A World in Danger: The Future of US-European Relations
2020-10-27 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
“A World in Danger: The Future of US-European Relations”
with
Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger
Chairman of the Munich Security Conference,
and former German Ambassador to the United States
Ambassador Christopher Hill
WorldDenver Board Member,
and former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Macedonia, Poland, and South Korea
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
1:00 – 2:00 pm ET
Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger (1978 ACG Young Leader) has been Chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) since 2008. He is Senior Professor for Security Policy and Diplomatic Practice at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin and Honorary Professor at the University of Tübingen. He advises the governments, international organizations, and the private sector on strategic issues. Over the course of his long diplomatic career, Amb. Ischinger’s roles included State Secretary in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and German ambassador in Washington D.C. and London. Wolfgang Ischinger studied law at the universities of Bonn and Geneva. Subsequently, he studied International Law, International Economic Relations, and Contemporary History at Fletcher School of Law as well as Diplomacy and at Harvard Law School (M.A., Fletcher School, 1973).
Ambassador Christopher Hill is currently the Chief Global Advisor and professor of the practice in diplomacy at the University of Denver. Prior to this position, he was the dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University, a position he held from September 2010 to December 2017. Ambassador Hill is a former career diplomat, a four-time ambassador, nominated by three presidents, whose last post was as ambassador to Iraq, April 2009 until August 2010. Prior to Iraq, Hill served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs from 2005 until 2009, during which he was also the head of the U.S. delegation to the Six Party Talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. Earlier, he was the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea. Previously he served as U.S. ambassador to Poland (2000-2004), ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia (1996-1999), and special envoy to Kosovo (1998-1999). He also served as a Special Assistant to the President and a Senior Director on the Staff of the National Security Council, 1999-2000.

Changing Demographics: Diversity in the United States and Germany
2020-10-29 10:00 - 11:00
As part of the virtual 2020 German-American Conference, the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Brücke cordially invite you to join a video discussion on:
Changing Demographics: Diversity in the United States and Germany
October 29 at 10:00 am EST / 5:00 pm CEST
Speakers:
Dr. Petra Bendel, Professor of Political Science, Erlangen-Nürnberg University
Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Janet Murguia, President and CEO, UNIDOS
Cem Oezdemir, Member of the Bundestag (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Moderator:
Michael Werz, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
In the coming decades, the demographics of Germany and the United States will undergo profound changes. The United States is likely to become a “minority-majority” country by the early 2040s, and German society is becoming increasingly diverse – with nearly a quarter of the population with a migration background – and also aging quickly. How can transatlantic relations become more inclusive and how will demographic shifts help – or hinder – transatlantic cooperation, particularly between Germany and the United States?
Registration for this discussion has ended.

Resilience and Adaption: Pandemic, Politics, and Public Trust in Democracy
2020-11-03 11:00 - 12:00
Public trust is critical in the functioning of democracies. Citizens do not need to agree with every government policy or trust each individual officeholder — but they do need to have confidence that democratic institutions and practices protect their interest, act responsibly, and uphold the rule of law. In recent years, in the United States and Europe public trust in government has declined. COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented series of crises. Is the pandemic leading to greater confidence in democratic institutions by rallying people around the common cause of fighting the health crisis and economic disruption? Or are we witnessing a further deterioration of trust and deeper political polarization?
Join 1014 and the American Council on Germany on Election Day for a discussion with Thomas Carothers, Senior Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Laura Krause, Director of More in Common, Germany. Thomas Carothers is Senior Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In that capacity, he oversees all of the research programs at Carnegie. He also directs the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program and carries out research and writing on democracy-related issues. He is a leading authority on international support for democracy, human rights, governance, the rule of law, and civil society. He has worked on democracy assistance projects for many organizations and carried out extensive field research on aid efforts around the world.
He is the author or editor of ten critically acclaimed books and many articles in prominent journals and newspapers, including most recently, Democracies Divided: The Global Challenge of Political Polarization (Brookings Press, 2019, co-edited with Andrew O’Donohue). He has been a visiting faculty member at the Central European University in Budapest, Nuffield College, Oxford University, and Johns Hopkins SAIS.
Prior to joining the Endowment, Mr. Carothers practiced international and financial law at Arnold & Porter and served as an attorney adviser in the office of the legal adviser of the U.S. Department of State.
Laura Krause is the Director of More in Common, Germany, an organization that strives to build more united, inclusive and resilient societies in which people believe that what they have in common is stronger than what divides them. She joined More in Common from the Berlin-based think tank Das Progressive Zentrum where she headed the Future of Democracy program and built up the Democracy Lab for democratic innovations. She holds a Master’s Degree from the Free University of Berlin and was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Washington. She published on institutional reform, digital democracy, and women in politics. She has twice been named one of “40 under 40” in Germany and took part in the 2018 negotiations to form the German coalition government.

Election Day in America: A Pre-Analysis from Berlin
2020-11-03 12:30 - 14:00
Rarely has a U.S. presidential election sparked as much attention, mystification, perplexity, and concern as the 2020 race to the White House – both in the U.S. and abroad. No matter who will emerge as the winner on Election Night (or in the weeks to come), the aftershocks will be felt in Germany, Europe, and around the world.
On the eve of the U.S. presidential election, leading representatives of the transatlantic community will come together in Berlin, in order to help you make sense of the events unfolding across the Atlantic. Join us for this timely virtual discussion and listen in as heads of the most important transatlantic institutions and political foundations voice their hopes, expectations, and concerns regarding the immediate election and the future of the Euro-American bond – before the polls close.

