Christoph Heusgen is a diplomat and co-chairman of the St. Gallen Symposium. He was chairman of the Munich Security Conference and served as foreign and security policy advisor to Angela Merkel for more than a decade, accompanying her on all her trips abroad. Heusgen (*1955) joined the Foreign Service in 1980 after studying and obtaining a doctorate in economics in St. Gallen, at Georgia Southern University and at the Sorbonne in Paris. After posts at the German Consulate in Chicago and the German Embassy in Paris, he was appointed personal advisor to the Coordinator for Franco-German Cooperation in 1988. From 1993 to 1997, Heusgen worked in the office of Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel. He then took over as head of the Europe Division at the Foreign Office for two years. From 1999 to 2005, Christoph Heusgen headed the Political Staff of the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, Javier Solana. Since 2005, he has advised Chancellor Merkel on foreign and security policy issues and, as Ministerial Director, headed the Foreign Policy Department in the Federal Chancellery. In 2017, Ambassador Heusgen was appointed Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations in New York. There, he chaired the UN Security Council in April 2019 and July 2020. His close ties to America and his comprehensive understanding of security have shaped his career over the past decades. Christoph Heusgen is considered to have an excellent international network, right up to the highest levels. After his retirement, Heusgen headed the Munich Security Conference until February 2025. Until 2025, he was also an honorary professor at the University of St. Gallen. He is a senior advisor to the strategic consulting firm FGS Global in Berlin and a member of the board of trustees of the Daniel Barenboim Foundation. Christoph Heusgen has received numerous awards in recognition of his many years of commitment. These include the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria (2006), the Portuguese Order of Merit (2009), and the German Armed Forces Cross of Honour in Gold (2015).