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Willy Brandt Lecture 2025 - Was heißt hier Staatsräson?
Willy Brandt Lecture 2025 - What does reason of state mean here?
Event by: Bundeskanzler-Willy-Brandt-Stiftung, Forum Willy Brandt Berlin
Location: Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Jägerstraße 22-23, Berlin - Mitte
Online event
Talks & discussions
About event
Since Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the start of the war in Gaza, debates about Germany's relationship with Israel have revolved around the concept of raison d'état. In 2008, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Knesset that Germany's "historic responsibility for Israel's security" was "part of her country's reason of state." The talk of “reason of state” has long since become an integral part of statements made by political actors and the object of growing public criticism.
But what exactly does reason of state mean here and now? What specific responsibilities are associated with this commitment? Is German policy towards Israel guided too much by arguments relating to the past, as is often claimed, or is this a myth? Renowned journalist and author Ronen Steinke will examine these questions in this year's Willy Brandt Lecture. Afterwards he discusses with ZEIT journalist Mariam Lau.
Welcome and introduction
Wolfgang Thierse | President of the Bundestag (retired) D. and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation
Willy Brandt Lecture 2025
Ronen Steinke | Journalist and author
Stage talk
Ronen Steinke
Mariam Lau | Journalist and publicist
Following the Willy Brandt Lecture there will be a stage discussion with Ronen Steinke.
Free entry. Live stream available. Registration is due by October 6th via veranstaltungen-berlin(a)willy-brandt.de.
The foundation invites outstanding personalities from politics, science, business and culture to Berlin for the Willy Brandt Lecture. In the lecture, in the spirit of Willy Brandt, they take up topics that are of central importance for understanding our history and shaping our present and future. In recent years, the historian Adam Tooze, the managing director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Beatrice Fihn, the environmental activist Naomi Klein, the Internet pioneer Jaron Lanier and the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, have given the Willy Brandt Lecture.
But what exactly does reason of state mean here and now? What specific responsibilities are associated with this commitment? Is German policy towards Israel guided too much by arguments relating to the past, as is often claimed, or is this a myth? Renowned journalist and author Ronen Steinke will examine these questions in this year's Willy Brandt Lecture. Afterwards he discusses with ZEIT journalist Mariam Lau.
Welcome and introduction
Wolfgang Thierse | President of the Bundestag (retired) D. and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation
Willy Brandt Lecture 2025
Ronen Steinke | Journalist and author
Stage talk
Ronen Steinke
Mariam Lau | Journalist and publicist
Following the Willy Brandt Lecture there will be a stage discussion with Ronen Steinke.
Free entry. Live stream available. Registration is due by October 6th via veranstaltungen-berlin(a)willy-brandt.de.
The foundation invites outstanding personalities from politics, science, business and culture to Berlin for the Willy Brandt Lecture. In the lecture, in the spirit of Willy Brandt, they take up topics that are of central importance for understanding our history and shaping our present and future. In recent years, the historian Adam Tooze, the managing director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Beatrice Fihn, the environmental activist Naomi Klein, the Internet pioneer Jaron Lanier and the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, have given the Willy Brandt Lecture.