Benedikt Franke is Vice-Chairman and CEO with the Munich Security Conference (MSC).Before joining the MSC, he served as Senior Advisor for Strategic Affairs at the CSU and previous to that he was the Special Assistant for former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Laureate Kofi Annan. Benedikt holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He publishes regularly on foreign and security policy topics and sits on a number of relevant committees such as the Foundation Council of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen and the International Commission of the CSU. In his (limited) leisure time he works as Special Envoy of the Sovereign Order of Malta.