“Election Day in America: A Pre-Analysis from Berlin”
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET)
The discussion will be live streamed here: https://landing.berlin-election-night.de
The discussion will feature:
John B. Emerson, Chairman, American Council on Germany and former Ambassador of the United States to Germany (2013-2017); Daniel Benjamin, President, American Academy in Berlin and former Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State (2009-2012); Frank Sportolari, President, American Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V. and President, UPS Germany, Austria and Switzerland; Dr. Benjamin Becker, Managing Director, AmerikaHaus NRW e.V.; Eckart von Klaeden, Chairman, Aspen Institute Germany and Vice President & Head of External Affairs, Daimler AG; Prof. Dr. Michael Hüther, Vice Chairman, Atlantik-Brücke e.V. and Director and Member of the Presidium, German Economic Institute; Dr. Meike Zwingenberger, Executive Director, Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations; Christian Schmidt President, German Atlantic Association, Member of Bundestag (CDU/CSU), and former German Minister of Food & Agriculture (2014-2018); Metin Hakverdi, Member of the Global Atlanticist Network, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Member of Bundestag (SPD); Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Member of the Board of Trustees, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Member of Bundestag (FDP) and former Member of the European Parliament (2004-2017); Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Vice President and Director of the Berlin Office, German Marshall Fund of the United States and former Head of Policy Planning and Speechwriting, Office of the German Federal President (2014-2017); Markus Ferber, Chairman, Hanns Seidel Foundation and Member of the European Parliament (CSU); Dr. Ellen Ueberschär, President, Heinrich-Böll-Foundation.
The discussion will be moderated by:
Annette Riedel
Senior Editor, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

On the day of the event, join the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #R2EN for a chance of your question being featured in the panel discussion.
This special format is part of the transatlantic virtual event series Road to Election Night & Beyond #R2EN, which is organized and hosted by several transatlantic institutions and political foundations. More information on the virtual series can be found at https://landing.berlin-election-night.de.

Registration is not required.

World in Danger: Germany and Europe in an Uncertain Time
2020-11-09 14:00 - 15:30
The ACG and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall will host a webinar with Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, and Ambassador John B. Emerson, Chairman of the American Council on Germany.
The world appears to be at another major turning point. Tensions between the United States and China threaten a resumption of great power conflict. Global institutions are being tested as never before, and hard-edged nationalism has resurfaced as a major force in both democracies and authoritarian states. From the European perspective, the United States appears to be abdicating its global leadership role. Meanwhile, Moscow and Beijing eagerly exploit every opportunity to pit European partners against one another.
But a pivot point also offers the continent an opportunity to grow stronger. Join LAWACTH and the American Council on Germany on November 9th for a discussion with Wolfgang Ischinger, Germany’s most prominent diplomat, in conversation with former US Ambassador to Germany John Emerson. Ischinger will offer his vision of a European future of peace and stability. Ischinger examines the root causes of the current conflicts and suggests how Europe can successfully address the most urgent challenges facing the continent. Wolfgang Ischinger was deputy foreign minister (1998–2001) and has served as Germany’s ambassador to both the United States and the United Kingdom. He has chaired the Munich Security Conference, the world’s leading forum for debating international security policy, since 2008.
H.E. John B. Emerson (moderator) was named Chairman of the American Council on Germany on January 17, 2018. He is Vice Chairman at Capital Group International. Previously, he served as United States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from August, 2013 until January 20, 2017. He served at a particularly challenging time, and in 2015 Ambassador Emerson was awarded the State Department’s prestigious Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, which is given annually to one non-career Ambassador. He also served on President Obama’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

[virtual] Transatlantic Town Hall: The U.S. Election - Reactions from Berlin
2020-11-10 11:00 - 12:00
As we wait for the final votes in Tuesday’s election to be tallied, the world is watching. Some would say that the German-American relationship hangs in the balance. Regardless of who ultimately wins the White House, the transatlantic partnership faces many challenges – and there is some anxiety about how relations across the Atlantic will develop in the months and years to come.
Join us on November 10 at 11:00 am ET for a discussion with Bundestag Members Christoph Bernstiel (CDU), Metin Hakverdi (SPD), and Katja Keul (Greens). We’ll hear their reactions to the U.S. election – and what the results mean for the future of German-American relations.
This event is part of a series of [virtual] Transatlantic Town Halls: German Bundestag Member Dialogues, which is being organized by the American Council on Germany under the auspices of WunderbarTogether USA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Goethe-Institut. Christoph Bernstiel is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and was directly elected to the German Bundestag by the 72nd district of Halle (Saale) in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt in 2017. He is a member of the committee for Homeland Security, where he focuses on cybercrime, and the select committee on artificial intelligence. Mr. Bernstiel is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the federal foundation for the evaluation of the SED dictatorship, deputy chairman of the CDU State Group Saxony-Anhalt in the Bundestag, a member of the parliamentary group for small and medium businesses, and a member of the Future Forum Public Security. In addition to his duties at the federal level, Mr. Bernstiel has been a member of the Halle (Saale) city council since 2014 where he focuses on the topics of urban development, infrastructure, order, and security.
Metin Hakverdi joined the SPD 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 Finance 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. He 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 became licensed to practice law in 2000.
Katja Keul is a member of the German Bundestag and was elected in 2009 on the Greens/ Alliance 90/The Greens, representing Nienburg/Schaumburg in Lower Saxony. She is a member of the Parliamentary Defense Committee and a delegate of the federal working group on peace and international affairs. Prior to joining the Bundestag, 1997 to 2000 attorney at the Stolzenau District Court; since 2000 self-employed in her own law firm in Marklohe. She is a member of BUND, German Women Lawyers’ Association, German Bar Association, among others.

