German Army Col. Markus Schneider, a graduate of the German General Staff Course, joined the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in April 2024 as course director for the Program on Applied Security Studies. In May 2025, he became the senior national representative of the German Element and deputy dean for outreach.

Prior to joining the Marshall Center, Schneider served as the senior national representative and head of the German Detachment, as well as course director for the European Security Course and other programs, at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. In this capacity, he also liaised with the neighboring Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance.

Schneider has held various leadership, politico-military affairs, and logistics positions within the German Army, the Joint Support and Enabling Service, the German Command and Staff College, and the Ministry of Defense’s Armed Forces Staff. He also served in the German military representation to NATO and the EU Military Committee, supporting the EU Plans and Policy and the EU Operations directorates. He deployed to Kosovo as a battalion commander and to Iraq as head of the German Forces during Operation Inherent Resolve – Capacity Building Iraq.

Schneider is an alumnus of the 43rd German Armed Forces General Staff Course in Hamburg and the 44th Israeli National Defense College in Tel Aviv. He has been awarded the Silver Cross of Honor and the Bronze Cross of Honor of the Bundeswehr, and was decorated with the Non-Article 5 NATO Medal – KFOR (Kosovo Forces) and the German Bronze Medal for Foreign Duty for his service with KFOR and Operation Inherent Resolve.

Schneider’s areas of expertise include European security and defense policy, NATO-EU cooperation, and defense and diplomacy. He holds a Master of Arts in political science from the University of Haifa in Israel, and a Diplom-Kaufmann (univ.)—equivalent to a Master of Arts in business administration—from the University of the Bundeswehr Munich in Germany.