Kreft, Dr. Heinrich

Heinrich Kreft is a career diplomat and currently the Director for Public Diplomacy and Dialogue among Civilizations in the German Foreign Ministry. Prior to this assignment he served as senior foreign policy advisor in the German Bundestag. As a diplomat he was stationed in places such as Tokyo (1991-1994) and Washington, D.C. (2001-2004). Kreft served as a member of the Foreign Policy Planning Staff in charge of the Americas, Asia and economic issues from 1996 to 2001; as a visiting fellow at The Henry L. Stimson Center, at the Heritage Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

From 2004 to 2006, Kreft was senior strategic analyst and deputy head of the Policy Planning Staff of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. He is a lecturer on international politics and has published widely on major power political and economic relations, international security, the Arab region and European, American and Asian political and economic affairs. Kreft's most recent publications have focused on the transitions in Arab countries and on the rise of China.