The Consequences of the U.S. Elections for the Transatlantic Alliance
2020-11-11 21:00 - 22:00
The American Council on Germany and the Denver Council on Foreign Relations cordially invite you to a virtual discussion on “The Consequences of the U.S. Elections for the Transatlantic Alliance” with Constanze Stelzenmüller, Senior Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe, Brookings Institution.
November 11, 2020
9:00 – 10:00 pm ET/ 7:00 – 8:00 pm MT

Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller (1993 ACG Young Leader) is an expert on German, European, and Transatlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She is currently a Senior Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings. She was the Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress from October 2019 through March 2020. She served as the inaugural Robert Bosch Senior Fellow from 2014 to 2019.
Prior to working at Brookings, she was a senior transatlantic fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), where she directed the influential Transatlantic Trends survey program. Her areas of expertise include: transatlantic relations; German foreign policy; NATO; the European Union’s foreign, security, and defense policy; international law; and human rights.
Dr. Stelzenmüller is the former director of GMF’s Berlin office. From 1994 to 2005, she was an editor for the political section of the German weekly DIE ZEIT, where she had also served as defense and international security editor and covered human rights issues and
Her essays and articles, in both German and English, have appeared in a wide range of publications, including Foreign Affairs, Internationale Politik, the Financial Times, the International New York Times, and Süddeutsche Zeitung. Her dissertation, “Direkte Demokratie in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika,” was published in 1994 by Nomos. She is also a frequent commentator on American and European radio and television, including Presseclub (ARD), National Public Radio, and the BBC. Dr. Stelzenmüller is a governor of the Ditchley Foundation and a fellow of the Royal Swedish Society for War Sciences.
She has worked in Germany and the United States, and speaks English, French, German, and Spanish. Dr. Stelzenmüller holds a doctorate in law from the University of Bonn (1992), a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1988), and a law degree from the University of Bonn (1985) in humanitarian crises. From 1988 to 1989, she was a visiting researcher at Harvard Law School. She has also been a GMF campus fellow at Grinnell College in Iowa, a Woodrow Wilson Center public policy scholar in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Remarque Forum—a conference series of the Remarque Institute at New York University.

