NYC: Burden Sharing, NATO, and Foreign Policy Challenges Facing Europe and the United States
2020-02-04 08:00 - 09:30 (America/New_York)
The ACG will host a breakfast briefing with Stefan Liebich, Member of the Bundestag (Die Linke).
This event is open to members of the ACG only.
Stefan Liebich has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2009, representing the Berlin district Pankow/Prenzlauer Berg/Weißensee. He serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and is the spokesperson for foreign affairs for The Left. Mr. Liebich began his political career in 1990 when he became a member of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) at age 18. In 1995, he was first elected to the Berlin House of Representatives. After being re-elected in 1999 and 2001, he became chairman of the PDS Berlin. He led the PDS Berlin to its first coalition with the Social Democrats, which governed successfully for ten years. Between 2002 and 2006 Liebich was the Group Chairman of the PDS in the House of Representatives and was re-elected in 2006. He became a member of The Left following the merger of the PDS and the Electoral Alternative for Labor and Social Justice (WASG) in 2007. Born in Wismar in the GDR in 1972, Mr. Liebich studied business economics with a focus on information systems at the Technical University in Applied Sciences in Berlin.

NYC: The Impact of AI and Digitalization on Social Cohesion
2020-02-25 18:00 - 20:00
The ACG, the Hasso Plattner Institute, and the ZEIT-Stiftung will host a discussion and reception with Dr. Gesche Joost, Professor of Design Research at the Berlin University of the Arts.
Dr. Gesche Joost is a Professor of Design Research at the Berlin University of the Arts and has headed the Design Research Lab since 2005. She conducts research and development projects with international partners in the areas of human-computer interaction, wearable computing, as well as user-centered design and participation. Dr. Joost is Germany’s Digital Champion on the European Commission’s Digital Agenda initiative. She advises the Commission on implementing the Digital Agenda for Europe, focusing on digital skills, the digitalization of work, and support for startups.
Up until 2010, she was a junior professor for Interaction Design & Media at the Technical University of Berlin in cooperation with Telekom Innovation Laboratories. As a visiting professor, she taught Gender and Design at the HAWK Hildesheim. In 2009, she received the Young Talent Award for Science from the Mayor of Berlin. She is the Chairwoman of DGTF e.V. (German Society for Design Theory and Research) and a Board member of the Technologiestiftung Berlin. She is also a Board member of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes), an appointed member of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), as well as a full member of the Goethe Institute.
This event is part of series of events being held across the country in 2019 and 2020 by the American Council on Germany and the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius on social cohesion, the polarization of politics, and the rise of populism in the United States and Germany.

NYC: Transatlantic Trade in Uncertain Times: Unpacking Trade Disputes between Europe, the United States, and China
2020-02-27 12:30 - 14:30
The ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Dr. Christian Forwick, Deputy Director-General for External Economic Relations, Trade Policy, America; and Lena Knecht, Policy Officer for Transatlantic Economic Relations in the Directorate-General for External Economic Relations, Trade Policy, America at the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
This event is open to ACG members only.
Dr. Christian Forwick is Deputy Director-General for External Economic Relations, Trade Policy, America in the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, having been appointed in July 2018. Previously, he was Head of the Ministry’s budget division. Dr. Forwick has been working in the field of international trade since 1994 and spent several years in Geneva, Switzerland, at the German Mission to the WTO and in the department of Foreign Economic Relations in the German Federal Chancellery. His Ph.D. is from the University of Münster.
Lena Knecht is a Policy Officer for Transatlantic Economic Relations in the Directorate-General for External Economic Relations, Trade Policy, America of the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. She oversees analysis of the bilateral trade relationship and covers EU-U.S. trade talks as well as the U.S.-China trade dispute. Ms. Knecht joined the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in 2014 to work in the Directorate-General for Digital and Innovation Policy. She studied law in Heidelberg, Berlin and Seattle. Ms. Knecht holds a Master of Laws in Intellectual Property Law & Policy degree from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Twenty-Eighth Annual John J. McCloy Awards Dinner
2021-10-13 18:00 - 22:00
The American Council on Germany’s Twenty-Eighth Annual John J. McCloy Awards Dinner honoring Oliver Bäte, Chairman of the Board of Management of Allianz SE, with the 2021 McCloy Award, and Robert B. Zoellick, Lead U.S. Official for the Two-Plus-Four Negotiations on German Unification and Former President of the World Bank, U.S. Trade Representative, and Deputy Secretary of State, with the 2021 Transatlantic Leadership. Award

