Volker Stanzel

Volker Stanzel (born 22 September 1948) is a retired German diplomat and the former ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Japan and China. He now teaches political science at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California.

German Ambassador to Japan Volker Stanzel

Career

Volker Stanzel studied at the University of Frankfurt am Main between 1968 and 1972, majoring in Japanese and Chinese Studies as well as Political Science. During his undergraduate degree, he studied abroad at the University of Kyoto. In 1980, he received a Ph.D. in Japanese and Chinese Studies and Political Science from the University of Cologne.^[1]

He joined the Foreign Service of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1979 and began his career at the German embassy in Rome. There, and in his next post in Bonn, Stanzel worked in the Economics division. In Japan (1982-1985), he worked in the Press and Political Division and in Hungary in 1985, he helped to run the first Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe devoted to Culture.

From 1985 to 1987 Stanzel was the Chargé d'Affaires at the embassy in Aden, South Yemen. After this he worked in the Economics Department of the Foreign Office in Bonn before becoming the Assistant European Correspondent in the Political Department. From 1990 to 1993, Stanzel was director of Press and Information at the German Embassy in China. Subsequently, from 1993-1995 he was the head of the Operation Center in the Foreign Office in Bonn.

In 1995, Stanzel became foreign policy adviser for the Social Democratic Party of Germany in the German Bundestag. Between 1998 and 1999, he was a visiting fellow with the German Marshall Fund in Washington, D.C.

In 1999, Stanzel returned to Germany as Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Civilian Use of Nuclear Energy at the Foreign Office in Berlin. From 2001 to 2002, he was the Director for Asian and Pacific Affairs and from 2002 to 2004, the Director General for Political Affairs.

After 25 years in the Foreign Service, Volker Stanzel became the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the People's Republic of China in 2004. In 2007, he was appointed Political Director of the German Foreign Service.

In October 2009, Stanzel became the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Japan.

Since retiring from the Foreign Service in October 2013, Stanzel has taught political science at Claremont McKenna College in California. At the same time, he is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and a Senior Policy Fellow for China in International Affairs at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin. He also continues to serve on the advisory board of China programs for the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

Stanzel was a member of the SPD from 1966 to 2013. He was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany first class.

