Dr. Volker Stanzel, born in 1948 in Kronberg, studied Japanese Studies, Sinology, and Political Science in Frankfurt, Cologne, and Kyoto. He joined the German Foreign Office in 1979 and served in various roles, including Political Director in Japan, China, Yemen, and Italy, as well as Ambassador to Beijing and Tokyo. Since his retirement in 2014, he has held guest professorships in Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, at Dokkyō University, the Free University of Berlin, and from 2017 to 2023 at the Hertie School in Berlin. His more recent publications include Aus der Zeit gefallen: Der Tenno im 21. Jahrhundert (2016) and Die ratlose Außenpolitik. Diplomatie im 21. Jahrhundert (2019). He has also authored studies such as Aussöhnung und Gesellschaft: zur Überwindung kollektiv erlebten Leids (2016) and Diplomatie und Künstliche Intelligenz (2021). He is a recipient of the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class (Bundesverdienstkreuz Erster Klasse).