Innovation and Its Discontents: U.S. and German Models of Military Innovation and the Dual-Use Conundrum
2020-11-12 10:00 - 11:00
Increasingly, government investment in “emerging technologies” aims to harness dual-use, private-sector innovation to achieve national goals. Dual-use technologies are increasingly critical to national economies, labor forces, and security. For major powers and innovators, governments and their private sectors both contribute to investment in technology development. What are the drivers behind the development? How does funding impact innovation? To what extent does military integration of resulting technologies play a role? Are there opportunities for U.S.-German partnership in the areas of AI and additive manufacturing?
Speakers:
Dr. Amy J. Nelson, Research Associate at the Center for International and Security Studies (CISSM), University of Maryland
Dr. Bastian Giegerich, Director, Defense and Military Analysis, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, UK
Dr. Amy J. Nelson is a Research Associate at the Center for International and Security Studies (CISSM) at the University of Maryland and conducted this study in this capacity with funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. She is also a Fellow at the National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Her research focuses on disruptive technologies and their impact on proliferation, as well as improving the efficacy of arms control. She was previously a Robert Bosch Fellow in residence at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin, Germany where her research focused on the state of German military innovation and prospects for U.S.-German competition and cooperation. Dr. Nelson also serves on the Advisory Board of the Mission Dialogue Initiative of IISS.
Prior to that, Dr. Nelson was a Nonresident Fellow at the Stimson Center, a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a policy analyst in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls in Washington, D.C. She held pre-doctoral fellowships at the Stimson Center and SIPRI North America and conducted research as a member of the U.S. arms control delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which maintains the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. She received her B.A. in Philosophy with honors from Stanford University, has an M.A. in Intellectual History from Columbia University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Bastian Giegerich is the Director of Defense and Military Analysis at The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). He leads the research team that produces the IISS annual flagship publication The Military Balance, oversees the development of the Military Balance+ online database, and contributes to research and consultancy work. From 2010–15 Dr. Giegerich worked for the German Federal Ministry of Defense in research and policy roles, while also serving as the IISS Consulting Senior Fellow for European Security.
Dr. Giegerich is the author and editor of several books on European security and defense matters. He has taught international relations, military studies and public administration courses at the London School of Economics, the University of Potsdam, and the University of Kassel. He has also worked at the Aspen Institute Berlin. During the 1999/2000 academic year, Dr. Giegerich was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. He holds a Masters in Political Science from the University of Potsdam and a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Transatlantic Relations After the Election
2020-11-12 12:00 - 13:30
Join us for a roundtable discussion of the state of the transatlantic relationship in the wake of the U.S. Presidential Elections. Featuring: Dr. Mai’a Cross, Edward W. Brooke Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Northeastern University; Ignacio Garcia-Bercero, Director in DG Trade of the European Commission and former TTIP Chief Negotiator; and Dr. James Goldgeier, Professor at the School of International Service at American University; and moderated by Dr. Steven E. Sokol, President of the American Council on Germany. Dr. Mai’a K. Davis Cross researches international cooperation, especially in the areas of European foreign and security policy, epistemic communities, crises, diplomacy, and public diplomacy. She is the author of three books: The Politics of Crisis in Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2017), Security Integration in Europe: How Knowledge-based Networks are Transforming the European Union (University of Michigan Press, 2011), and The European Diplomatic Corps: Diplomats and International Cooperation from Westphalia to Maastricht (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007). Her second book was the 2012 winner of the Best Book Prize from the University Association of Contemporary European Studies. She is also co-editor of (with Jan Melissen), European Public Diplomacy: Soft Power at Work (Palgrave, 2013), a special journal issue (with Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski), Europe’s Hybrid Foreign Policy: The Ukraine-Russia Crisis (Journal of Common Market Studies, 2016), and (with Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski) European-Russian Power Relations in Turbulent Times (University of Michigan Press, in press). Her current single-authored book project is entitled, The Ultrasocial World: International Cooperation Against All Odds, which draws upon new insights about human nature from evolutionary biology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, anthropology, among others, to examine the underlying causes and processes that have led to unanticipated instances of international cooperation across time. In addition to these major works, Dr. Cross has also written over 40 articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics, including European defense, counter-terrorism, crises, intelligence sharing, and space.
Ignacio Garcia Bercero is a Director at the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission (DG TRADE). He currently oversees activities related to the US, Canada and the EU Neighbouring Countries. Mr. Garcia Bercero coordinated the work of the EU-US High Level Working Group on Growth and Jobs, which recommended the launch of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. He now acts as the EU Chief Negotiator for this agreement.
Mr. Garcia Bercero joined the European Commission in 1987 and has thorough experience in a large number of trade-related policy areas. During the Uruguay Round of multilateral negotiations, he followed, inter alia, negotiations on trade safeguards, GATT articles, functioning of the GATT, as well as talks on trade and environment. In the period leading up to the launch of the WTO Doha Round, he served as coordinator of the EU WTO policy and led the negotiations on trade and competition. He was also posted in the EU Delegation to the United Nations in New York and worked in areas of WTO Dispute Settlement and Trade Barriers Regulation.
More recently, between 2005 and 2011, Mr. Garcia Bercero’s field of responsibility included trade-related aspects of sustainable development, as well as bilateral trade relations with South and South-East Asia, Korea, EuroMed and the Middle East countries. As the Chief Negotiator, he led the negotiating process with South Korea and India. Mr. Garcia Bercero authored several papers and publications on the subjects of Trade Laws, GATT and WTO System, Safeguard Measures, Trade and Competition, WTO Dispute Settlement Reform and bilateral dispute settlement rules in European Free Trade Agreements. Mr. Garcia Bercero holds a Law Degree from the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Complutense, Madrid and a Masters of Laws Degree (with Distinction) from University College, London.
Dr. James Goldgeier is a Professor of International Relations and served as Dean of the School of International Service at American University from 2011-17. He is also a Robert Bosch Senior Visiting Fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. He was a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2017-19 and in 2018-19, he held the inaugural Library of Congress Chair in U.S.-Russia Relations at the John W. Kluge Center. Previously, he was a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. He also taught at Cornell University, and has held a number of public policy appointments, including Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs on the National Security Council Staff, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Henry A. Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress, and Edward Teller National Fellow at the Hoover Institution. In addition, he has held appointments or fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Brookings Institution, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation. From 2001-2005, he directed George Washington University’s Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. He has authored or co-authored four books including: America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11 (co-authored with Derek Chollet); Power and Purpose: U.S. Policy toward Russia after the Cold War (co-authored with Michael McFaul); and Not Whether But When: The U.S. Decision to Enlarge NATO. He is the recipient of the Edgar S. Furniss book award in national and international security and co-recipient of the Georgetown University Lepgold Book Prize in international relations. Professor Goldgeier’s areas of expertise include contemporary international relations, American foreign policy, U.S.-Russia relations, the European Union, transatlantic security and NATO.

Beyond Election Night: Transatlantic Media De-Brief
2020-11-13 09:00 - 10:30
Ten days after Election Day, an international press club will come together in Berlin to discuss the aftermath of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Tune in as five leading journalists representing the United States, Germany, Italy, Poland and France comment on possible repercussions on the Euro-American partnership and voice their expectations towards a Biden-Harris administration.
The discussion will be streamed live and feature the following speakers:
Melissa Eddy, Berlin Correspondent for The New York Times; Tina Hassel, Head and TV Editor-in-Chief of ARD-Hauptstadtstudio in Berlin; Tonia Mastrobuoni, Berlin Correspondent for La Repubblica; Wojciech Szymański, Berlin Correspondent for the Polish Section of Deutsche Welle; Thomas Wieder (invited), Berlin Correspondent for Le Monde; and moderated by Terry Martin, Senior Anchor for Deutsche Welle News
This special format is hosted in cooperation with the Senate Chancellery of Berlin. We are delighted that the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, will give opening remarks.

Navigating a “World in Danger” – Lessons for a new generation of Transatlantic security leaders
2020-11-17 14:00 - 15:00
As part of the 12th annual German American Conference organized by Harvard, please join us for a conversation between Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, and Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Executive Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School and Boston Warburg Chapter Director, on the future of the Transatlantic security partnership. Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger and Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook will uncover insights and recommendations for a new generation of Transatlantacists who enter a world of renewed great power competition.
For for more information on this and other GAC Event Series events, please visit: germanamericanconference.org
To register, please fill in the form below.

