American Council On Germany

German-American Relations after the U.S Election and ahead of German Elections in 2025
2024-10-29 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
On October 29, the American Council on Germany and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) New York Office will host an event with Hermann Gröhe, member of the German Bundestag and Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group.

Hermann Gröhe is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister of Health in the third cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2013 until 2018. Becoming a member of the CDU in 1977, Mr. Gröhe has been a member of the German Bundestag since 1994. Between 1998 and 2005, he was his parliamentary group’s spokesperson on human rights and humanitarian aid. He subsequently served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2005 until 2008. From 2008 until 2009, Mr. Gröhe briefly served as Minister of State at the Federal Chancellery under Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During his time in office as Federal Minister of Health, Mr. Gröhe focused heavily on global health issues. In March 2016, Mr. Gröhe was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, which was co-chaired by presidents François Hollande of France and Jacob Zuma of South Africa. He later led Germany’s delegation to the 2016 High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in New York.
Since March 2018, Mr. Gröhe has been serving as deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. In this capacity, he oversees the group’s initiatives on social affairs and development policy.

Let's Talk Democracy: Quo Vadis, America?
2024-11-12 18:30 - 20:30 | Goethe, 30 Irving Place, New York, NY, 10003, United States
Join 1014, the American Council on Germany, and the Goethe Institut for a discussion with Dr. Alexander Görlach Adjunct Professor, NYU Gallatin School and Dr. Daniel Ziblatt, Director, Harvard University’s Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and Professor of Government, Harvard University.

Dr. Alexander Görlach is an adjunct professor at NYU Gallatin School, where he teaches democratic theory. Before that, he held various positions as a visiting scholar and fellow at Harvard University, as well as Cambridge and Oxford Universities in the United Kingdom. He is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York and a senior advisor to the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles. He holds a doctorate in Comparative Religion and a doctorate in Linguistics. His academic interests include democratic theory, politics and religion, and theories of secularism, pluralism, and cosmopolitanism. In the academic year 2017-18, he was a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University and City University Hong Kong. Since then, he has focused on the rise of China and what it means for the democracies in East Asia. Dr. Görlach is an honorary Professor of Ethics and Theology at Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany. He is the Founder of the debate magazine The European, which he also ran as its editor-in-chief from 2009 to 2015. Today, he is an op-ed contributor to the New York Times, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and the South China Morning Post. He is a columnist for the business magazines Wirtschaftswoche, Deutsche Welle, and Focus Online. He is a frequent commentator on German News Channel WELT TV.

Dr. Daniel Ziblatt is the director of Harvard University’s Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies where he is also Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard University. He leads a research group based in Germany at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. His research focuses on Europe and the comparative study of democracy. He is the author of four books, including How Democracies Die (2018), co-authored with Steven Levitsky, a New York Times best-seller and described by The Economist magazine as “the most important book of the Trump era.” The book has been translated into thirty languages. In 2023, he published Tyranny of the Minority (w/ Steve Levitsky), an analysis of American democracy in comparative perspective, also a New York Times bestseller. Prior to this, he was the author of the prize-winning book Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2017), a history of democracy in Europe, in addition to a book on European state-building entitled Structuring the State (Princeton University Press, 2006). In 2023, Ziblatt was elected member of the American Academy for Arts and Sciences.

2024 John J. McCloy Awards Dinner
2024-11-13 18:00 - 21:00

Multilateralism under Trump 2.0: A German Perspective
2024-11-18 18:00 - 20:00
The American Council on Germany and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) New York Office invite you to a discussion and reception with Roderich Kiesewetter, Member of the German Bundestag (CDU/CSU) on “Multilateralism under Trump 2.0: A German Perspective” Roderich Kiesewetter is Member of the German Parliament (CDU) and former General Staff Officer of the Bundeswehr. He studied economics in Munich and Austin/Texas. He served for almost 30 years in the German Armed Forces in various command, staff assignments and in various foreign missions. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009. Kiesewetter is representative of foreign affairs for the CDU/CSU-Caucus and deputy chairperson of the Parliamentary Oversight Panel. In 2022 he was elected as Spokesperson for crisis prevention. Since 2019 Kiesewetter is Speaker of the advisory council of the Federal Academy for Security Policy Council.

What Comes Next? The Impact of the New European Commission’s Digital Policy on Transatlantic Businesses
2024-11-19 12:00 - 14:00
Join the American Council on Germany and the American Business Forum on Europe for a Lunch Discussion with Oliver Süme, Partner at Fieldfisher and Chair of the Board of the Internet Industry Association (eco) on “What Comes Next? The Impact of the New European Commission’s Digital Policy on Transatlantic Businesses”
The European AI Act was adopted on August 1, 2024, and although the new AI supervisory authority is still under construction, there is already additional digital regulation appearing at the horizon: The European Data Act will apply in September 2025, regulating the entire Internet of Things Industry and aiming to further enhance Europe’s data economy. What impact will this very complex regulatory framework have on transatlantic businesses and what can we expect from the new European Commission, which will begin its work in December 2024? Oliver Süme is a Partner at the European law firm Fieldfisher and Chair of the Board of the Internet Industry Association. He advises his international clients on all legal challenges in Technology Law, in particular IT contract law, data protection and legal issues relating to IT security. Mr. Süme is also Chair of the Board of eco – Association of the Internet Industry and heads the data protection working group of EuroISPA, the European umbrella organization of internet service providers.

