Dr Beatrice Gorawantschy

Dr Beatrice Gorawantschy is the Director of the KAS Regional Programme Australia & the Pacific. Her vision for PERISCOPE is to be a focussed instrument and platform to further “build thematic bridges” and “overcome geographical distances” between Europe and Australia and the Pacific Region.

Beatrice holds a PhD in Political Science from the Saar University in Germany. She has been working with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) since 1992 and served on postings for the  Foundation to Ankara, Manila, Bangkok, Paris, New Delhi and Singapore and also headed the Department of Asia and the Pacific of KAS Headquarters in Berlin. Her research and work in the field of international relations in the past 30 years  focussed on politics in the Middle East and Asia – South and  South East Asia (including the regional organisations ASEAN and SAARC) in particular – and these regions’ relations to Europe. In the beginning of 2017, the new KAS Regional Programme Australia and the Pacific, based in Canberra, was established under her directorship. Having been posted to various offices of KAS’ international network, it is an exciting challenge and great privilege for her to shape this programme on a new continent. Beatrice’s various assignments in Europe and Asia always made her reflect on how to bring the different regions closer together. This is best summed up by the recognition that what is happening in the Asia Pacific region matters to Europe and vice versa – and the Covid-19 Pandemic has made this even more obvious.