A Conversation between San Antonio and Darmstadt
2020-11-18 09:30 - 10:30
[virtual] Transatlantic Town Hall: German-American Mayors Forum A Conversation between San Antonio and Darmstadt with Ron Nirenberg, Mayor of San Antonio, and Jochen Partsch, Lord Mayor of Darmstadt

In 2017, San Antonio and Darmstadt established a sister city partnership to promote economic collaboration and to strengthen cooperation on a host of issues including innovative urban development, sustainable and renewable energy, and start-ups and entrepreneurial development. These two cities have promoted the exchange of ideas and best practices in these areas – and they have developed a vibrant relationship with youth initiatives that help create relationships among the members of the next generation, as well as university cooperation and exchanges of delegations, specifically in the areas of cybersecurity, urban development, and smart cities. Join us for a conversation about the sister city partnership. What are the current challenges facing each city? How are they learning from each other and expanding cooperation?
This virtual event is part of the American Council on Germany’s series titled [virtual] Transatlantic Town Halls: German-American Mayors Forum, held under the auspices of WunderbarTogether USA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Goethe-Institut.

First elected in 2017, Ron Nirenberg is in his second term as the mayor of San Antonio, one of the nation’s fastest growing cities in the United States. Prior to becoming mayor, he served on the San Antonio City Council beginning in 2013. Mayor Nirenberg has focused his public service on smart city and regional planning, inclusive economic development, environmental stewardship, as well as fiscal responsibility and governmental accountability. He is a member of the Climate Mayors Steering Committee, a group of 24 mayors who will serve as a leading voice in efforts to further climate action in the more than 400 cities across the U.S. and serves as the Chairman of Sister Cities International. Prior to his public service, Mayor Nirenberg was the founder of two small-businesses, worked as the general manager of KRTU-FM radio in San Antonio, and as a program director for the Annenberg Public Policy Center. He graduated summa cum laude from Trinity University and received a Master’s Degree in Communication magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jochen Partsch has been Lord Mayor of Darmstadt since 2011 and is a member of Alliance ’90/The Greens. After winning a “Digital City” competition in 2017, his administration has focused on implementing digital smart city technologies to build an urban digital ecosystem with tangible benefits for citizens together with the city’s partners from science, politics and business. Prior to his election as Lord Mayor, Mr. Partsch served on Darmstadt’s City Council beginning in 1997, was the parliamentary party leader from 2003 to 2006, and led Darmstadt’s Department for Social Affairs, Youth, Housing, Labor Market Policy, Women’s Policy, and Intercultural Affairs from 2006 until 2011. Outside of politics, he has worked as a consultant and lecturer at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences focusing on community-oriented employment promotion in economically-disadvantaged regions. He graduated with a degree in Economics from the Georg-August-University of Göttingen.

Safeguarding Transatlantic Security: A "New Deal" in Euro-American Relations?
2020-11-18 11:30 - 12:30
Long cherished as cornerstone of the post-war international order, the transatlantic security architecture has come under intense scrutiny and pressure. NATO is confronted with a variety of complex security challenges, all of which require close transatlantic cooperation. While President Trump regularly points out European omissions with regard to military spending and capability gaps, his distinctive style eroded the trust of U.S. allies in America as a reliable partner. Moving forward, the world is eager to hear from the new President-elect – what can we expect from the incoming Biden administration in terms of foreign policy? How can the U.S. and its allies safeguard transatlantic security cooperation? And what should Europeans be prepared to bring to the table?
Join us on November 18 for a virtual conversation with Heather A. Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic & Director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS); and Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary, German Federal Ministry of Defence and Member of Bundestag (CSU); and moderated by Andrea Rotter, Head of Division Foreign and Security Policy for the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
Registration has ended

The Covid-19 Pandemic as a Chance for an Updated German Foreign Policy
2020-11-23 09:00 - 10:00
As part of the 12th annual German American Conference organized by Harvard University, we are delighted to extend the invitation to the virtual keynote of the German Minister of Health Jens Spahn on crisis leadership during the twenty-first century’s first global health crisis.
Registration has ended.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Brexit, but Were Afraid to Ask
2020-11-23 11:00 - 12:00
It is fair to say that this year the coronavirus pandemic and the U.S. election have dominated the headlines. Deadlines for completing a Brexit deal have come and gone, and time is running out for negotiators to reach an agreement regarding the terms of the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. Although the U.K. formally left the EU on January 31, it has continued to follow the bloc’s rules until the end of this year. This 11-month transition period was supposed to allow both sides to reach a post-Brexit deal, but negotiations have stalled (over issues such as trade and fishing). What is the likelihood the U.K. and the EU will reach a deal? What will the U.K.’s relationship with the EU look like when it leaves the European single market? What impact do the U.S. election results have on U.K.-EU negotiations?
With only weeks to go, join us for a discussion with veteran German diplomat Dr. Peter Wittig, who served most recently as the German Ambassador to the Court of St. James and prior to that as the German Ambassador to the United States. Dr. Peter Wittig recently retired from the German Diplomatic Service. He is now working as Senior Advisor for Global Affairs at the Schaeffler Group. He is also a Fisher Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Dr. Wittig is a five-time Ambassador. He served in Spain, Lebanon, Cyprus, and in Berlin in the Cabinet of two Foreign Ministers. Most recently he served as the German Ambassador to the United Nations in New York (2009 – 2014) representing his country in the Security Council, to the United States of America (2014 – 2018), and to the United Kingdom (2018 – 2020). Before joining the Foreign Service he studied History, Political Science, and Law at the Universities of Bonn, Freiburg, Canterbury, and Oxford. He taught History of Ideas as a Junior Professor at the University of Freiburg. He has published numerous articles on international affairs.