“Double Exposure: Is Interest Politics Dead?”
2024-11-25 18:00 - 19:30
The ACG and the Geothe Institut are having a discussion with Dr. Delia Baldassarri and Dr. Jan-Werner Müller on “Double Exposure: Is Interest Politics Dead?”
Today’s societies are characterized by a high degree of diversity and complexity. Cultural, ethnic, religious, and linguistic differences can make social cohesion difficult. Against this backdrop, political and public institutions can foster solidarity across social groups. How do these different interest groups interact with public and political institutions? As polarization and populism reshape the political arena, understanding the role of interest politics is critical. Independent courts, political parties, and a free press can play a critical role in this regard. Dr. Delia Baldassarri and Dr. Jan-Werner Müller will explore the forces promoting and disrupting social cohesion in today’s complex environment. Delia Baldassari is Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver, and Enid Silver Winslow Professor in the Department of Sociology at New York University. She holds courtesy appointments in the Wilf Family Department of Politics and in the Management and Organizations Department at the Stern School of Business. Dr. Baldassarri earned a B.A. and a Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Research from the University of Trento, Italy (2003; 2006), and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University (2007). Previously, she was an Assistant Professor and later Associate Professor at Princeton University.
Dr. Baldassarri’s research interests are in the fields of Economic Sociology, Political Sociology, Social Networks, and Analytical Sociology. Her current research projects include a study of the emergence of cooperation in complex societies, focusing on the empirical case of ethnically heterogeneous communities and a book project, Partisan Misfits, that investigates the demographic and social network bases of partisanship in American public opinion. Dr. Baldassarri has received a few career awards, including the Freeman Award, given by the International Network of Social Network Analysis to distinguished scholars in the field of social networks, the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship, the Raymond Boudon Award for early career achievement from the European Academy of Sociology, and the Hans L. Zetterberg Prize in Sociology.
Jan-Werner Müller studied at the Free University, Berlin, University College, London, St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and Princeton University. From 1996 until 2003 he was a Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford; from 2003 until 2005 he was Fellow in Modern European Thought at the European Studies Centre, St. Antony’s College. Since 2005 he has been teaching in the Politics Department, Princeton University.
Dr. Müller has been a visiting fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin, Collegium Helsinki, the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, and a number of other institutes; he has also been a Member of the School of Historical Studies, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton. He has taught as a visiting professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, the Ludwig Maximilians-Universität in Munich, American University, Beirut, the Law School of Haifa University, the Humboldt Universität in Berlin, and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris. He has delivered the Carlyle Lectures at Oxford and the Tanner Lectures at Cambridge; he also offered lectures on the European Union and democracy at the Collège de France in 2024.
Dr. Müller is a co-founder of the European College of Liberal Arts, Berlin (ECLA; today: Bard Berlin), Berlin, Germany’s first private, English-speaking liberal arts college, for which he served as founding research director. He maintains a strong interest in international teaching and research initiatives centered on the liberal arts.

A Central Banker’s View on the Current Developments in Germany, Europe and the United States
2024-12-03 18:00 - 19:30
The American Council on Germany is having a discussion with Burkhard Balz on “A Central Banker’s View on the Current Developments in Germany, Europe and the United States”

Burkhard Balz Burkhard Balz, born in 1969, has served on the Bundesbank’s Executive Board since September 2018 and is responsible for the Directorates General Payments and Settlement Systems, Cash Management, Digital Euro and International Central Bank Dialogue. He is a member of the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force on central bank digital currency. Mr. Balz is also a Member of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures of the Bank for International Settlements. Since January 2024 he is alternate member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlement.
From 2009 up until joining the Deutsche Bundesbank, Mr. Balz was a Member of the Euro-pean Parliament, where he sat on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and served as the financial policy spokesman of the European People’s Party (EPP) between 2014 and 2018. Mr. Balz was Chair of the European Parliamentary Financial Services Forum from 2014 to 2018, which is composed of financial market stakeholders and high-level representatives of the EU Institutions. Prior to his membership of the European Parliament, Mr. Balz held various positions at Commerzbank AG in Brussels and Hanover.