A New Government; A New Foreign Policy? What to Expect from Berlin after Angela Merkel
2021-11-01 17:30 - 19:00
On November 1, the ACG will host a discussion and reception with Dr. Markus Ziener, Helmut Schmidt Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. With support from 1014.
Please Note: Proof of vaccination is required to attend. Dr. Markus Ziener is a Professor of Journalism at the Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation und Wirtschaft (HMKW), University of Applied Sciences, in Berlin. He teaches political theory and economics, mass media, journalistic writing, and the history of the press. He is also the global affairs correspondent of the newspaper The Straits Times in Singapore and a regular contributor to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Deutschlandfunk/Deutschlandradio.
From 2006 to 2012, he was Washington Bureau Chief of Handelsblatt, Germany’s business daily. Prior to that, he worked as a field reporter, covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has also served as Handelsblatt’s correspondent in Moscow (1994–1999) and Eastern Europe (1990–1994). From 1999 to 2001, he was foreign editor with the Financial Times Deutschland.
Originally from Darmstadt, he obtained his Ph.D. in politics at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, examining financial crises and reforms in Poland. He also spent time at Duke University through a GMF fellowship for foreign journalists.

Nord Stream 2 and Germany’s Precarious Dependency on Russian Gas
2022-03-03 17:30 - 19:30
Amid the tensions with Russia over Ukraine, Germany’s energy dependence and Nord Stream 2 have been major topics of discussion – with in Germany, across Europe, and in the United States. The pipeline has been a controversial subject for years, but in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine it is being used as leverage to try to get Russia to back down. However, the current moment is part of a longer narrative…
Join 1014 and the American Council on Germany for a discussion that will put the pipeline project and Germany’s energy dependency in a broader context. We will be joined by Sascha Müller-Kraenner, the Executive Director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V. (Environmental Action Germany), an independent non-profit organization that was founded in 1975 and is focused on environmental and consumer protection. This event will be moderated by ACG President Dr. Steven E. Sokol and will be held as part of 1014’s “Two at 1014” series.
(All attendees must show proof that they are fully vaccinated. The wearing of masks is encouraged.) Sascha Müller-Kraenner has served as Executive Director/CEO of Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V., DUH) since Janaury 2015. DUH is a leading environment and consumer advocacy organization that works mostly at the German state and national as well as on the European level. He is also a founding partner and board member to Ecologic Institute, a non-profit applied environmental policy research institute with offices in Berlin, Brussels and Washington, DC. Before assuming his current role, he held various positions with The Nature Conservancy between 2007 and 2014, and earlier in his career he worked for the Heinrich-Böll Foundation. Mr. Müller-Kraenner studied Philosophy in Munich and graduated with honors in Biology and Public Law from the University of Bayreuth.

Zeitenwende: Germany’s New Foreign and Security Policy
2022-03-08 08:00 - 10:00
On March 8, the ACG will host a breakfast briefing with German Ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Emily Haber

What’s at Stake? Russia, Ukraine, and the Future of the Global Order
2022-03-31 08:00 - 10:00
On March 28, the ACG will host a breakfast briefing with H.E. Sigmar Gabriel, former Foreign Minister, Former Vice Chancellor, and Chairman of Atlantik-Brücke.

Germany’s Response to the War in Ukraine
2022-04-01 12:30 - 13:30
Germany’s dramatic change in foreign and defense policy is a direct result of the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine. Berlin quickly imposed sanctions on Russia in conjunction with its EU partners and the United States. It also took bilateral steps such as freezing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Further measures remain on the table as Germany seeks to reduce its dependency on imports of Russian gas, oil, and coal and accelerate its transition to renewable energy sources. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition government have pledged to establish a €100 billion defense fund and stated that German defense spending will rise to at least 2 percent of GDP (up from 1.53 percent in 2021, according to NATO data).
German actions to implement these commitments will play a crucial role in the Western response to Moscow’s aggression, strengthening NATO’s defense and helping meet the threat Russia poses to European security. Join the ACG and the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) for a hybrid event with Bundestag member Metin Hakverdi (SPD) on Friday, April 1. Metin Hakverdi joined the Social Democratic Party in 2002 and has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2013. He serves on the Bundestag’s Committee on European Union Affairs and on the Budget Committee. He is the Chairman of the USA/North America Working Group within the SPD Parliamentary Group and a member of the German-American Parliamentary Friendship Group in the German Bundestag. Before being elected to the Bundestag, Mr. Hakverdi was a member of the Parliament of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg from 2008 to 2013, where he was on the Budget Committee and the Committee of Public Companies and Assets.
Mr. Hakverdi attended high school in Simi Valley, California, in 1985/86 and studied law at the Christian-Albrecht University in Kiel and at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law. He was a distinguished visitor at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies in 2019 and a 2020 John F. Kennedy Memorial Policy Fellow at Harvard’s Center for European Studies (CES). He is a member of the Atlantik-Brücke e.V.

