James D. Bindenagel

James D. Bindenagel is an American diplomat and author who served as Chargé d'affaires to Germany from 1996 to 1997, and from 2014 to 2019, he served as director of the Center for International Security and Governance at the University of Bonn.

Early life and education Bindenagel was born on June 30, 1949, in Huron, South Dakota. He graduated from Huron High School in 1967 and attended the University of South Dakota. He holds a Master of Arts in public administration and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He married Jean Lundfelt Bindenagel in 1973, they have two children.

Bindenagel served in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant with the 3rd Infantry Division.

Career

Early diplomatic career In the early 1990s, Bindenagel worked in the private sector, as director of International Government-Business Programs at Rockwell International. From 1992 to 1994, he was director of the Central European Affairs in the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs in the U.S. State Department. At the time of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, he was serving as deputy chief of mission to East Germany, and helped negotiate the Reunification of Germany. He served as vice president of the Chicago on Global Affairs and vice president of DePaul University.

From 2014 to 2019, Bindenagel served as the Henry Kissinger Professor for Security and Governance at the University of Bonn. He is currently a Senior professor at the university. Germany from Peace to Power: Can Germany Lead in Europe Without Dominating It? (2020; V&R Bonn).