In times of uncertainty and disorientation, strategic thinking will be the decisive factor in shaping politics, the economy, and society. Tomorrow’s young professionals must learn today to think strategically in a comprehensive sense. Their decisions shape the future development of our society. They must be able to develop pioneering paths of action, lead out of dilemmas, and think in an interconnected way. This requires a new school of thought with innovative approaches and methods.

The Klaus Höchstetter Foundation and the Center for Applied Policy Research have taken on this challenge and jointly launched a new project: the School of Strategic Thinking.

The educational policy project, starting in 2020, is designed as a seminar series with the overarching goal of realizing and implementing strategic problem-solving. The primary project goal of the School of Strategic Thinking is to overcome strategic speechlessness. At the very least, the next generation should once again be able to develop and implement strategic problem-solving. The project duration is set for five years during the development and consolidation phase of the “School of Strategic Thinking.”

Dr. Klaus Höchstetter, Chairman of the Klaus Höchstetter Foundation, summarized the goals at the kickoff workshop on July 8, 2020, in Munich as follows: “With the joint project ‘School of Strategic Thinking,’ the Klaus Höchstetter Foundation and the Center for Applied Policy Research aim to support young talents in terms of methodology, didactics, and content, and to empower them to take on responsibility in key positions in society, the economy, and politics in the future.”

Strategic thinking is one of the key competencies for successful (self-)management. It plays a decisive role not only in corporate contexts but also in many other aspects of life, society, and politics. Strategic thinking helps to design future perspectives and realize visions.

Strategic thinking, therefore, as a key factor for the successful shaping of politics, the economy, and society.

In close cooperation with the Center for Applied Policy Research (C•A•P) at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich under the direction of Prof. Weidenfeld, publications and working papers are developed, and workshops, summer schools, and conferences are organized. The jointly published handbook “Thinking Strategically: Answers in a Turning Point” focuses primarily on the question of what strategic capacity for action is fundamentally based on: the ability to weigh all possible options rationally and objectively in order to make the best possible responsible decisions.

We are very pleased that the foreword to the School of Strategic Thinking handbook was written by Henry Kissinger and that he expressly supported this foundation project.