Bergedorf Round Table

Unbound by political and economic agendas, the Körber Foundation with its international relations department in Berlin is committed to helping foster a better understanding of international politics. In confidential conferences and background talks, the foundation seeks to come up with fresh ideas and facilitate an open dialogue among foreign policy decision-makers, especially during periods of fierce political conflict. Today, the agenda is focused on key issues of European foreign policy in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe, Russia and the CIS.

The foundation is pursuing this agenda with four formats:
*the Bergedorf Round Table,
*the Körber Dialogue Middle East,
*the Political Breakfasts and
*the Körber Network Foreign Policy.

The Bergedorf Round Table

Chaired by former German president Richard von Weizsäcker, the Bergedorf Round Table is a confidential two-day gathering with around thirty participants that is held three times a year. Since 1961 it has promoted international dialogue between the realms of politics, science, business and society and focuses today primarily on the dialogue between policy-makers, diplomats and experts in international relations. The participants have the opportunity to participate in confidential discussions that go beyond the constraints of everyday topicality. As of today, more than 2,000 politicians and experts – among them Pope John Paul II, Vladimir Putin, Helmut Kohl and Helmut Schmidt – have participated at one or more of 139 Bergedorf Round Tables.

Except for short statements to kick-off the discussion, participants do not report prepared speeches, but intervene spontaneously. The discussions take place at venues where the topic under discussion is immediate and tangible. Participants come from Germany, other member states of the EU, from the US and from the region which is respectively concerned. Directly following the conference a short summary is sent to the participants and a number of selected foreign policy-makers. Every Bergedorf Round Table is published as a protocol in German and English. To ensure confidentiality, the participants will edit their contributions before publication.

The Körber Dialogue Middle East

Three times a year, the Körber Dialogue Middle East provides a platform for multilateral discussions on topical issues of foreign and security policy in the Middle East. Around ten foreign policy experts from the EU, the US and the Middle East hold discussions in a confidential and informal atmosphere and formulate policy recommendations. The inclusion of Iranian representatives into these discussions is given particular importance. The conference venue is either Istanbul or Berlin.

The Political Breakfasts

Political Breakfasts in Berlin are high-level and confidential background discussions which seek to help cultivate foreign policy discourse in the German capital. The speakers include presidents, foreign ministers and other high-level political officials from abroad. They have the opportunity to discuss issues with a small group of senior foreign policy decision makers from the Bundestag, the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Chancellery, the Ministry of Defence, other agencies and selected think tanks.

The Körber Network Foreign Policy

Since 2005, the Körber Network Foreign Policy has regularly assembled a group of young foreign policy professionals from the German Bundestag, the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence and selected foreign embassies in Berlin. The Network’s members, who are invited on the basis of personal recommendations, explore challenges facing European foreign policy. Once a month, they speak in confidential discussions with foreign politicians and advisors over dinner at the Körber Foundation’s Berlin Office.

Once a year, the group takes a field trip to gain personal experience with focal points of international politics. Participants meet senior representatives of governments and international organizations, as well as people active on the ground – in peace-keeping missions, military structures, and major economic projects. Field trips were organised to Kosovo and Belgrade in 2005, to Georgia (including Abkhazia) in 2006 and to Iran in 2007.

Selected guests at the Körber Foundation’s activities since 2004

Abdullah Abdullah, fmr. Foreign Minister, Afghanistan; Martti Ahtisaari, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Kosovo; Saud al-Faisal, Foreign Minister, Saudi Arabia; Ammar al-Hakim, Vice President, Supreme Islamic Iraq Council; Walid al-Muallem, Foreign Minister of the Arab Republic of Syria; Egon Bahr, fmr. Minister for Economic Cooperation, Germany; Édouard Balladur, fmr. Prime Minister, France; Gela Bezhuashvili, Foreign Minister, Georgia; Zbigniew Brzezinski, fmr. National Security Adviser to the President of the U.S.; Ahmet Davutoglu, Chief Advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Shirin Ebadi, Lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran; Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commission; Joschka Fischer, fmr. Foreign Minister, Germany; Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State; Christoph Heusgen, National Security Advisor to the Chancellor, Germany; Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of the Republic of Estonia; Wolfgang Ischinger, EU Representative at the Kosovo Status Talks; Viktor Ivanov, Policy Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation; Saeed Jalili, Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs, Iran; Vuk Jeremic, Foreign Minister, Serbia; Gilles Kepel, Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris; Mohammad Khatami, fmr. President, Iran; Konstantin Kosachev, Chair of the Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, Russia; Mikhail Margelov, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council, Russia; Sergei N. Martinov, Foreign Minister, Belarus; Ernest May, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, United Arab Emirates; Henry A. Trey Obering III, Director, Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Air Force; Hassan Rohani, Member of the Supreme National Security Council and Expediency Council, Iran; Volker Rühe, fmr. Minister of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany; Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia; Paul W. Schroeder, University of Illinois, Urbana; Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Foreign Minister, Afghanistan; Fritz Stern, Columbia University, New York; Borys Tarasyuk, Foreign Minister, Ukraine; Kassymzhomart Tokaev, Foreign Minister, Kasachstan; Mitoji Yabunaka, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Japan; Sergei Yastrzhembsky, Special Representative for EU-related issues, Russia; Paweł Zalewski, Chairman of the Sejm Foreign Affairs Committee, Poland; Valdis Zatlers, President of the Republic of Latvia

External links

* [http://www.koerber-stiftung.de/english/international_dialog/bergedorf_round_table/index.html Bergedorf Round Table]
* [http://www.koerber-stiftung.de/english/index.html Körber Foundation]
* [http://www.koerber.de/en/index.php/ Körber AG]
* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_A._K%C3%B6rber Kurt A. Körber in Wikipedia.de]