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: A Watershed Moment for the International Order and a Critical Challenge for Global Leadership
2022-04-21 18:00 - 20:00
On April 21, the ACG will host a discussion and dinner with Dr. Norbert Röttgen, Member of the German Bundestag (CDU) and former Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety. Held in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Financial Stability in an Unstable World: A Central Banker’s Perspective
2022-04-27 12:30 - 14:00
The American Council on Germany will host a discussion and luncheon with Professor Dr. Joachim Wuermeling, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank. Professor Dr. Joachim Wuermeling has been a member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank since 2016. He is responsible for banking and financial supervision, risk control, and information technology. Prior to taking on his current position, Professor Dr. Wuermeling, who has a Ph.D. in Law, held a variety of executive-level posts in the financial and insurance industries as well as in politics. From 2011 until his departure for the Bundesbank, Professor Dr. Wuermeling was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Sparda-Banken in Frankfurt am Main. Prior to that, he was a member of the Executive Board of the German Insurance Association (Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft) for about three years. From 2005 to 2008, Professor Dr. Wuermeling was State Secretary for European Affairs at the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology, where he was also responsible for coordinating European policy matters. From 1999 to 2005, he was a member of the European Parliament (CSU). Professor Dr. Wuermeling also is a lecturer on European politics at the University of Potsdam.

New Faces in the Bundestag: What’s on the Agenda
2022-05-02 12:30 - 14:00
On May 2, The American Council on Germany and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung will host a discussion and luncheon with Isabel Cademartori, Member of the German Bundestag (SPD).
For more information, please email events@acgusa.org.

Isabel Cademartori was elected to the German Parliament in 2021, where she represents the City of Mannheim. Ms. Cademartori is the only member of parliament with Hispanic heritage, and she serves on the Committee on Housing, Urban Development, Building, and Local Government, as well as the Committee on Transport. She is also a deputy member of the Committee on Health. Ms. Cademartori has also been a member of the Mannheim City Council since 2019.
Prior to her rise in electoral politics, she studied Business and Economics Education at the University of Mannheim, earning her master’s degree in 2014. Born in Brandenburg to a German mother and a Chilean father who immigrated to East Germany as a political refugee, Ms. Cademartori’s biography is one of the more unusual among her colleagues in the Bundestag. Her grandfather, Jose Cademartori, was the Minister of Economics in Salvador Allende’s government and was forced to flee Chile after Pinochet’s military putsch. She studied abroad in Chile and South Africa.

Annual Meeting of the Members
2022-05-10 18:00 - 19:30
Annual Meeting of the Members
Discussion and Reception
with special guest speaker
Ambassador Antje Leendertse
Permanent Representative of Germany
to the United Nations
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
6:00 p.m. Speech and Reception