Global Trends and Rising Challenges: A Recap of the 2024 Super Election Year
2024-12-05 12:00 - 13:30
1014, the American Council on Germany, and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung New York Office are holding a discussion with Dr. Liana Fix and Dr. John Glenn on “Global Trends and Rising Challenges: A Recap of the 2024 Super Election Year” Dr. Liana Fix is a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). She is a historian and political scientist, with expertise in German and European foreign and security policy, European security, transatlantic relations, Russia, Eastern Europe, and European China policy. Dr. Fix is also the author of A New German Power? Germany’s Role in European Russia Policy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). She is an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University in the Center for German and European Studies and the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies.
Prior to joining CFR, Dr. Fix was program director for international affairs at Körber-Stiftung in Berlin. She was also a resident fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, DC, and a DAAD/AICGS fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies. From 2018 to 2019, she was a fellow for global governance futures at the Robert Bosch Foundation Multilateral Dialogues. From 2014 to 2016, Dr. Fix was a doctoral fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and associate fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations. From 2012 to 2013, Dr. Fix worked as a Mercator fellow for international affairs at the German Federal Foreign Office, the EU Delegation in Tbilisi, and the Carnegie Moscow Center.
Dr. Fix has contributed essays, policy papers, and articles to journals including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and the Washington Quarterly, among others. She is also a frequent contributor to international and German-language media.
Dr. Fix received her MSc in theory and history of international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and her PhD in political science from the Justus Liebig University Giessen. She is a member of the Aspen Rising Leaders, the BMW Responsible Leaders Network, and of Women in International Security.

Dr. John K. Glenn is senior director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies, where he oversees and develops the Forum’s cross-cutting analytic and research activity in areas including transnational kleptocracy, the integrity of the information space, emerging technology, and modern authoritarian influence. He has over 20 years of international experience in the nonprofit, foundation, and academic sectors, having previously served as policy director at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, director of foreign policy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and executive director of the Council for European Studies.
He serves as adjunct faculty at the Elliott School for International Relations at George Washington University where he teaches graduate seminars on transatlantic relations, having previously taught at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is also an HFX Fellow on the Agenda Working Group for the Halifax International Security Forum.
Dr. Glenn holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and Ph.D. and A.M. from Harvard University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the European University Institute in Florence and Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He is the author of numerous articles, reports, and books on international affairs and democratic development, including Framing Democracy (Stanford University Press) and The Power and Limits of NGOs (Columbia University Press, co-edited with Sarah Mendelson).

German Politics and the Future of German-American Relations
2024-12-17 08:00 - 09:30
The ACG is having a discussion with Till Knorn, German Consul General in New York, on, “German Politics and the Future of German-American Relations.”
Till Knorn has been the German Consul General in New York since August 2024. Prior to that he served as the Chief of Protocol in the German Foreign Office (2020 to 2024) after three years as the Deputy Chief of Protocol. From 2015 to 2017, he was Head of Division, responsible for state and official visits. From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Knorn was Deputy Head of the Political Section at Germany’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. Other positions in the Foreign Office included two years as the Deputy Head of the Crisis Response Center in Berlin (2011 to 1013), Desk Officer responsible for the UN Security Council (2003 to 2005), and a posting to Sri Lanka as the Head of the Legal and Consular Affairs Section (2001 to 2002). From 2006 to 2011, he was seconded to the State of Hessen, where he served as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Minister-President. Mr. Knorn began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hamburg and joined the Federal Foreign Office in 1999. He was a high school exchange student in St. Louis, MO, and is a lawyer by training.

Democracy in the United States and Germany: Resilient or Fragile?
2025-01-29 18:00 - 19:30
1014, the ACG, and the Goethe-Institut are hosting a discussion and reception with Dr. Alexander Görlach and Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook.

The state of Western democracies has been a central theme in the U.S. election and is also significant in Germany, where the governing coalition has collapsed and securing ruling majorities has become increasingly difficult. With a new administration in Washington and snap elections looming in Germany, this discussion, part of the “Let’s Talk Democracy” series, will examine the current trends: Are our democracies resilient to the threats posed by, inter alia, populist movements? Can we take our liberal democracies for granted, or do we need to protect increasingly fragile systems?

Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook is Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor at the Bertelsmann Foundation in Berlin. She served previously as CEO of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Ms. Clüver Ashbrook was executive director of the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts for ten years. The project, which she co-founded, addresses 21st-century foreign policy challenges through research by international leaders in academia and diplomacy as well as teaching conflict research and prevention. Beginning in 2018, Ms. Clüver Ashbrook also directed a research program on Europe and transatlantic relations. Previously, she served on the management board of the European Policy Centre (EPC) in Brussels and worked as both a consultant and senior journalist at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in France and China, among other countries. She began her career as a television journalist at CNN International in Atlanta and London.
Ms. Clüver Ashbrook contributes to international publications, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as leading German media on transatlantic relations – especially trade and security policy – and German foreign and digital policy. Additionally, she advises foreign ministries in Europe and South America on their digital strategy. She received her undergraduate honors degree in international relations and French civilization from Brown University, a master’s degree in European studies from the London School of Economics, and a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School where she was a Hauser Fellow in Non-Profit Management.
Dr. Alexander Görlach is an adjunct professor at NYU Gallatin School, where he teaches democratic theory. Before that, he held various positions as a visiting scholar and fellow at Harvard University, as well as Cambridge and Oxford Universities in the United Kingdom. He is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York and a senior advisor to the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles. He holds a doctorate in Comparative Religion and a doctorate in Linguistics. His academic interests include democratic theory, politics and religion, and theories of secularism, pluralism, and cosmopolitanism. In the academic year 2017-18, he was a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University and City University Hong Kong. Since then, he has focused on the rise of China and what it means for the democracies in East Asia.
Dr. Görlach is an honorary Professor of Ethics and Theology at Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany. He is the Founder of the debate magazine The European, which he also ran as its editor-in-chief from 2009 to 2015. Today, he is an op-ed contributor to the New York Times, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and the South China Morning Post. He is a columnist for the business magazines Wirtschaftswoche, Deutsche Welle, and Focus Online. He is a frequent commentator on German News Channel WELT TV.

