The Federal Academy for Security Policy will host its three-week Security Policy Course for Senior Officials. This course is targeted at high-level executive personnel from political institutions, public administration, the business world, the scientific community and social organizations. Up to eighteen participants will deal in depth with selected security policy issues that are highly relevant to their cross-cutting work. The course focusses on a specific geographical region of particular significance for security policy. A key element is the inter-ministerial, interdisciplinary and cross-industry exchange of views on security-related topics of relevance for the future with experts and political decision-makers both in Berlin and in the region concerned, which is visited during the course. The Course for Senior Officials offers its participants a balanced mix of knowledge acquisition and room for discussions. The direct dialogue with key actors and decision makers not only provides opportunities to develop political vision, but also enhances strategic thinking across administrative boundaries and promotes an understanding of complex constellations of interests.

This year’s Course for Senior Officials will be held from 6 to 24 October 2025 and focuses on “South Asia – partnerships, lines of conflict and optimism about the future”. It will be conducted both in Berlin and at the course study tour’s stops in South Asia. Travel is planned to India and Bangladesh. Tensions between China and the US in the Indo-Pacific region have been increasing for some time, which also affects Germany and the European Union in terms of consequences in security and trade policy. The German government sees enhancing Germany’s partnerships with India and Bangladesh as an opportunity to secure energy and raw material supplies, diversify supply chains and develop sustainable trade policy to the benefit of all. India is considered a key partner with shared values in the Indo-Pacific. It has great economic and geopolitical importance as the most populous country in the world and the largest democracy, the fifth largest national economy – which continues to have dynamic growth – a voice of the Global South and the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. Germany is linked to Bangladesh through key issues such as combating poverty and hunger, handling refugee and migration movements, protecting natural resources and fighting the climate crisis. For further information, please refer to the course flyer.

Admission to the Course for Senior Officials is by personal invitation of the Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks.

Point of contact for the Course for Senior Officials of the Federal Academy for Security Policy is the responsible course director, Dr Norbert Eitelhuber:
Tel.: +49 (0) 30 40046-150, e-mail: fuehrungskraefteseminar@baks.bund.de

• This year's Course for Senior Officials will address partnerships, lines of conflict, and optimism about the future in the South Asian region.
• The 2024 course dealt with the strategic importance of South-East Asia region.
• The 2023 course dealt with the strategic importance of the Black Sea region.
• The 2022 course dealt with the states of the western Balkans and the European security architecture.
• Due to the pandemic, the Course for Senior Officials did not take place in 2020 and 2021.
• The 2019 Course for Senior Officials addressed North Africa as a key region for Europe. Special emphasis was placed on Algeria, Tunisia/Libya and Egypt/Morocco.
• The 2018 course dealt with India and Pakistan as a mirror of the global challenges of the 21st century.
• In 2017, the focus was on the Middle East, while the main topic of 2016 was the Far East.