Diplomacy / Peacebuilding

Michael von der Schulenburg

German former UN and OSCE diplomat who served more than 30 years in peace and political missions, including as UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Representative in Sierra Leone. Member of the European Parliament since 2024, he writes and speaks on the Ukraine war, diplomacy and the UN.

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Michael von der Schulenburg, born in Munich in 1948, studied at the Free University of Berlin, the London School of Economics and the École nationale d'administration. He worked for the United Nations for over 30 years, with assignments in Haiti, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Sierra Leone, and also served with the OSCE. From 2005 to 2012 he held the rank of Assistant Secretary-General, as Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs in Iraq and then as the Secretary-General's Executive Representative heading the UN peacebuilding office in Sierra Leone.

In 2017 he published On Building Peace – Rescuing the Nation-State and Saving the United Nations (Amsterdam University Press), which argues that peace has to rest on functioning, legitimate states rather than outside intervention.

Elected to the European Parliament in 2024 for the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), he sits on the Subcommittee on Security and Defence. He publishes articles, speeches and interviews on Ukraine, Russia and European security at michael-von-der-schulenburg.com and on his YouTube channel, and appears as a guest on independent programmes, including Glenn Diesen's.

Background

Former UN Assistant Secretary-General (2005–2012); Executive Representative of the UN Secretary-General, UNIPSIL Sierra Leone; Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs, UN Iraq; former OSCE official; Member of the European Parliament (BSW, 2024–); author of 'On Building Peace' (Amsterdam University Press, 2017)

Topics

Ukraine conflict Diplomacy United Nations EU foreign policy Peacebuilding

Why included

Three decades in UN and OSCE missions, from Haiti and Afghanistan to Iraq and Sierra Leone, followed by a seat on the European Parliament's Security and Defence subcommittee. He publishes speeches, articles and interviews on his own website and YouTube channel.