Germany at a Crossroads? Navigating Germany’s Political Landscape Ahead of the Election
2025-01-30 08:00 - 09:30
On January 30, the ACG will host a breakfast briefing with Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor at the Bertelsmann Foundation.
Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook is Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor at the Bertelsmann Foundation in Berlin. She served previously as CEO of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Ms. Clüver Ashbrook was executive director of the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts for ten years. The project, which she co-founded, addresses 21st-century foreign policy challenges through research by international leaders in academia and diplomacy as well as teaching conflict research and prevention. Beginning in 2018, Ms. Clüver Ashbrook also directed a research program on Europe and transatlantic relations. Previously, she served on the management board of the European Policy Centre (EPC) in Brussels and worked as both a consultant and senior journalist at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in France and China, among other countries. She began her career as a television journalist at CNN International in Atlanta and London.
Ms. Clüver Ashbrook contributes to international publications, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as leading German media on transatlantic relations – especially trade and security policy – and German foreign and digital policy. Additionally, she advises foreign ministries in Europe and South America on their digital strategy. She received her undergraduate honors degree in international relations and French civilization from Brown University, a master’s degree in European studies from the London School of Economics, and a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School where she was a Hauser Fellow in Non-Profit Management.

Snap Elections in Germany and the Fate of Europe
2025-02-05 18:00 - 20:00
The American Council on Germany, NYU’s Center for European and Mediterranean Studies, and Deutsches Haus at NYU present “Snap Elections in Germany and the Fate of Europe,” a moderated conversation among Hans Kundnani (Boston University/London School of Economics) Rahsaan Maxwell (NYU), Joyce Mushaben (Georgetown University), and Steve Sokol (ACG).
At the end of last year, the coalition of the SPD, the FDP, and the Greens, which had been in power in Germany under the leadership of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) since 2021, fell apart, leading to snap federal elections that are scheduled for February 23. The coalition partners had been increasingly at odds as they navigated complex domestic and international issues. Though the collapse of this three-party alliance did not come as a surprise to many observers it happened at a time of intense political challenges for Germany, the European Union, and the world at large. Given these circumstances, the question of how the German electorate will vote next month and what kind of new government this choice will bring about is of keen importance. The result of the German elections will, however, be hugely influential not only for the future of Europe but for the transatlantic relationship as well, which will also be shaped by the incoming U.S. government. This conversation will shed light on the factors that led to the demise of the coalition government, consider possible outcomes of the upcoming German election, and speculate about the fate of Europe (and beyond). Hans Kundnani is an Open Society Ideas Workshop fellow, an adjunct professor at Boston University and a visiting professor in practice at the London School of Economics. He was previously the director of the Europe programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, a senior Transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He has also been a visiting fellow at the Remarque Institute at New York York University and a Bosch Public Policy Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington, D.C. and has taught at the Collège d’Europe and at New York University. Hans is the author of three books: Eurowhiteness. Culture, Empire and Race in the European Project (London: Hurst, 2023); The Paradox of German Power (London/New York: Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2014), which has been translated into German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish; and Utopia or Auschwitz. Germany’s 1968 Generation and the Holocaust (London/New York: Hurst/Columbia University Press, 2009). He studied German and philosophy at Oxford University and journalism at Columbia University in New York, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He tweets @hanskundnani.
Rahsaan Maxwell (moderator) is a Professor in the Department of Politics at New York University, whose research focuses on a range of issues related to diversity, political behavior, national boundaries and immigration, mostly in Western Europe. He is currently writing a book on support for immigration in Europe.
Joyce Marie Mushaben received her Ph. D. from Indiana University in 1981. A Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Comparative Politics (Emerita) at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, she is now an Adjunct Faculty member in the BMW Center for German & European Studies at Georgetown University and serves on the International Advisory Board of Gender5 Plus, an EU-oriented feminist think-tank. Having spent over 18 years living and researching in Germany, her early work focused on new social movements (peace, ecology, feminism, anti-nuclear protests, neo-Nazi activism), German national identity and generational change. She then moved on to European Union developments involving women’s leadership, gender policies, citizenship, migration and asylum policies, Euro-Islam debates and comparative welfare state reforms. Her books and monograph publications include Identity without a Hinterland? Continuity and Change in National Consciousness in the German Democratic Republic, 1949-1989 (1993); The Changing Faces of Citizenship: Integration and Mobilization among Ethnic Minorities in Germany (2008); Gendering the European Union: New Responses to Old Democratic Deficits (with Gabriele Abels) (2012); Becoming Madam Chancellor: Angela Merkel and the Berlin Republic (2017); and What remains? The Dialectical Identities of Eastern Germans (2023). Her current book-in-progress is tentatively titled, Becoming Madam Europe: Ursula von der Leyen and the Pursuit of Gender Equality (forthcoming 2025).
Steven E. Sokol has been the President and CEO of the American Council on Germany since 2015. Previously, he served as President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and prior to that he was the Vice President and Director of Programs at the American Council on Germany. Earlier in his career, Dr. Sokol 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 a Program Officer in the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Earlier in his career, he also was a Program Manager at the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and was a paralegal at Fulbright & Jaworski. 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 has also studied at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Freie Universität in Berlin. Dr. Sokol serves on several non-profit boards and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was awarded a Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of Merit) for his work to strengthen German-American relations.

