Reinhold Brender

Biography

Dr Reinhold Brender joined the Egmont Institute in November 2023 as Senior Associate Fellow in the Europe in the World Programme. He is a former EU official with extensive experience in EU external relations, covering the European Neighbourhood (East and South), transatlantic relations and the Indo-Pacific region. As an EU official, he has held various positions in Brussels/HQ, in Kosovo as Spokesperson for the EU Pillar of the UN Mission, in Washington D.C./U.S.A. as the Political Counsellor of the EC Delegation, and in Cairo/Egypt as Deputy Head of the EU Delegation/Minister. In his last assignment, from 2017 to 2022, he was Head of the EEAS Division in charge of the EU’s relations with Japan, South and North Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island States.

Before joining the EU institutions, Reinhold worked for 5 years as a foreign affairs journalist for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a leading German daily. He studied history, political science, and Romance languages and literature in Freiburg i.Br., Zurich, Clermont-Ferrand and Paris, and holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Freiburg. His dissertation, a biography of Marcel Déat, a French socialist turned collaborator in the Second World War, was published as a book (Munich 1992, https://d-nb.info/911128166).

He is a member of the German Council on Foreign Relations.

Publications

• Europe’s Strategic Imperative: Advancing Sustainability for Global Stability Egmont papers (24-04-2025)
• Why the BRICS Summit in Kazan should be a Wake-up Call for the EU Security Policy Briefs (13-11-2024)
• The UN Pact for the Future: A Modest Boost for Global Governance Reform Commentaries (15-10-2024)
• Georgia at a Crossroads: An Increasingly Illiberal Domestic Policy is Becoming an Obstacle to EU Accession Security Policy Briefs (9-07-2024)
• Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarised World Commentaries (14-05-2024)
• In Danger of Falling Short: The EU, the Global South, and the Reform of Multilateralism Egmont papers (15-02-2024)
• No Fast Track to a Stable Rules-based International Order Commentaries (7-02-2024)
• Strengthening multilateralism in a multipolar world: On the contribution of this year’s G7 and G20 Summits and suggested next steps for the EU Security Policy Briefs (4-07-2023)