The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine: A Crisis Or An Opportunity For German Foreign Policy?
2022-05-13 12:00 - 13:00
Germany has made a dramatic shift in its foreign, defense, and energy policy as a direct result of the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine. After decades of Ostpolitik (a foreign policy of détente toward the Soviet Union and then Russia) and Wandel durch Handel (or “change through trade”), we have seen a major pivot in German policy toward Russia. But, is it here to stay? And, to what degree to Germany’s stance toward Moscow help Putin launch the current conflict?
Join us for a hybrid event with senior German diplomat Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, who served as the Chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) from 2008 until 2022 and is now President of the Foundation Council of the Munich Security Conference Foundation. Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger was the Chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) from 2008 until 2022 and is now President of the Foundation Council of the Munich Security Conference Foundation. Additionally, he teaches at the Hertie School in Berlin as Senior Professor for Security Policy and Diplomatic Practice. He advises the private sector, governments, and international organizations on strategic issues.
Ambassador Ischinger began his career in 1973 in the cabinet of the UN Secretary-General in New York. In 1975, he joined the Federal Republic of Germany’s Foreign Service. In 1993, he was named Director of Policy Planning, and in 1995 Political Director. In this role, he led the German delegations during the Bosnian Peace negotiations in Dayton/Ohio in 1995, the negotiations on the NATO-Russia Founding Act in 1996/1997, and during the Kosovo crisis in 1998/99. In October 1998, he was appointed State Secretary (Deputy Foreign Minister) of the German Federal Foreign Office. From 2001 to 2006, he served as German Ambassador in Washington, DC, and, from 2006 to 2008, in London. In 2007, he also represented the EU in the Troika negotiations on the future of Kosovo.
In 2014, Ambassador Ischinger served as the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-In-Office in the Ukraine crisis. In 2015, he chaired the OSCE-mandated “Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security as a Common Project” tasked with providing advice on how to build a more resilient European security architecture.
Ambassador Ischinger serves as a member of a number of non-profit boards, including the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the American Academy Berlin, and Dialogue Europe Russia (DER) as well as the Atlantik-Brücke, the Yalta European Strategy Group (YES) as well as the Atlantic Council, Washington D.C. He is also a member of the Trilateral Commission, and the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). He also serves on the Supervisory Board of Hensoldt AG and on the International Advisory Board of Investcorp, London.
Wolfgang Ischinger studied law at the universities of Bonn and Geneva and obtained his law degree in 1972. He earned a MA degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and did postgraduate work at Harvard Law School. He is married to author and journalist Jutta Falke-Ischinger, and has three children. He is a licensed skiing instructor and loves mountaineering and hunting.

From the War in Ukraine to the Technology and Trade Council Meeting: A Transatlantic Economic Update
2022-05-19 12:00 - 14:00
On May 19, the ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Dr. Daniel S. Hamilton, a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.

War in Ukraine, Climate Protection, and Inflation: Managing Multiple Crises Simultaneously
2022-05-23 18:00 - 20:00
On May 23, the ACG will host a dinner roundtable with Bundestag Member Alexander Radwan (CSU) on Monday, May 23. Mr. Radwan serves on the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee and the Finance Committee. He will be visiting New York together with Christian Heller, CEO of Value Balancing Alliance, and former Bundestag member Christian Ruck, who now serves as the Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Congo.

It’s a Matter of Trust: Germany, Eastern Europe, and the War in Ukraine
2022-05-27 08:00 - 09:30
May 27 at 8:00 am ET in New York – “It’s a Matter of Trust: Germany, Eastern Europe, and the War in Ukraine” The ACG and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung will hold a Breakfast Briefing with Dr. Ellen Ueberschär, Co-President of the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation.
To have your name added to the waiting list, please email events@acgusa.org. Dr. Ellen Ueberschär is Co-President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the German green political foundation headquartered in Berlin with more than 30 offices worldwide. She has been a longstanding member of the Foundation’s Board as well as of the Green Policy Forum. From 2006 to 2017, she served as Secretary General of the German Lutheran Church Assembly, a biannual congress that brings together hundreds of thousands of lay members of the Lutheran Church for discussions on faith, politics, and culture.
Dr. Ueberschär is the author of multiple books on faith, politics, and society. She has long been an outspoken advocate for gender equality and human rights. Born in East Berlin, Dr. Ueberschär grew up in the former GDR, where she was refused permission to study medicine by state authorities. She opted instead for theology, obtaining her Ph.D. from Marburg University in 2002.

Germany’s ‘Zeitenwende’ and a New Chapter for Transatlantic Relations - Canceled
2022-06-10 08:00 - 09:30
June 10, the ACG will host a breakfast briefing with Michael Georg Link, Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the Federal Foreign Office and Member of the Bundestag (FDP).
Michael Georg Link is a member of the German Bundestag, where he represents the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and his home electoral district, Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg. He is the Spokesperson on Europe of the FDP Parliamentary Group, and since March 2022, he has been the Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the Federal Foreign Office. In addition, Mr. Link is a member of the party council of the European Liberals (ALDE) and a member of the FDP national executive board in his capacity as party Treasurer. He is a member of Heilbronn City Council and also Chairperson of the FDP association in that city. From January 2012 to December 2013, he was Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office and Federal Government Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation. In particular, he was responsible for relations with the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, and NATO, as well as bilateral relations with the United States and Canada. After his military service, Mr. Link studied Russian and French at the universities of Augsburg, Lausanne, and Heidelberg.

