The Boston Eric M. Warburg Chapter of the American Council on Germany and the German-American Business Council of Boston, Inc. cordially invite you to a discussion and breakfast with Dirk H. Kranen, Head of Financial Division, German Embassy Washington D.C. and Dr. Samina Sultan, Senior Economist for European Economic and Fiscal Policy at the German Economic Institute (IW) on “All Doom and Gloom? The German Economic Model in Transition. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Steven E. Sokol, President and CEO of the American Council on Germany.
There is no cost to attend this event. To attend, RSVP by Tuesday, March 25.
Dirk H. Kranen is Head of the Finance Division in the German Embassy in Washington D.C. After completing his studies in Cologne, the graduate economist held numerous important positions during his career, including personal advisor to the German Finance Minister Theo Waigel, speechwriter and economic advisor to the German Federal President Horst Köhler, as well as Senior Advisor to the International Monetary Fund for many years and financial advisor to the international organisations in Geneva. During the German G8 presidency, he organised a high-level G8 meeting on the subject of remittances. During his time at the Federal Ministry of Finance, he was actively involved in shaping parliamentary oversight of the European Stability Mechanism, among other things. Before moving to Washington, D.C. in August 2024, Mr. Kranen was Head of Division in the European Department of the Federal Ministry of Finance. He also taught European and international management for several years as a lecturer at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (htw) and the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin.
Dr. Samina Sultan is a Senior Economist for European Economic and Fiscal Policy at the German Economic Institute (IW). She studied economics at the Universities of Mannheim, St. Gallen and Tübingen; she did her PhD at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests include trade, trade policy, Europe, fiscal and industrial policies, and China.
Dr. Steven E. Sokol has been the President of the American Council on Germany since 2015. Under his leadership, the ACG has expanded its programming and deepened its policy engagement. This includes launching programs and activities designed to reach a wider audience, such as virtual events, podcasts, a curated news digest, and the popular Kaffeepause series, where Dr. Sokol regularly meets with a Berlin-based journalist to talk about the news stories behind the headlines.
He served as President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh from July 2010 until April 2015. While there, he hosted a weekly radio program, The Pittsburgh Global Press Conference, which featured interviews with experts and thought leaders on international affairs and global events – and their local impact. Prior to that, he was the Vice President and Director of Programs at the American Council on Germany for nearly eight years.
Dr. Sokol has more than 25 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations in Europe and the United States. He served as the Deputy Director of the Aspen Institute Berlin, was the Head of the Project Management Department at the Bonn International Center for Conversion GmbH (BICC), and was a Program Officer in the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Earlier in his career, he worked at a law firm in Washington, DC (Fulbright & Jaworski LLP), and later at a membership organization for local government officials (the International City/County Management Association, ICMA).
Europe has been important in Dr. Sokol’s personal and professional development: He grew up in England (from the age of 10 to 18) and studied and worked in Germany for more than 10 years. Dr. Sokol frequently comments on transatlantic relations and European and American political affairs in the U.S. and European media.
He holds a Doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University as well as an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. He also studied at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Freie Universität in Berlin. He was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) from the German government for his work to strengthen German-American relations. Dr. Sokol is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and has served on a number of nonprofit boards.