Dr. Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large, DIE ZEIT, Germany
Dr. Theo Sommer pursued his academic studies
in history, political science, and international
relations at the University of Tübingen; Manchester
College; and the University of Chicago. In
1958, he started his career at DIE ZEIT. In
1969/1970, Sommer was called upon to set up
and head the Policy Planning Staff of the German
Defence Ministry. From 1972 to 1992, he served as
Editor-in-Chief of DIE ZEIT and afterwards joined
Marion Countess Dönhoff and former Chancellor
Helmut Schmidt as one of the paper’s co-publishers.
In the 1990s, he acted as Vice-Chairman of
the commission on “Common Security and the
Future of the German Army”, was a member of the
International Commission on the Balkans, and the
Independent International Commission on Kosovo.
In addition to his current appointment, Sommer is
dean, moderator and academic head of the
Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg. He is also
president of the German Society for Asian Studies
and chairman of the Scientific Council of the
German Foundation for Peace Research.