Editorial

2022 was another year of crisis. After two years marked by pandemic-related restrictions, our hopes for a little more normality were dashed by the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24. With it, war returned to Europe after a long time. Old habits of thought and some patterns of behavior had to be reordered or jettisoned overnight. Added to this was the challenge of dealing with the far-reaching effects of the war on our everyday lives: war refugees seeking protection, the rising cost of living, the debate about our energy supply, the question of Germany's and Europe's security. The war and its consequences largely dominated the agenda of 2022 and accordingly played a major role in our work - something that is unlikely to change in 2023 due to the manifold knock-on effects.

For our work in the region, the events in Ukraine posed a particular challenge: We had brought our colleague Dr. Brigitta Triebel and colleagues Tim Peters and Bruno Hamm-Pütt, who were in charge of our offices in Ukraine, back to Germany in good time. We also took supportive measures for our local staff. While we resumed our work for Ukraine virtually in the meantime, we closed the foreign office in Russia at the end of April.

We worked on the political, economic and social consequences of the war with numerous publications and events as well as interviews, articles and statements by our experts. For example, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung's Day and the Europe-Speech on November 9 were dedicated to solidarity with Ukraine. At the Bonn Forum on Unity on October 3, we looked at Germany's role in the world and the order of international relations on the occasion of the war.

Against the backdrop of the war, our main topics - security, innovation, and representation and participation - once again proved their worth to the highest degree last year. They have given our work the necessary orientation in troubled times. We were able to sharpen our positions and communicate them to the public in a targeted manner.

The KAS Fellow 2022, Prof. Dr. Christoph Heusgen, former foreign policy advisor to German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and Ambassador to the United Nations, made a special contribution to this. The proven expert of German foreign and security policy has contributed important impulses for our work at home and abroad, especially in the core topic of security.

In addition to the dramatic developments in Europe and the world, other topics also played a role. For example, we presented our newly published handbook on the history of the CDU on the fringes of this year's CDU federal party conference in Hanover. The volume provides access and information on the historical and programmatic development of the CDU, on individual policy areas and party branches. It was published to complement our debate volume published in the summer of 2020 with contributions and positions on the history of the CDU.

As we do every year, we used special anniversaries in 2022 as an opportunity to look back, but above all to look forward. Around the 125th birthday of Ludwig Erhard in February, we reflected on the state and future of the social market economy. In the fall, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the European Coal and Steel Association was a welcome opportunity to analyze the prospects for European cooperation and discuss solutions to the particular challenge of energy security.

For us as a foundation, two anniversaries also offered particular cause for celebration: on the one hand, we used the anniversary of 60 years of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's work abroad to draw greater attention to our long-standing and diverse engagement in the world. On the other hand, we celebrated the fortieth anniversary of our office in Israel, which symbolizes the special German-Israeli relations and Germany's special responsibility, which is also reflected in the work of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

It was also gratifying that we returned to normal office operations in mid-May - in compliance with general hygiene rules and combined with mutual caution and consideration. Since then, a company agreement reached between management and the Works Council has allowed all colleagues to work on a mobile basis on a daily basis.

It was a small step toward normality in a year that historians will probably look back on one day as a fateful year - and one that was otherwise hardly normal for us as a foundation and for our work.

We are therefore all the more grateful to all our staff for their great commitment throughout the year. We would also like to thank the members of our committees for their constructive cooperation and all supporters of the Circle of Friends, donors, sponsors and partners for their valuable idealistic and financial support.

We will continue to do our utmost to live up to the trust you have placed in us and our work in Germany, Europe and the world. We hope and we look forward to your continued support in the future.

You can download the entire Annual Report 2022 of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung as pdf here.