Antisemitism in Europe: Challenges and Solutions
2022-06-17 12:00 - 14:00
On June 17, the American Council on Germany will hold a discussion and luncheon with Katharina von Schnurbein, European Commission Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life.
Katharina von Schnurbein (2009 Young Leader) was appointed the first European Commission Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism in December 2015. Her mandate includes liaising closely with Jewish communities, Member States, EU institutions, and international organizations as well as proposing and implementing policy to address antisemitism, foster Jewish life, and ensure Holocaust remembrance. Prior to this, she worked for five years as an advisor to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on dialogue with churches, religions, and non-confessional organizations. Ms. von Schnurbein started working for the European Commission in 2002 as a press officer for the EU Delegation in Prague. With enlargement in 2004, she moved to Brussels as the spokesperson for Employment, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities for the Czech EU Commissioner Vladimir Špidla. Before that, Ms. von Schnurbein worked for the Chairman of the European Affairs Committee at the German Bundestag in Berlin (2000-2002) as well as for an international crisis management consultancy. She received B’nai B’rith Europe’s Human Rights Prize in 2018 and the Marietta and Friedrich Torberg Medal of the Jewish Community in Vienna in 2021. Ms. von Schnurbein’s educational background includes undergraduate studies in political science and Slavic studies at Charles University in Prague and the University of Bonn, a Master of Slavic Studies from Oxford University (1997), and a Master of European Studies from the Center for European Integration Studies in Bonn (1999). She spent the academic year 2017-2018 as an EU Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence to conduct research on effective measures to combat antisemitism across Europe.

German Leadership and the Zeitenwende: Evolving Foreign Policy Priorities in Germany and Beyond
2022-07-12 12:00 - 14:00
On July 12, the ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Metin Hakverdi, Member of the Bundestag (SPD).

Germany’s Foreign and Security Policy Pivot: A View from the Opposition
2022-07-28 12:00 - 14:00
The ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Member of the Bundestag Peter Beyer (CDU).
This discussion is limited to members of the ACG.

Lessons from the Pandemic: How Cities Can Protect Public Health and Fight Climate Change
2022-09-12 18:00 - 19:30
On September 12, the ACG and the Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung will hold a discussion and reception with Silke Gebel, Member of the German Green Party and
Chair of the Green Party in the Berlin House of Representatives
Silke Gebel is Chairwoman of the state Parliamentary Group of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (Alliance 90/The Greens) in the Berlin House of Representatives, where she was elected in 2013 to represent Berlin-Mitte. As Chairwoman, she is particularly involved in issues relating to the governance of the Social Democratic-Green-Left coalition in Berlin. The Green Party has been involved in the state government in Berlin since 2016. Trained in public administration, Ms. Gebel joined the Greens in 2003 and served as Political Director of the Green Youth in the federal government.
Ms. Gebel’s main concerns are to advance strong environmental protection, with a focus on ensuring access to clean water, improving air quality, and expanding public green spaces in the city. Her commitment to Berlin’s health sector is unique. She initiated a Green Hospital Program, which is the city’s first comprehensive policy to make hospitals more sustainable. Ms. Gebel believes that strengthening environmental protection and minimizing resource use in sectors as important as health care will make Berlin more equitable and livable for all residents, especially children and the elderly, who are most affected by pollution.
Another focus of her work is digitalization, which offers innovative ways to modernize Berlin and meet the great challenge of making the city climate-neutral. On an international level, Ms. Gebel advocates for constructive discussions on the future of European political cooperation for peace, from which the city of Berlin has greatly benefited. As a committed European, she is a member of the Young European Federalists of the European Union. She is also a member of ver.di, one of the most powerful trade unions in Germany, representing nearly 2 million people.