What’s at Stake when Germany Votes?
2025-02-07 12:00 - 13:30
The American Council on Germany is having a discussion with Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Executive Director/CEO of Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V. (Environmental Action Germany) on the topic of “What’s at Stake when Germany Votes?” Sascha Müller-Kraenner has served as Executive Director/CEO of Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V., DUH (Environmental Action Germany) since January 2015. Environmental Action Germany is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1975 that focuses on environmental and consumer protection. It is a leading environmental and consumer advocacy organization that works mostly at the German state, national, and European levels.
Mr. Müller-Kraenner is also a founding partner and board member of Ecologic Institute, a non-profit applied environmental policy research institute with offices in Berlin, Brussels, and Washington, DC. Between 2007 and 2014, he held various positions with The Nature Conservancy, 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.

The European Reaction to the Trump Administration’s Economic Policy
2025-02-11 08:00 - 09:30
The ACG will host a breakfast briefing with Julian Heißler, U.S. Correspondent for WirtschaftsWoche. Julian Heißler is based in Washington DC and writes for the German weekly Wirtschaftswoche. Before his move to the United States he covered German national politics in Berlin for a variety of news outlets. He is a graduate of Freie University Berlin and Hamburg Media School. In addition to his journalistic work, he published a book in 2023 that deals with the positive and negative perceptions of the American concept of freedom titled “Traum oder Albtraum.”

Financial Stability in Germany: Which Challenges Lie Ahead?
2025-02-18 08:30 - 10:00
The ACG and the Deutsche Bundesbank will host a breakfast briefing with Dr. Kirstin Hubrich, Deputy Director General for Financial Stability of the Deutsche Bundesbank, in conversation with Tara Hariharan, Managing Director of Global Macro Research at NWI Management and ACG Board Member. Dr. Kirstin Hubrich has been the Deputy Director General Financial Stability at the Deutsche Bundesbank since July 1, 2023. Prior to this appointment she served as the Head of the International Economics Section at the Austrian Central Bank and as a Member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Eurosystem. Previously, Dr. Hubrich served at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board) from 2015 to 2022. She joined the Federal Reserve Board as a Principal Economist in the Macroeconomic and Quantitative Studies Section, Division Research and Statistics, and was Chief of the Prices and Wages Section in the Research and Statistics Division. In the Program Direction of Research and Statistics the focus of her responsibilities was on the interaction of the financial system and the macroeconomy, financial projections and financial stability. She has also served as the Federal Reserve Board Representative in the G7 Working Group on Digitalization.
Prior to the appointment to the Federal Reserve Board, Dr. Hubrich held various positions at the European Central Bank (ECB) over 14 years, namely in the Financial Research Division of the Research Department as well as the Monetary Policy Strategy Division in the Monetary Policy Department. Before joining the ECB she has held positions as research fellow and economist at the Dutch Central Bank. Dr. Hubrich received her Ph.D. from the Humboldt University Berlin
Tara Hariharan is Managing Director of Global Macro Research and Head of Macro Research at NWI Management LP, a New York-based emerging markets-focused hedge fund. She regularly presents her assessments of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) economy and US-China relations to senior U.S. policymakers and International Monetary Fund representatives.
Ms. Hariharan is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Millennium Leadership fellow at the Atlantic Council. She was a 2014 German Marshall Fund Marshall Memorial fellow, a 2016 American Council on Germany (ACG) young leader, and a 2022 Economic Club of New York fellow. In 2022, she was elected to ACG’s board. She is also a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Economists’ Committee. Elected to the Inter-American Dialogue in 2021, she regularly contributes to its publications on trade flows and the PRC’s influence on Latin America.
Ms. Hariharan holds a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in anthropology from Princeton University and a graduate certificate in international relations from Harvard Extension School.

