Thomas Starlinger, former Austrian Secretary of Defense, will deliver the Annual Botstiber Lecture: “From the Alps to the Rocky Mountains: 250 Years of Austrian-American Relations. Charting the Course of Friendship through Historical and Global Change.”

The 2026 Botstiber Lecture will be held on Friday, May 29, 2026, at 6:30 pm, at the Embassy of the Austrian Republic, 3524 International Court, NW, Washington, DC.

A graduate of the Theresian Military Academy, and a participant in the Austrian General Staff Honors Course, Major General Starlinger has held many leadership positions within the Austrian Armed Forces, serving both in Austria and in Brussels.

From June 2019 to January 2020, he was Secretary of Defense in the Austrian government while since February 2020, he has been the National Security Advisor to Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen.

Major General Starlinger has also served in several missions in Syria (UNDOF), Iran (Austrian Field Hospital), Cyprus (UNFICYP) and Tajikistan (UNMOT). From November 2008 until May 2009, he was in command of the Multinational Task Force South/KFOR in Kosovo.

He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative / Austrian World Summit (AWS), the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCSS), and the International Advisory Board of the Austrian Supply Chain Intelligence Institute (ASCII).

Major General Starlinger moderates the multidisciplinary “Future Operations Platform” gathering various scientists in the fields of Health, Economy, Data Science, Society and Geopolitics.