Dr. Markus Mäder is the State Secretary for Security Policy at the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). As head of the State Secretariat for Security Policy (SEPOS), he is instrumental in shaping Switzerland’s national and international security strategy and coordinating security policy instruments. Mäder's career includes roles such as Director International Relations of the Swiss Armed Forces in the rank of a brigadier general, Security Policy Adviser, Operations Officer in Kosovo, and Deputy Military Representative to NATO. He has served as Swiss Defence Attaché in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, and has conducted research at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., at the King's College in London and the Center for Security Studies at ETH in Zurich. He holds a PhD from the University of Zurich.