The War in Ukraine and its Impact on Germany – and Europe
2022-09-13 08:00 - 09:30
On Septembre 13, the ACG and the Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung will hold a breakfast briefing with Omid Nouripour, Member of the Bundestag and Co-Chairman of Alliance ‘90/The Greens.
Omid Nouripour has been an active member of the German Green Party (Alliance 90/The Greens) since 1996. He first worked on an initiative for strengthening the rights of immigrants in Germany. From 1999 until 2003 he was the chairman of the Green Party’s Youth Organization in Hessen, his German home state. In December 2002, he was elected to the board of the federal Green Party and he remained on as a board member until December 2006. From 2002 until 2009 he was also the spokesperson of the Federal Working Committee on Migrants and Refugees of the Green Party.
Mr. Nouripour became a member of parliament in September 2006, taking over the seat of Joschka Fischer, the former German foreign minister. Mr. Nouripour first worked on European issues and Home affairs and was a member of the Budget Committee, the Committee of Defense, and the Committee for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs. He was the ranking member of the Green Party parliamentary group in the Foreign Affairs Committee during the 19th legislative period and the Green Party’s spokesman on foreign affairs. He was re-elected to the Bundestag in the September 2021 federal election and won the seat in his constituency.
Since February 2022, Omid Nouripour has been the Co-Chairman of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.

Investing in Germany while Restructuring Energy Supplies
2022-09-21 11:30 - 12:30
On September 21, the ACG will host a discussion with Dr. Jörg Kukies, State Secretary for Economic, Finance, and European Affairs in the German Federal Chancellery.
Dr. Jörg Kukies is the State Secretary for Economic, Finance, and European Affairs, and G7/G20 Sherpa in the German Federal Chancellery. Previously, he served as State Secretary for financial market policy and European policy at the Federal Ministry of Finance from April 2018. Before that, he was co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs AG and managing director of the Frankfurt branch of Goldman Sachs International from 2014 to 2018. He has previously held positions in the product development team of Goldman Sachs International in London, in the equities division for Germany and Austria in Frankfurt, and as head of equity derivatives for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Goldman Sachs International from 2011 to 2014.
Dr. Kukies studied economics at Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris. He has a master’s in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business.

Putin’s War in Ukraine: A Shock for Germany
2022-09-30 12:00 - 14:00
On September 30, the ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, Journalist and former Foreign Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (1985 ACG Legislative Aide Fellow).
Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger (1985 ACG Legislative Aide Fellow) is a journalist who previously served as the Foreign Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. His writing has focused on the United States, European, transatlantic, and international politics. Mr. Frankenberger holds a master’s degree in Political Science, Economics, and American Studies from Frankfurt University. In 1980, he participated in an exchange program with the University of Mississippi. From 1982 to 1985 he was a research associate at the Center for North-American Studies at Frankfurt University. Mr. Frankenberger was a Congressional Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 to 1986 and a Marshall Fellow at Harvard University in 1990. He has lectured at several American universities. In 2011, he was a Bosch Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington, D.C. Since he joined the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany’s leading national daily, in 1986, he served in various capacities, as European, International, and Editorial Page Editor. Mr. Frankenberger was a Member of the Trilateral Commission and of the Scientific Council of the Institute for European Politics in Berlin. He also served on the Advisory Board of the Federal Academy for Security Policy in Berlin and is associated with several organizations that deal with the transatlantic relationship.

Germany’s Zeitenwende and the War in Ukraine: How does the Bundeswehr React?
2022-10-14 08:00 - 10:00
On October 14, the ACG and the German Consulate in New York will host a breakfast briefing with General Markus Laubenthal , Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr.
Lieutenant General Markus Laubenthal has been the Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr since April 2020. Prior to this, he was the Director General for Forces Policy at the Federal Ministry of Defense. And, before that Lieutenant General Laubenthal was commander of the 1st Armored Division in Oldenburg between 2017 and 2018 and chief of staff of U.S. Army Europe in Wiesbaden from 2014 to 2017. In other assignments, he served as commander of Armored Brigade 12 in Amberg (2012 to 2014) and Tank Battalion 203 in Hemer (2003 to 2005), a trainee at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in the United Kingdom (2001 to 2002) and a youth officer in Schwerin (1991 to 1993), among others. From 1997 to 1999, he was a participant in the 40th Army General Staff Course at the German Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Hamburg.
From summer 2013 to winter 2014, Laubenthal served as Chief of Staff ISAF-International Security Assistance Force Regional Command North in Mazar-e Sharif/Afghanistan and from fall 2002 to spring 2003 as Military Assistant to the Deputy Commander Operations and Assistant Chief of Staff Operations at Headquarters Kosovo Force in Pristina.

