Alexander Görlach is a political scientist, theologian, and geopolitical risk adviser working at the intersection of foreign policy, security architecture, and democratic resilience. His career bridges academic research, government advisory, and international public discourse — combining rigorous analysis with a rare, first-hand understanding of the cultural and religious dynamics that shape political behaviour across regions.

He served as Senior Policy Adviser on East Asian affairs to the FDP Parliamentary Caucus in the German Bundestag, delivering strategic briefings and policy assessments to senior political decision-makers. His analytical focus centres on US-China-Taiwan relations, the strategic dynamics of the Indo-Pacific, and the pressures facing liberal democracies today.

This work is grounded in extensive lived experience across Islamic, Confucian, and Daoist societies. Alexander conducted doctoral fieldwork in Egypt and Turkey, and spent several years based in Taiwan, where he studied how the region's democracies navigate the rise of China. This combination of theological training and cross-cultural immersion gives him a distinctive lens for reading the historical and religious undercurrents behind contemporary geopolitical conflict and cooperation — from the Middle East to East Asia.

Alexander holds dual doctorates — a PhD in Language & Politics and a ThD in Comparative Religion — and has held research affiliations at the University of Cambridge (CRASSH and the Institute on Religion and International Studies), the University of Oxford (Oxford Internet Institute), and Harvard University, where he was a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School and the Center for European Studies. He is an Adjunct Professor at New York University and an Honorary Professor of Ethics and Theology at Leuphana University Lüneburg.

He currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Berggruen Institute and previously as Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. He has also served on the advisory board of Sanity Group. His field-based analysis of East Asian security dynamics is reflected in his books "Alarmstufe Rot: Warum Chinas aggressive Politik im Westpazifik in einen Krieg führt" and "Brennpunkt Hongkong: Warum sich in China die Zukunft der freien Welt entscheidet" (Hoffmann & Campe), and his broader work on democratic resilience is reflected in "Homo Empathicus: On Scapegoats, Populists & Saving Democracy."

Alexander designs and convenes high-level dialogue formats bringing together political, industry, and civil society actors around contested policy questions. He currently curates "Let's Talk Democracy" at 1014 in New York, a public discussion series on the state of liberal democracy in the US and Europe, and previously founded and curated "AI&I," the Vodafone Institute's flagship dialogue series on the societal impacts of artificial intelligence, convening figures including Vinton G. Cerf and philosopher Luciano Floridi.

He has contributed strategic analysis and commentary to The New York Times, Politico, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Wirtschaftswoche, and Deutsche Welle, among others, and founded and scaled the debate magazine The European to a successful corporate exit.

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