Volker Stanzel

Former Under Secretary for Political Affairs, German Foreign Office

Volker Stanzel served as the German Foreign Office’s Political Director from 2007-09.

From 2009 to 2013, Mr. Stanzel served as the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Japan. And from 2004-07, he was German ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

Since retiring from the Foreign Service in October 2013, he has taught political science at Claremont McKenna College in California. He is also 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.

Mr. Stanzel also serves on the advisory board of China programs for the Robert Bosch Stiftung. He 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.