Resilience and Adaptation: How are Hospitals Managing the Public Health Crisis?
2020-11-24 11:00 - 12:00
As COVID-19 cases surge again in Europe and the United States, public health officials, healthcare workers, and hospital administrators are grappling with the challenges of providing care to patients. At the same time, the experiences battling the pandemic this year have started to shape mid- and long-term preparedness and emergency plans. As we brace for the coming weeks and months, what are the prospects for hospitals in Germany and the United States? What do hospitals and the public health systems in general need do to quickly respond to future pandemics? How can we ensure that our societies will be better equipped to handle similar outbreaks in the years to come?
Joining us to discuss these questions are Dr. David L. Reich, President and COO of The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and President of Mount Sinai Queens (both part of the Mount Sinai Heath System), and Prof. Dr. Eckhard Nagel who serves as Managing Director of the Institute for Health Care Management and Economics at the University of Bayreuth and practices medicine at the Erdhof Rehabilitation Center in Iselsberg-Stronach, Austria. Since 2018, he has been the German President of the Chinese-German Friendship Hospital of the Tongji Clinic Wuhan. Prof. Dr. Eckhard Nagel is the Managing Director of the Institute for Medical Management and Health Sciences at the University of Bayreuth. From 2001 to 2010, he was head of the transplantation center and head physician in the general surgery department, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery at the Klinikum Augsburg and Full Professor at the University of Bayreuth. From 2010 to 2015, Dr. Nagel was Medical Director and Chairman of the Executive Board at the University Hospital Essen.
Dr. Nagel was a member of the German Ethics Council from 2008 to 2016. Since 2015, he has been a member of the University Council of Coburg University of Applied Sciences and member of the supervisory board of Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
He first studied medicine at the Medical University of Hannover, graduating in 1986. He also completed coursework at the University of Vermont, Dumfries Royal Infirmary Hospital in Scotland, the University Joseph Fourier in Grenoble (France), and Dartmouth Medical School, in Hanover, New Hampshire. Upon completing his doctorate, he was first a research assistant and later Senior Physician at the associated clinic for abdominal and transplant surgery at the Medical University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hanover.
He also studied philosophy and history and received his doctorate in philosophy in 1995. In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of the Doctor of Theology by the Department of Protestant Theology of Philipps-University Marburg/Lahn.
Since 2017, he has served President of the Stella Maris Foundation in Hannover and member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the German Study Award for the Körber Foundation.
Dr. David L. Reich, the Horace W. Goldsmith Professor of Anesthesiology, has been President and Chief Operating Officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital and President of Mount Sinai Queens, both part of the Mount Sinai Health System, since 2013. Dr. Reich was Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology from July 2004 through March 2014 and also served as President of the Medical Board in 2011-2012.
After arriving at Mount Sinai in 1984, Dr. Reich completed a residency in anesthesiology and a fellowship in cardiothoracic anesthesia. Dr. Reich serves on Mount Sinai’s Appointments and Promotions Committee and on the Board of the Independent Practice Association. In 2011, Mount Sinai’s nurses and nursing leadership honored Dr. Reich with the Physician of the Year Award. In 2014, he received the Jacobi Medallion from The Mount Sinai Alumni Association.
Dr. Reich’s research interests include neurocognitive outcome following thoracic aortic surgery, outcome effects of intraoperative hemodynamics, medical informatics, and hemodynamic monitoring. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, invited articles, editorials, and book chapters. Additionally, Dr. Reich is an associate editor of the text Cardiac Anesthesia, editor of Monitoring in Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, and co-editor of Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography.
Prior to his residency in anesthesiology, Dr. Reich completed two years of residency in general surgery at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. He received his Bachelor of Science degree with highest distinction from Pennsylvania State University in 1980 and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia in 1982 through the Penn State-Jefferson Five-Year Cooperative Program.

Priorities and Pitfalls for the Transatlantic Partnership in 2021
2020-11-30 11:00 - 12:00
There have always been ups and downs in the German-American relationship. With the election of Joe Biden, many Germans hope for a “Neustart” for the transatlantic alliance. The tone and tenor are likely to change – and there are common challenges facing Europe and the United States. However, the partnership is not without its controversial sticking points
Join us on November 30 at 11:00 am ET for a discussion with Bundestag Member Peter Beyer (CDU), who also serves as Coordinator for Transatlantic Cooperation in the German Federal Foreign Office. We will discuss the priorities and challenges in developing a transatlantic agenda.
This event is part of a series of [virtual] Transatlantic Town Halls: German Bundestag Member Dialogues, which is being organized by the American Council on Germany under the auspices of WunderbarTogether USA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Goethe-Institut.