Publications

• "Traditional Ultra-Nationalist Conceptions in Mishima Yukios Manifesto," in Tradition and Modern Japan, edited by P.G. O'Neill (Kent: Paul Norbury Publications Limited, 1981).
• "Marxismus in Arabien. Der Südjemen nach zwanzig Jahren Unabhängigkeit," Außenpolitik 39, n. 3 (1988).
• "Peripetien frühen japanischen Humors," in G.S.D. zur Feier by Klaus Antoni and Geza Dombrady, (Hamburg: Oriens Extremus, 1989).
• "Mishina und seine Schildgemeinschaft," in Männer Bande, Männer Bünde: Zur Rolle des Mannes im Kulturvergleich (Köln: Ausstellung des Josef-Hambrich-Kunsthalle, 1990).
• "The Reshaping of Socialism in China," Aussenpolitik IV, 1994.
• "Murayama: neuer Premier und alte Probleme," Japan Magazin 1, 1996.
• Die amerikanisch-japanische Sicherheitsdeklaration: "Allianz für das 21. Jahrhundert", Japan Magazin 4, (1996).
• "A World of Warring States: China's Perception and Possibilities of Its International Role," Paper presented at 'China's International Role: Key Issues, Common Interests, Different Approaches' International Conference in Brühl, 1997.
• "Wandel ohne Werte, Werte ohne Wandel? China im Rausch der Moderne," 1998.
• "Botschafter, auf nach Des Moines," Die Welt January 1, 1999.
• "Das Potential nutzen: Der Westen braucht eine Asienpolitik," Die Zeit, 12 Mai 1999.
• "Dealing with the Backwoods: New Challenges for the Transatlantic Relationship," The Washington Quarterly 22, no. 2 (June 1999): 17-23.
• "," in Memory and History in East and Southeast Asia from the Center for Strategic and International Studies 23, no. 3 (2001): 3-15.
• "Asia's Role in the World: A View from Europe," In Europe and Asia: Mutual Perceptions and Expectations on the Way to a New Partnership in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Xuewu Gu, (Baden Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2002).
• "Aufstieg zur Weltmacht," in Der Fischer Weltalmanach edited by Volker Ullrich and Eva Berie,(Frankfurt am Main, 2005).
• "Mudai" (in Japanese), Daiwa n. 41, Kyoto (2005).
• "Deutschlands Verteidigung am Hindukusch. Das Experiment Afghanistan." In: Unterwegs in die Zukunft. edited by Günther Gomm-Ernsting, (Berlin: Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, 2005), 27-38.
• "Überlegungen zur deutschen Chinapolitik." In: China-Report. Nr. 42/ März 2005
• "Reflections on Asia in the 21st Century." ASIEN 100 (2006): 79-84.
• "The E.U. and China in the Global System," in China-Europe Relations: Perceptions, Policies and Prospects, edited by David Shambaugh, Eberhard Sandschneider and Zhou Hong, 2008.
• "Als die Deutschen den Mantel der Geschichte berührten: Der 9. November 1989 und was er für Europa bedeutet," 9 November 2009.
• "Deutsche Außenpolitik nach den Bundestagswahlen," 11 November 2009.
• "60 Jahre Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 20 Jahre Fall der Berliner Mauer," 4 December 2009.
• "Die Rolle Deutschlands in der neuen Europäischen Union," Vortrag an der Nanzan-Universität, 11 Dezember 2009.
• "An Exit Strategy for Afghanistan," in Petersberg Papers on Afghanistan and the Region, from the Liechtenstein Colloquium Report IV, (2009).
• "Gestaltungspartner Japan," in Insight 1,from the German-Asia Pacific Business Association, (2010).
• "Zwei verlorene oder zwei gewonnene Jahrzehnte: Deutschland und Japan zwanzig Jahre nach dem Fall der Berliner Mauer," 25 Januar 2010.
• "Das Jahr 2010 und der Vertrag von Lissabon: Gibt es eine neue Europäische Union," 26 Januar 2010.
• "The Quandaries of Neighbors: China and Japan in 2010," 4 November 2010.
• "The Future of the International Community and the Role of Medium-Sized Powers in 2010" (Japanese), Asia Jiho, July 26, 2010.
• "The Future of the International Community and the Role of Medium-Sized Powers," Tokyo, 26 July 2010.
• "Nippon, Old or New? Political Visions of Bakumatsu Japan," 2 December 2010.
• "Deutschland und Japan auf der globalen Bühne," 18 April 2011.
• "Why Should China be a Responsible Stakeholder? 4 August 2011.
• "Japan nach Fukushima," 31 August 2011.
• "150 Jahre deutsch-japanische Beziehungen: Eine Bestandsaufnahme nach dem Jubiläumsjahr," 19 April 2012.
• "German Path to the Energy of the Future -- Reliable, Affordable, and Environmentally Sound," 2012.
• "Japan, dreifach getroffen," In Albrecht Rothacher (ed.), Japan an jenem Tag. Augenzeugenberichte zum 11. März 2011, OAG-Taschenbuch Nr. 97. OAG Deutsche Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens, Tokyo: 2013.
• "Deutschland und Japan: Die Zukunft gestalten," 2013.
• "Die Bühne ist bereit für einen Konflikt: China, Japan, und die USA," Mercator Institute for China Studies, 9 December 2013.
• "The NSA and the Transatlantic Relationship," European Council for Foreign Relations blog, 22 December 2013.
• Buchbesprechung: 'Christian W. Spang' Karl Haushofer und Japan Die Rezeption seiner geopolitischen Theorien in der deutschen und japanischen Politik," OAG Notizen, February 2014.
• "China und die Krise in der Ukraine: Warum Peking trotz Bedenken weiterhin mit Moskau kooperieren wird," Mercator Institute for China Studies, 28 March 2014.
• "Auf- und Untergang der Sonne," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 7 April 2014. -Japanese Translation 年4月7日付フランクフルターアルゲマイネ紙「陽は上り、陽は沈む」元駐日本大使寄稿.
• "The Ukraine Crisis and the West’s True Problem," European Council for Foreign Relations blog, 29 May 2014.
• "Die Kommunistische Partei und ihr historischer Erfolg: Chinas prekärer Gesellschaftsvertrag," Mercator Institute for China Studies, 30 May 2014.

Books in German

• Japan, Haupt der Erde, (Würzburg: Konigshausen and Neumann, 1982).
• Im Wind des Wandels. Ostasiens neue Revolution, (Bonn: Bouvier, 1997).
• Published with pen name Gustav Kempf, Chinas Außenpolitik: Wege einer widerwilligen Weltmacht, (München: Oldenbourg Verlag, 2001).

References

1. English version of Curriculum Vitae of the Ambassador,

External links

• 2012 English Interview with Tokyo Weekender
• 2004 Interview with Ambassador Stanzel in German