German Federal Election 2025
2025-02-23 11:00 - 15:00
The Goethe-Institut, the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York, and the American Council on Germany warmly invite you to join us to follow the results of the German federal election on February 23.
Program:

11:00 AM: Doors Open – Enjoy coffee, snacks, and the opportunity to network.
12:00 PM: Election Results – Live broadcast of the latest results from Germany (in German).
Following the Results: Panel Discussion – An in-depth analysis of the results and their implications for Germany, Europe, and transatlantic relations (in English).
3:00 PM: Event Ends

Panelists:
Sheri Berman is a Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, specializing in European politics, democracy, and populism. Her acclaimed book Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe explores the history of political systems across the continent.
Hans Kundnani is a Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and a leading expert on European politics and Germany’s role in the EU. He is the author of The Paradox of German Power.
Christina Morina is a historian specializing in modern European history and political ideologies. Currently a visiting professor at The New School, she is also a professor at Bielefeld University. She is the author of Tausend Aufbrüche. Die Deutschen und ihre Demokratie seit den 1980er Jahren.
Moderator: Steven E. Sokol is the President of the American Council on Germany and a prominent voice in transatlantic dialogue.

German Foreign and Security Policy After the Election
2025-02-25 08:00 - 09:30
The ACG will host a breakfast briefing with Dominik Mutter, Security Policy Director of the Federal Foreign Office.
Dominik Mutter is the Security Policy Director of the Federal Foreign Office. In 2022 and 2023, he was lead coordinator and editor of the interagency team tasked with drafting Germany’s first National Security Strategy. Prior to assuming his current position in March 2022, he served as Security Policy Director at the Ministry of Defense and as Head of Division for Security Policy and bilateral relations at the Chancellery.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Modern History, American Studies, and Political Science from Freiburg University.

After the Elections in Germany and the United States: The Path Forward in Ukraine
2025-03-03 12:30 - 14:00
The ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Annett Meiritz, Washington Correspondent, Handelsblatt. Annett Meiritz is the Washington Correspondent for Germany’s leading business, trade, and finance daily Handelsblatt. She covers the U.S. Administration and Congress, usually from an economic angle. Previously she worked as Parliamentary Correspondent for Germany’s leading news portal Spiegel Online, based in Berlin. She holds a B.A. degree in Modern History and Media Science and was educated to be a Journalist at the Berlin Journalism School.

What German Leadership Means for Europe
2025-03-04 12:00 - 13:30
The ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Lt. General Ben Hodges, former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Europe.
This event is only open to ACG members.
Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges is the former Commanding General of US Army Europe (2014-2017). He is a Distinguished Fellow with GLOBSEC and consults for several companies on Europe, NATO, and the European Union. He is co-author of the book, Future War and the Defence of Europe. Lt. Gen. Hodges has a regular presence in US and international media where he offers insight and analysis on NATO, US and European security, the Russian War against Ukraine, the greater Black Sea and Baltic Sea Regions, the Israel-Hamas war, the U.S. Election and its implications for Transatlantic Security, human rights, and other related geostrategic topics.
He most recently served as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics. Prior to that, he was an Advisor to Human Rights First, a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in the United States. Before to joining Human Rights First, Lt. Gen. Hodges held the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).
A native of Quincy, Florida, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was commissioned in the Infantry. He lives in Frankfurt, Germany.

Innovators and Investors Stammtisch
2025-03-17 18:00 - 20:00
The NYC “Innovators and Investors Stammtisch” series is a new initiative bringing together German and U.S. professionals for informal, engaging conversations over dinner. Inspired by the German tradition of the Stammtisch, this regular gathering fosters networking, knowledge sharing, and transatlantic exchange in a relaxed setting. Each event will feature rotating guest speakers offering unique insights, creating a space for meaningful connections between leaders and innovators from both countries. The Launch Event will be a larger gathering to kick-off to the series.

Rising Global Trade Tensions: China and the German-American Relationship
2025-03-19 12:00 - 13:30
The ACG will host a discussion with Thomas König, Director China at the German Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DIHK) and 2024 ACG McCloy Fellow on Global Trends.

Thomas König is Director China at the German Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DIHK), Europe’s largest trade association. He is co-author of the book “How to make it in China / “So Schafft Man China” (now in its third edition” and “China – Mastering business and everyday life / China – Business & Alltag meistern.” He has years of hands-on experience in China, including work at the European Chamber of Commerce in China and the world’s largest German Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, which serves over 1,600 member companies. Previously, Mr. König served as Asia Program Coordinator at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) in London and Paris and developed training programs for Chinese UN diplomats-in-waiting at the United Nations Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR) in Geneva.
Mr. König is currently a Taiwan-US-Europe Policy Program Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and a McCloy Fellow on Global Trends from the American Council on Germany and is researching the nexus of US relations with China and Germany in Washington D.C. in Spring 2025. He holds degrees from Yale University and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and completed a bilingual semester at Peking University. Mr. König is currently teaching as a guest lecturer at the Center for Cultural Studies on Science and Technology in China at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin).

