With Donald Trump's return to the White House, multilateralism is once again under considerable pressure. The event takes this as an opportunity to discuss the resilience of the United Nations and international organizations in a phase of intensified national blockade politics.

With the latest announcements from Washington, D.C., and Davos, US President Donald Trump is intensifying his stance toward the United Nations. The push for alternative formats of global governance, such as a US-led “peace council,” is seen by many observers as an attempt to circumvent existing multilateral structures and centralize political control. Critics warn of a weakening of universal institutions, a fragmentation of international peacekeeping, and new burdens on international law.

In the 30th anniversary year of the UN's presence in Bonn, the German Society for the United Nations (DGVN) and the City of Bonn are hosting a panel discussion on the occasion of the presentation of the DGVN Dissertation Award 2025 to Dr. Tim Heinkelmann-Wild, whose research on the resilience of international organizations opens up new perspectives on the UN's capacity to act. The discussion will focus on key questions: What consequences will another withdrawal of the US from multilateral structures have for international organizations? How does Trump's second presidency differ from his first? And what is qualitatively new in today's geopolitical context? Where are the limits of nation-state blockade politics, and what factors have helped the United Nations withstand political pressure in the past? Based on current political developments, the role of Germany and the future prospects of multilateral institutions will also be discussed

Time and location
Friday, February 27, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., in the Old Town Hall of the City of Bonn, Markt 2, 53111 Bonn.

Please register by February 20, 2026, at the following link.
Invitation as PDF.

Organizers
City of Bonn and DGVN

Event address
Old Town Hall
Markt 2
53111 Bonn