Volker Rühe is a German politician affiliated with the CDU. He served as German Defence Minister from 1992 to 1998, succeeding Gerhard Stoltenberg during the first government of a reunified Germany in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Kohl.
Between 1998 and 2000, Rühe served as the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Between 2014 and 2015, he headed a crossparty committee to review the country’s parliamentary rules on military deployments. A member of the German Bundestag for 29 years, he has now retired from active politics.
Volker Rühe is a member of the Board for the International Crisis Group, as well as a member of the Advisory Board for the European Leadership Network (ELN).