Reinventing the German-American Agenda in 2021
2020-12-02 09:30 - 10:30
As part of the [virtual] 2020 German-American Conference, the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Bruecke will host a discussion with Ambassador John Emerson, Chairman of the American Council on Germany, and Sigmar Gabriel, Chairman of Atlantik-Bruecke e.V., and former Federal Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor.
This year, the coronavirus crisis has shown that Europe and the United States face similar challenges – and has underscored how countries must work together to meet those challenges. With a new administration entering office in the United States in January and elections in Germany in the fall, there are opportunities to reinvent the German-American agenda to address the common challenges facing Europe and the United States.
Join John Emerson and Sigmar Gabriel, the Chairmen of the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Brücke, respectively, for a look back at 2020 and a look ahead to see what 2021 might bring.
Registration for this event has ended

Migration, Flight, and US Immigration Policy under President Biden
2020-12-03 13:00 - 14:00
At the beginning of 2021, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will inherit an immigration system that has been dramatically transformed by the Trump administration over the past four years. These transformations include a new series of restrictive asylum policies, the construction of a border wall to Mexico, sweeping green-card limitations, broader deportation priorities, a decimated refugee program, and pandemic-era border restrictions. The Biden-Harris team will have much to contend with in forging pragmatic policies that both protect the US border and honor legal migration to the United States.
This discussion will feature T. Alexander Aleinikoff, University Professor and Director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at The New School; Roberto Suro, Professor of Journalism and Public Policy at the University of Southern California; and moderated by Daniel Benjamin, President of the American Academy in Berlin, who will discuss what post-Trump immigration policy might look like, and what challenges—political, bureaucratic, and cultural—the Biden administration is likely to face in the coming years.

To register, please fill in the form below.

Deal or No Deal? Brexit and its Implications for Europe and the Transatlantic Alliance
2020-12-04 11:00 - 12:00
On Tuesday, the head of the Bank of England warned that the failure to secure a trade deal with the European Union would do more damage to the U.K. economy over the long run than the coronavirus pandemic. Time is running out for negotiators as they enter the final stretch to reach a deal. But, what does Brexit – with or without a deal – mean for Europe and for the transatlantic alliance?
Please join 1014 and the ACG for a discussion with Heather Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic and Director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, Foreign Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; and David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief for The Guardian. Heather A. Conley (2007 ACG Young Leader) is Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic and Director of the Europe Program at CSIS. Prior to joining CSIS as a senior fellow and director for Europe in 2009, Conley served four years as executive director of the Office of the Chairman of the Board at the American National Red Cross. From 2001 to 2005, she was deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs with responsibilities for U.S. bilateral relations with the countries of Northern and Central Europe. From 1994 to 2001, she was a senior associate with an international consulting firm led by former U.S. deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage. Ms. Conley began her career in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. She was selected to serve as special assistant to the coordinator of U.S. assistance to the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, and she has received two State Department Meritorious Honor Awards. Ms. Conley is frequently featured as a foreign policy analyst and Europe expert on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, NPR, and PBS, among other prominent media outlets. She received her B.A. in international studies from West Virginia Wesleyan College and her M.A. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger (1985 ACG Legislative Aide Fellow) is Foreign Editor at the FAZ, where he writes about international politics. Before joining the newspaper’s editorial staff in 1986, Mr. Frankenberger gained deep insight into the U.S. political decision-making process when he worked as an assistant to a U.S. member of Congress. He was a Bosch Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington, DC, in 2011 and a Marshall Fellow at Harvard University in 1990. He serves on the Board of various institutions dealing with foreign and defense policy issues. Mr. Frankenberger holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science, Economics, and American Studies from Frankfurt University.
David Smith is the Washington Bureau Chief of The Guardian. From 2010 to 2015, he was the Africa correspondent for The Guardian for which he was based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was educated at the University of Leeds and was the editor of the student newspaper before joining the Daily Express as a graduate trainee in 1997. He moved to The Observer in 2003 and reported from countries including Afghanistan and Iraq. He appears as a commentator on NPR, the BBC, CNN, Sky News and other media outlets.

A Conversation between Berlin and Los Angeles
2020-12-07 11:00 - 12:00
Berlin and Los Angeles have been sister cities since 1967. Originally launched by former Berliners who had emigrated to the U.S. to work in the film industry, culture and the arts have always been a cornerstone for the relationship. Both the Villa Aurora and the Thomas Mann House have served as institutional ties connecting the two cities. More recently, economic bonds between the two cities have been increasing including exchange in the areas of environmental and climate protection and renewable energy, as well as cooperation in the startup sector. What are the factors that have made these two cities centers for artists and people in the creative arts? How have the two cities strengthened their partnership over the last 50 years?
Join us for a conversation with State Secretary Christian Gaebler, Head of the Berlin Senate Chancellery, andAmbassador Nina Hachigian, Deputy Mayor of International Affairs, Los Angeles.
This virtual event is part of the American Council on Germany’s series titled [virtual] Transatlantic Town Halls: German-American Mayors Forum, held under the auspices of WunderbarTogether USA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Goethe-Institut.

State Secretary Christian Gaebler has been the head of the Berlin Senate Chancellery since 2018. From 2016 to 2018 he served as State Secretary in the Berlin Senate Department for the Interior and Sport, and from 2011 to 2016, Mr. Gaebler served as the State Secretary in the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and Environment. Prior to that, he was a member of the Berlin House of Representatives from 1995 to 2011, where he also was chairman of the SPD parliamentary group for nine years. Mr. Gaebler studied transportation (planning and operation) at the Technical University of Berlin and holds a degree in engineering.
Ambassador Nina Hachigian was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to be the first Deputy Mayor of International Affairs in 2017. Her office seeks to expand Los Angeles’ global ties to help bring jobs, culture, visitors to the city and to share L.A.’s values and experience. Prior to this, Ambassador Hachigian served as the United States Representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”). She was a Senior Fellow and a Senior Vice President at the Center for American Progress focused on Asia policy and U.S.-China relations and the director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy for four years. Ambassador Hachigian served on the staff of the National Security Council in the Clinton White House from 1998-1999. She received her B.S. from Yale University and her J.D. from Stanford Law School.