Germany’s Investment in Defense and Infrastructure
2025-03-27 12:15 - 14:00
The ACG will host a discussion with Heiko Thoms, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance Heiko Thoms is State Secretary in the German Ministry of Finance. He oversees European policy, international financial policy, financial market policy as well as government holdings and privatization. His responsibilities include serving as the Deputy of the German Minister of Finance at the G7, the G20 and the IMF. He is Alternate Governor of the World Bank Group and the EBRD, as well as Vice President of the Economic and Financial Committee of the European Union (EFC) and Member of the Board of Directors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Furthermore, he is Chairman of the Board of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics (BIG).
At the national level, State Secretary Thoms is Chairman of the Board of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), Chair of the Financial Stability Committee (Ausschuss für Finanzstabilität), and Member of the Supervisory Board of KfW IPEX Bank. During his tenure, State Secretary Thoms negotiated the new EU fiscal rules, contributing significantly to the establishment of policies aimed at fostering fiscal stability across the European Union. He played a pivotal role in securing the establishment of the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) in Frankfurt, strengthening Germany’s position as a financial hub. He also spearheaded the Growth and Innovation Capital Initiative for Germany (WIN Initiative), introducing a comprehensive package of measures designed to improve the framework conditions for growth and venture capital in the country.
State Secretary Thoms is a trained lawyer and diplomat. He started his public service career in 1999 in the Federal Foreign Office and previously served as German Ambassador to Brazil and to the United Nations in New York and as Deputy Ambassador to NATO.

The New German Government and the Global Order
2025-04-03 12:00 - 13:30
The ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Metin Hakverdi, Member of the Bundestag (SPD).
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.

What German Leadership Means for Europe
2025-04-04 12:00 - 13:30
The ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, Former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges is the former Commanding General of US Army Europe (2014-2017). He is a Distinguished Fellow with GLOBSEC and consults for several companies on Europe, NATO, and the European Union. He is co-author of the book, Future War and the Defence of Europe. Lt. Gen. Hodges has a regular presence in US and international media where he offers insight and analysis on NATO, US and European security, the Russian War against Ukraine, the greater Black Sea and Baltic Sea Regions, the Israel-Hamas war, the U.S. Election and its implications for Transatlantic Security, human rights, and other related geostrategic topics.
He most recently served as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics. Prior to that, he was an Advisor to Human Rights First, a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in the United States. Before to joining Human Rights First, Lt. Gen. Hodges held the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).
A native of Quincy, Florida, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was commissioned in the Infantry. He lives in Frankfurt, Germany.

The Path Forward for Germany’s Defense
2025-04-07 11:45 - 13:00
The ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Dr. Jasper Wieck, Political Director in the German Federal Ministry of Defense Dr. Jasper Wieck is a seasoned German diplomat currently serving as the Political Director at the German Federal Ministry of Defense, a role he assumed in 2022. In this capacity, he advises on foreign and security policy matters and represents Germany in high-level international defense dialogues.
Previously, Dr. Wieck was the Special Representative of the Federal Government for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2021–2022). From 2012 to 2017, he led the Security and Defense Policy/NATO Division at the Federal Foreign Office, following his tenure as Head of the Political Section at the German NATO Representation in Brussels (2009–2012). As a trained historian, he played a key role in drafting the 2016 White Paper on German Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr as Head of the Task Force.
Dr. Wieck studied History, Philosophy, and Theology in Bonn and Political Science in Paris. In 1995, he earned his doctorate with a dissertation on France and the Manchurian Crisis of 1931–1933.

The Promise and Peril of America First
2025-04-10 12:15 - 14:00
The ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Dr. Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University.
Dr. Charles Kupchan is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government. From 2014 to 2017, he served as special assistant to the president and senior director for European affairs on the staff of the National Security Council (NSC) in the Barack Obama administration. He was also director for European affairs on the NSC during the first Bill Clinton administration. Before joining the Clinton NSC, Dr. Kupchan worked in the U.S. Department of State on the policy planning staff. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor of Politics at Princeton University.
Dr. Kupchan has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, Columbia University’s Institute for War and Peace Studies, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the Centre d’Étude et de Recherches Internationales in Paris, and the Institute for International Policy Studies in Tokyo. From 2006 to 2007, he was the Henry A. Kissinger scholar at the Library of Congress and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. From 2013 to 2014, he was a senior fellow at the Transatlantic Academy. Dr. Kupchan received his BA from Harvard University and MPhil and DPhil from Oxford University.

Germany’s Higher Education Landscape: Innovations, Challenges, and Opportunities
2025-04-15 08:00 - 09:30
The ACG and the Heidelberg University Association will host a breakfast roundtable with Professor Dr. Frauke Melchior, Rector of the University of Heidelberg. Frauke Melchior has been Rector of Heidelberg University since October 2023. As Rector, she is responsible for the university’s overall development and strategic orientation, the governance of the Excellence Strategy, as well as appointments to professorships. She is also head of the University Senate and all of its committees. Frauke Melchior studied chemistry at the University of Marburg and the University of Bristol (UK) and in 1990 earned her doctorate in Marburg on a biochemical topic. As a postdoctoral researcher in the field of molecular cell biology, she first worked at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen and from 1992 at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla (USA).
In 1998 Frauke Melchior started the first research group of her own at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich. Six years later she accepted a professorship for biochemistry in the field of human medicine at the University of Göttingen. In 2008 Frauke Melchior was appointed Professor of Molecular Biology at Heidelberg University. From 2021 to 2023 she was a member of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich, one of the research centers in the Helmholtz Association, where she was responsible for Scientific Division III – Life Sciences.

