Democracy and Society

Reading of letters on the SPIEGEL affair | FULLY BOOKED

Since 2021, the Bundeskanzler Helmut Schmidt Stiftung has commemorated its namesake with the annual Helmut-Schmidt-Lecture and invites a current "thought leader of today". The Helmut Schmidt Lecture focuses on social and political topics that have already shaped Helmut Schmidt's work and have lost none of their relevance to this day. The series of events brings together international personalities from politics, academia and civil society and creates space for debates on democracy, human rights, globalisation and social cohesion.

The Federal Minister of Defence will deliver the fifth Helmut Schmidt Lecture on 22 June in Berlin

Introducing an inclusive geoeconomics strategy for Germany | Thursday, 18 June 2026, 10 a.m. | Language: English

The Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung and Die Zeit present the Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis annually. This award honors an international figure who, through their significant work, stands for democracy and the common good.

At the EU summit in Brussels, the European heads of state and government get stuck due to a lift breakdown. A youth group spontaneously takes their seats in the European Council and has to make important decisions for the future of Europe - from peace and security to healthcare, climate protection and the fight against hate on the internet. But the documents are encrypted: Only by working together can the young people decipher clues, analyse information and make the right decisions in time.

Three questions for Kirsten Hartmann on the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda and our new project "Gen P(eacebuilder) - Implementing the Youth, Peace and Security agenda".

Below you find a series of interviews with experts on Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) that were filmed during our Gen P(eacebuilder) workshop in Hamburg in July 2025. They outline the relevance of the YPS agenda, stress challenges in implementing it and outline concrete examples from the contexts what it means to operationalise it. Whom should we interview next?

Brutal conflicts worldwide, democratic backsliding in many places, geopolitical power struggles, technological threats, the climate emergency: the list of current challenges seems endless. The effective participation of young people is central to the prevention and resolution of conflicts and lasting peace.

The collapse of the canopy at Novi Sad train station in November 2024, which claimed 16 lives, ignited a struggle for justice in Serbia that was met with repression. Student-led protests have since shaken Serbia, creating a society-wide front demanding the rule of law. This text examines the crisis through the lens of the UN Youth, Peace and Security agenda, showing how government actions threaten three of its pillars – participation, protection and partnership – and how youth are experimenting with new democratic practices.

Latin American youth have always been peacebuilders: university reformers, student resisters, Indigenous organisers, feminist activists. Their struggles anticipated many of the principles later enshrined in the UN’s Youth, Peace and Security agenda. Yet, paradoxically, the agenda itself has failed to resonate in the region. For the framework to matter in Latin America, it must stop speaking about youth and start speaking with them, on their own terms, in their own vocabularies.

The connections between climate, youth, peace and security are gaining traction in global policymaking and research, highlighting the deep interdependencies between sustainability, conflict and the power of youth engagement. This article explores the challenges for young people engaging in climate action and/or peacebuilding, outlines innovative youth-led responses and maps out a shared path that depicts young people as not just being on the journey, but at the centre of it.

In 2015, the UN Security Council Resolution 2250 established the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda and recognised the important and positive role of young people in preventing conflicts and building sustainable peace. Despite this important milestone and although young people are leading change worldwide, their expertise on peace and security is still often dismissed.

Join us for a chat over coffee on 12 April | Helmut-Schmidt-Forum

A look into the engine room of democracy | Wednesday, 18 March, 6 p.m. | Helmut-Schmidt-Forum

The Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung (BKHS) is launching a platform on Youth, Peace and Security (YPS). In 2015, the UN Security Council Resolution 2250 established the YPS agenda and recognised the important and positive role of young people in preventing conflicts and building sustainable peace. Young people are leading positive change worldwide – yet, a decade after the YPS agenda was formalised, youths’ expertise around peace and security is often dismissed.

Every two years, the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation, in cooperation with the Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, offers a distinguished Scholar-in-Residence program. The program is aimed at outstanding scholars from Germany and abroad whose research focuses on Europe and international relations. During their stay in Hamburg, the Scholar-in-Residence plans an academic conference on a previously under-explored aspect of historical, political science, legal, economic, or cultural issues.

The exhibition "Schmidt! Living Democracy" provides insights into a century of German and international contemporary history and highlights the - still highly topical - issues of conflict, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. In the spirit of Schmidt, we also invite our guests to join in the discussion and ask questions about the future of democracy in Germany, Europe and the world.

At the Ministerial Conference on UN Peacekeeping, states reaffirmed their support for peacekeeping missions and announced numerous contributions. Despite global austerity measures, this momentum must be maintained and rhetorical commitments must also lead to tangible effects on the ground.

The Future of United Nations Peace Operations

Alliance brings together the expertise and brain power of close to 100 peace operations experts from around the globe

Plea for a focus on peacebuilding against the backdrop of the uncertain future of the crisis-ridden UN peacekeeping missions

The Evolution of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Prospects

UN peacekeeping missions are in crisis. Germany has a duty to take on more security policy responsibility.

Ekrem İmamoğlu, Turkish opposition politician, finds clear words for the success criteria of functioning democracies at the Helmut Schmidt Lecture in Berlin.

Helmut Schmidt Lecture 2024 Welcome Remarks

Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem İmamoğlu speaks at the Helmut Schmidt Lecture 2024 on the success criteria of functioning democracies

FOTAR (Future of Transatlantic Relations) is a conference format conceived and organized by the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation and the Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, and generously funded by the Hamburg Ministry of Science, Research, Equality, and Districts. It brings together high-level international experts from academia and politics, as well as representatives of civil society from the U.S. and Europe, to discuss the future of transatlantic relations. FOTAR takes place in Hamburg every two years.

February 2024 | Report | An international network of representatives from academia, civil society, and politics releases a new report on the future of peacebuilding

President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy Moritz Schularick holds the third Helmut Schmidt Lecture on 4 December in Berlin

BKHS and FES are bringing together a diverse group of peace experts in Hamburg and creating a space for meaningful dialogue

What’s Next for Global Peace Work? – An Interview with Julia Strasheim and Tina Blohm

Der Bericht „Neue Perspektiven: Friedensförderung und Konfliktbearbeitung in einer sich wandelnden Weltordnung“ steht hier kostenlos zum Download bereit.

Human rights activist Hatice Cengiz holds the second Helmut Schmidt Lecture in Berlin