The Three I’s: Invasion, Inflation, and Interest Rates
2022-10-18 12:00 - 14:00
On October 18, the ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Andreas Dombret, Former Executive Board Member of the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Dr. Andreas Dombret is a German-American banker who served as a member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank from 2010 until 2018. In that capacity, he held responsibility for Banking and Financial Supervision, Risk Controlling, and the Bundesbank’s Representative Offices abroad. He was also a member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism of the European Central Bank as well as the German Financial Stability Committee. Earlier in his career, Dr. Dombret was the Vice-chairman of Bank of America Global Investment Banking in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa as well as head of the German, Austrian, and Swiss branches. After retiring from the Board of the Bundesbank, Dr. Dombret continued to serve on the Board of the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements until the end of 2018 and subsequently assumed a portfolio of advisory mandates. Among them are consultancy firm Oliver Wyman, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and the London-headquartered equity research firm Autonomous. He is also an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Dr. Dombret completed his MBA at Westfälische Wilhelms University Münster and earned his doctorate at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg. He holds dual German and American citizenship.

Germany, Russia, and the War in Ukraine
2022-10-25 12:00 - 14:00
On October 25, the ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, Senior Advisor at Human Rights First and Retired Commanding General of the United States Army Europe.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges served as Commanding General of United States Army Europe from 2014 to 2017 before his retirement from the Army in early 2018. Based in Frankfurt, he is currently a Senior Advisor to Human Rights First. General Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions, including Tactics Instructor; Chief of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division, in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; Director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff; Chief of Legislative Liaison for the United States Army; and Commander of NATO Allied Land Command (İzmir, Turkey). After his first assignment as an Infantry Lieutenant in Garlstedt, Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels in the 101st Airborne Division, including Command of the First Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” of the 101st Airborne Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2004). His other operational assignments include Chief of Operations for Multi-National Corps – Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2005-2006) and Director of Operations, Regional Command South, in Kandahar, Afghanistan (2009-2010).

Can Europe Remain a Strong Ally for the United States?
2022-10-26 18:00 - 20:00
On October 26, the ACG and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung will host a discussion and dinner with Hermann Gröhe, Member of the German Bundestag (CDU) and former German Federal Minister of Health.
Hermann Gröhe is the Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group and the Deputy Chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. From 2013 to 2018, he was the Federal Minister of Health of Germany. Before this, between 2009 and 2013, he served as the Secretary-General of the CDU. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Gröhe was the spokesperson of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the First Committee of Inquiry, and from 2005 to 2008, he also acted as legal counsel to the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group. As Federal Minister of Health, he put antimicrobial resistance on the G7 and G20 agenda and advanced Germany’s global health commitments. He gained international recognition for his efforts to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014.

Germany’s Zeitenwende: How It’s Being Viewed in Different Regions of the U.S.”
2022-10-31 12:00 - 14:00
On October 31, the ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Ambassador (ret.) Stefan Schlueter, Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy of the German Foreign Office in Berlin.
Stefan Schlüter just completed a speaking tour to North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Washington, and Minnesota with the ACG. He met with a range of people, and will reflect on his trip. Mr. Schlüter served in the German Foreign Office until the summer of 2017 and is now a Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy in Berlin. After studying political science at the University of Hamburg, Mr. Schlüter joined the German Foreign Office in 1979. His first foreign assignments brought him to Buenos Aires and Algiers. From 1986 to 1990 he served as the spokesman of the German Embassy in Tel Aviv before returning to the Foreign Office in Bonn as desk officer for the Maghreb countries. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Deputy Consul General in Los Angeles before returning to Bonn as Deputy Director for the southern part of Latin America. From 2000 to 2004, he was posted to the United States a second time and served as Deputy Consul General in New York City before moving to Buenos Aires as Deputy Chief of Mission. In 2007 he returned to the Foreign Office in Berlin to assume the position of Director for Conflict Prevention, Peace-Building, Democracy Promotion and State-Building, promoting German projects in this field world-wide. In 2010 he was appointed Ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean Region, residing in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago before moving on to his last assignment as Consul General in San Francisco in 2014.