Words Matter: The Future of Free Speech
2025-04-16 12:00 - 13:30
The American Council on Germany and 1014 will host a discussion and luncheon with Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, Chief Global Affairs Officer, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz, Director of the Leibniz Institute of Media Research, Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI). Gypsy Guillén Kaiser joined the Committee to Protect Journalists as advocacy and communications director in 2021. A specialist in advancing structural change to ensure freedom of the press, defend human rights, and secure social and economic justice, Guillén Kaiser has worked nearly two decades with international non-governmental organizations and as a journalist. She has participated in missions to more than a dozen countries, including Argentina, Costa Rica, Egypt, India, Peru, Singapore and South Africa. Most recently, she led strategic outreach to promote progressive family policies and to propel the Women, Peace and Security agenda at UN Women.
Previously, she served as director of communications at the International Women’s Health Coalition and at Eisenhower Fellowships, after fighting corruption as the media and public relations manager at Transparency International’s secretariat in Berlin. She served on the boards of the Human Impacts Institute and Friends of Transparency International. Guillén Kaiser returned to CPJ after heading the organization’s advocacy and communications department from 2010 to 2013.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from New York University and a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. A native of the Dominican Republic who grew up in New York City, Guillén Kaiser is fluent in Spanish and German.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz is the Director of the Leibniz Institute of Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI). He is also a professor for “Media Law and Public Law including Theoretical Foundations” at the Faculty of Law at Universität Hamburg. In 2012, he was also appointed director at Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin.
Prof. Dr. Schulz works on questions of communications constitutional law, media law and internet governance (with a focus on intermediaries), legal problems of algorithmic decision-making, and the ethics of digitalization. He often works at the interface between law and other disciplines such as communication science and computer science and with a focus on the dimension of knowledge. He uses the functional comparison of different national approaches to solve problems. The transfer to politics at all levels (state, federal, EU, Council of Europe, UNESCO) plays an essential role in his work.
He was a member of the German Bundestag’s Enquete Commission “Internet and Digital Society” (2010 to 2013), Chairman of the Committee of Experts on Internet Intermediaries (MSI-NET) of the Council of Europe (2016-2017) and is Chairman of the Expert Committee “Communication and Information” of the German Commission for UNESCO (DUK) and thus also a member of the DUK Board. He also coordinates the Content Contact Group of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network (INJ). Wolfgang Schulz is a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers (NoC). He is also head of the Board of Directors of the Hamburg-based citizens’ and educational channel TIDE and a member of the Board of Trustees of the #UseTheNews initiative.

Annual Meeting of the Members
2025-04-30 17:00 - 19:30
The American Council on Germany will hold the Annual Meeting of the Members. More information to follow.

Responding to Democratic Threats in an Age of Crisis: A Transatlantic Perspective
2025-05-08 12:00 - 14:00
The American Council on Germany will host the Dr. Richard M. Hunt Memorial Lecture and Luncheon with Dr. Daniel Ziblatt, Director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard University, on “Responding to Democratic Threats in an Age of Crisis: A Transatlantic Perspective”

Dr. Daniel Ziblatt is the Director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University, where he is also Eaton Professor of Government. He leads a research group based in Germany at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. His current research focuses on the comparative study of democracy and authoritarianism with a focus on Europe and the United States.
He is the author of four books, including How Democracies Die (2018), co-authored with Steven Levitsky, a New York Times bestseller and described by The Economist magazine as “the most important book of the Trump era.” In 2023, he published Tyranny of the Minority, an analysis of American democracy in comparative perspective, also with Steve Levitsky and a New York Times bestseller. Prior to this, he authored the prize-winning book Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, a history of democracy in Europe, in addition to a book on European state-building titled Structuring the State.
In 2023, Dr. Ziblatt was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In recent years he has been a Fellow or Visiting Professor at the European University Institute (Florence, Italy), Center for Advanced Study (Stanford), Max Planck Institute (Cologne), University of Munich, and the École Normale Supérieure (Paris).

About This Event:
The Dr. Richard M. Hunt Memorial Lecture Series honors late ACG Vice Chairman Dr. Richard M. Hunt, who was deeply committed to strengthening ties between Germany and the United States and gave exceptional support to the ACG for 50 years. He was the first and longest-serving President in the organization’s history, from 1972 to 1988, and subsequently served as Vice Chairman until his passing on April 10, 2020. During his tenure, Rick Hunt worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help create the American-German Young Leaders Conference, which was launched in 1973, and the McCloy Fellowship program, which was launched in 1976 – both of which remain central to our work today. He also helped shape the German-American Conference. These programs are just a fraction of his many lasting legacies to the Council. His wise counsel, his keen knowledge of German-American relations, his faith in younger generations, and his warm, unassuming manner are sorely missed.

With Special Thanks to the Hunt Family for Supporting This Lecture Series
