The International Security Forum Bonn, since many years, serves as a platform to convene distinguished international experts and practitioners of security and foreign policy to debate the future of transatlantic relations and key challenges in international politics. The aim is to identify ways and means for a successful German, European and transatlantic foreign and security policy and to develop and discuss comprehensive strategic solutions to pressing security challenges.

From 29 September to 2 October 2022, the ISFB will take place for the seventh time in the UN and federal city as the most significant international security conference in North Rhine-Westphalia and all neighboring federal states. After two years of digital/hybrid implementation during the SARS-CoV‑2 pandemic, in 2022, the ISFB will again be conducted entirely in person.

The ISFB is composed of a transatlantic conference day, the Main Day (on Sept. 29), which focuses primarily on traditional security policy issues, and the new Bonn Future Lab on Strategic Foresight (Sept. 30 – Oct. 02).

The International Security Forum Bonn 2022 will take place under the patronage of Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst. The Main Day under the title »Zeitenwende – A New Era in International Relations and Security Cooperation«, international experts will gather in Bonn to discuss the future of transatlantic relations in the shadow of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. What transformations await the Transatlantic Alliance and German, American and European foreign and security policy in the face of Russian acts of violence on the EU’s borders? Which thematic issues, but also which regions and developments there, will be of decisive importance for the alliance and the security of its members in the coming years? The experts will also discuss the growing problem of antisemitism from a global perspective. What does this phenomenon imply not only for society but also for transnational security cooperation and the fight against antisemitism? Another panel will focus middle powers. Getting into the shadow of debates about Great Power dynamics, the experts will elaborate what new opportunities do middle power bring to security cooperation in the face of geopolitical upheavals.

The Bonn Future Lab is a new multi-day format consisting of two core segments: First, an international conference day, which will focus on global megatrends, especially from a security but also from a development perspective (in 2022: »Climate Change and Security«). In a second step, this international conference day will be combined with a Strategic Foresight Workshop, in which the techniques and methods of strategic foresight will be conveyed to young multipliers (»decision-makers of the day after tomorrow«), who have previously gained an insight into the current scientific debates through the expert discussions with renowned national and international experts. The Bonn Future Lab is part of the project Sicherheitsforschung.NRW.