in Bonn and St. Andrews and received a PhD in applied geography from the Free University of Berlin.

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Mathias Mogge was elected Secretary General/Chief Executive Officer of Welthungerhilfe in September 2018. He is an agricultural engineer and environmental scientist (MSc) who has worked for the organization in various positions since 1998, most recently as Chief Program Officer since March 2010. From 2005 to 2010, he was in charge of the "Knowledge, Innovation, Consulting" department. From 2001 to 2005, as Regional Director in Bamako (Mali), he was responsible for the development and management of programs in Mali, Burkina Faso, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Prior to that, as Country Group Spokesperson and Program Manager, he oversaw Welthungerhilfe's programs in Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan from 1998 to 2001.
Mathias Mogge has also been Chairman of the Board of the Association of German Development and Humanitarian Organisations (VENRO) since December 2021. (VENRO), of which he has been a member of the honorary board since 2013. Since 2018, he has also been a member of the board of trustees of the Aid by Trade Foundation.

On 2 June, he will hold a keynote on Emergency Relief in political induced conflicts and war: Experiences from Ukraine and Afghanistan. International and National NGOs work to an increasing extend in violent, fast changing and challenging environments. The lecture will discuss principles and practical approaches towards delivering immediate assistance and longer term support.

Further information about the event. 

The Middle East is witnessing unprecedented and overwhelming challenges recently, with wide-scale military and humanitarian crises in Libya, Syria and Yemen. Egypt is a stabilizing force in its region, contributing to security and stability. Germany is a reliable partner in these endeavors. Examples of Egyptian – German cooperation are numerous, including the Munich Format on Middle East Peace Process and Berlin Process on Libya. 

Ambassador Abdelhamid is a career diplomat with diverse diplomatic experiences. His career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt included serving as Assistant Foreign Minister, Chief of Cabinet from 2017 to 2019, while his service as a UN staff member had him occupy positions such as the Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO, Vienna) from 2008 to 2016. Ambassador Abdelhamid has been designated Ambassador to Germany since October 2019.

On 12 May, he hold a keynote on Egypt as an anchor of stability and peace in the middle East.

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Jochen Flasbarth took office as State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in December 2021. From 2013 to 2021, he was State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Prior to that, he held the position of President of the Federal Environment Agency for four years. He holds a degree in economics from the Universities of Münster and Bonn.

On 5 May, he will hold a keynote on Climate negotiations - the marathon from Berlin to Sharm-El-Sheikh.

registration for the event

Mexico is a megadiverse country, the 15th economy of the world, and the 10th most populated State; a member of the OECD and G20. It is also a middle-income country, urged to tackle the profound economic and social inequalities that affect our society. Against this background, the Mexican government deploys policies to face those challenges. In parallel, the country continues its commitment with the global community to follow its path towards sustainability by adopting an approach that conciliates the domestic and international social and economic demands with the environmental imperative.

H. E. Francisco Quiroga is Ambassador of Mexico to the Federal Republic of Germany since September 2021. During his professional career, Francisco Quiroga has worked in the public sector in Mexico and in the private sector in Mexico and Germany. He began his career in the International Trade Department of the Mexican Ministry of Trade and Industrial Promotion (now Ministry of Economy). In the private sector, he has held management positions and worked for companies in the steel sector, dealing with issues related to international trade, global value chain development, logistics and financing, among others. 

Francisco Quiroga graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico, with a degree in economics and earned two master's degrees: from Yale University in International Business and Development and from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in Operations Management.

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COP 26 was a critical moment to keep the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C, and to protect biodiversity and nature. It was a time to rebuild trust in global solidarity and deliver on promises made and show plans to go further on climate ambition, finance, adaptation, and protecting nature. Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO of World Resources Institute, will discuss what were the successes, and where we need to go further in this decisive decade for climate action.

Dr Ani Dasgupta is President and CEO of World Resources Institute, where he works to advance the institute’s global vision to improve the lives of all people and ensure that nature can thrive. A widely recognized leader in the areas of sustainable cities, urban design and poverty alleviation, he developed his expertise in positions ranging from nonprofits in India to the World Bank, where he developed the Bank’s first Knowledge strategy. He took the helm at WRI after seven years as Global Director of WRI’s Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. 

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Over the past twenty years, the international community has been heavily involved in Afghanistan. This is particularly true of Germany, which has not only been one of the main troop contributors, but has also invested considerable resources in the stabilization and socio-economic development of the country, as well as in the intra-Afghan peace process. In August, the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban took control of the entire country.  

Two and a half months after the fall of Kabul, what is the current situation in Afghanistan? What do we expect in the coming months? What are our interests with respect to Afghanistan? How can we ensure that our interests are taken into account? Is the international community united on Afghanistan?

Dr Jasper Wieck has extensive experience in the region and served as Deputy Chief of Mission in India (2017-2020) and Deputy Director General for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific (2020/2021). From 2012 to 2017, Dr. Wieck was Head of Division for Security and Defense Policy at the German Foreign Office. Prior to that, he served in the German delegation to NATO and in the German embassies in Moscow and Baku, among others.

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One in ten people worldwide were hungry in 2020. Moreover, one in three people did not have access to adequate food. Previous progress to reduce undernourishment has stalled in the past five years. While the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this trend and a sharp surge was observed in the midst of the pandemic, the underlying factors are multi-fold: conflict, climate variability and extremes, economic slowdowns and downturns, as well as public debt and reduced fiscal space. Unless bold actions are taken, the world will not be on track to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which has been investing in the inclusive and sustainable transformation of rural areas since 1978, employs a food systems approach.  Therefore, IFAD focusses on interactions among underlying factors of hunger, malnutrition and poverty, identifies entry points for interventions, and helps countries to set up food systems that provide decent livelihoods for those who work in them.

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H.E. Roberto Jaguaribe, Ambassador of Brazil, was our distinguished guest on 1 July 2021. He gave a lecture with focus, among other things, on the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Portuguese: Mercosul).

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Dr Maria Flachsbarth, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) was our distinguished guest on 17 June 2021. She gave a guest lecture on fair and equitable international supply chains.

The online talk & discussion was moderated by Prof. Dr. Claudia Warning.