Friedbert Pflüger (born 6 March 1955) is a former German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was a Member of the German Bundestag (1990–2006). He was Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry of Defence (2005–2006), and the CDU's candidate for Governing Mayor of Berlin in the 2006 Berlin state election. He was a member of the Berlin House of Representatives (2006–2011) and a member of the executive board of the CDU (2000–2010). Today, he is a businessman and teaches Energy and Climate Security at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS), University of Bonn. He is Visiting Professor at King’s College London. Early life and education Friedbert Pflüger was born in Hanover. He received his Abitur (university entrance qualification) at Friedrich Schiller High School in Hanover in 1973. He studied political science, public and constitutional law and economics in Göttingen, Bonn and at Harvard. He received his Master of Arts degree in 1980 and in 1982 his Dr. phil. degree. His doctoral thesis was directed by Karl Dietrich Bracher and examined US-foreign policy "between idealism and realism". In 1980/81, he was a graduate student associate at the Harvard Center for International Affairs (CFIA) under the auspices of Samuel Huntington. He also taught a seminar on US human rights policy at Harvard. Political career Since 1971, Pflüger has been a member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). The first political offices he held were as deputy chairman of the European Democrat Students (EDS) from 1976 to 1978 and as federal chairman of the Association of Christian Democrat Students (RCDS) from 1977 to 1978. From 1977 to 1985, Pflüger was also a member of the federal executive committee of the Young Union (JU), the youth organization of the CDU/CSU, under the leadership of successive chairmen Matthias Wissmann and Christoph Böhr. From 1981 to 1984, Pflüger worked for the governing mayor of Berlin, Richard von Weizsäcker. When Weizsäcker became the Federal President of Germany in 1984, Pflüger became his spokesman and speechwriter, a job he kept during all the presidency until 1989. Until today, Pflüger sees von Weizsäcker as a "father figure". Between 1989 and 1991, Pflüger worked as manager of the Matuschka Group, Berlin, at that time a leading German investment bank. Member of the German Bundestag, 1990–2006 In the 1990 elections, Pflüger became a member of the Bundestag, which he remained until 2006.