With support from Villa Aurora and the Thomas Mann House

Reflecting on Germany’s European Council Presidency
2020-12-09 11:00 - 12:00
In July Germany assumed the six-month rotating Presidency of the European Council. Germany took on this role at a critical juncture for the European Union. The public health and economic implications of the corona crisis, Brexit, and the rising tensions between member states are just some of the issues that have been on the European agenda. As Germany’s Presidency of the European Council winds down, what were its achievements and shortcomings? And, what are the key issues ahead for Europe in 2021?
Joining us to discuss this is Dr. Ulrike Guérot, Head of the Department for European Policy and the Study of Democracy at the Danube University in Krems (Austria) and the founder of the European Democracy Lab in Berlin.

Why Trade Matters! The Future of Transatlantic Economic Relations
2020-12-09 11:15 - 12:30
Businesses invested in transatlantic trade and multilateral trade relations not only create sustainable jobs and economic growth, but also support the urgently needed reliability and stability within the transatlantic partnership. Once President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20th, the future of the trade relationship between the United States and the European Union will be decisively impacted. Will trade barriers and tariffs between the US and the EU be reduced? How can the international trading system be strengthened to enable free and rule-based trade? What could be a transatlantic response to the trade conflict with China?
Join us on December 9 at 11:15am ET for a discussion with Daniel Andrich, General Manager, American Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V.; Dr. Christina Gommlich, Deputy Head of Berlin Office, Corporate Government Relations, BASF SE; Dr. F.- Hans Grandin, CEO, HUESKER Synthetic GmbH and HUESKER Group; Peter Riehle, President & CEO, WITTENSTEIN North America; and moderated by Annett Meiritz, U.S. Correspondent in Washington DC, Handelsblatt.

A Conversation between Austin and Koblenz
2020-12-11 11:30 - 12:30
The Austin-Koblenz sister city relationship was established in 1991. The partnership connects citizens through a variety of cultural and economic exchanges and has had a strong focus on education and workforce development. In addition to student exchanges at the elementary and secondary levels, a number of dual degree and exchange programs have been created at the post-secondary level, including two-year apprenticeship programs for young adults from Austin to visit Koblenz to build professional career skills. Please join us for a conversation about the current issues confronting their respective communities, workforce preparedness, and how they are preparing for the future.
Join us on December 11 for a conversation with Steve Adler, Mayor of Austin, and David Langner, Lord Mayor of Koblenz.
This virtual event is part of the American Council on Germany’s series titled [virtual] Transatlantic Town Halls: German-American Mayors Forum, held under the auspices of WunderbarTogether USA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Goethe-Institut. Steve Adler is Austin’s 52nd Mayor, having won re-election in 2018 by 40 points in a field of 8 candidates. His top priorities include mobility, affordability and equity for all Austinites. Adler is a Trustee of the United States Conference of Mayors, Chair of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) policy board, and Vice President of the National Council of Democratic Mayors. While he’s been in office the City of Austin passed the largest mobility and affordable housing bonds in its history. The city raised its minimum city wage to $15/hour, passed city-wide sick leave and second chance hiring protections. Still working on the homelessness challenge, the city has become one of a limited number of cities to achieve effective net zero veteran homelessness. The city has become a world leader on climate change action. Mayor Adler has received broad recognition for innovative leadership. Foreign Policy named him a Global reThinker and Living Cities included Mayor Adler on its list of 25 Disruptive Leaders (along with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and author Ta-Nehisi Coates) to mark that organization’s 25th anniversary. He completed his undergraduate studies at Princeton University and his law degree at The University of Texas School of Law.
David Langner, born and raised in Koblenz, was elected as Lord Mayor of Koblenz in 2018 to an eight-year term. Prior to his election as mayor and beginning in 2013, Mr. Langner served as the State Secretary in the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor, Health and Demography for the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. From 2011 to 2013, he worked as vice president at a state agency working on planning, nature conservation, and construction supervision. Prior to that, Mr. Langner served as a representative in the state parliament for five years, and as environmental policy spokesman, he focused on renewable energy, nature conservation, consumer protection and forestry. Mr. Langner studied political science and literature at universities in Oldenburg, Marburg and Mainz and completed his master’s degree in 2003. Prior to attending university, he completed his civil service volunteering at a home for the blind which had a deep impact on his life.

Reporting on the Riots at the U.S. Capitol
2021-01-14 11:00 - 12:00
On Wednesday, January 6, the world was watching as thousands of pro-Trump protesters convened outside the U.S. Capitol. They disrupted a joint session of Congress to count the electoral votes and formalize Joe Biden’s election victory. After breaching the perimeter, the rioters occupied and vandalized parts of the building.
Reporting from Washington, DC, Juliane Schäuble, the U.S. Correspondent for the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel, covered the developments. From Berlin, NPR’s Rob Schmitz reported the response to the day’s events by Europeans.
Join the American Council on Germany and the Freunde des American Council on Germany e.V. on Wednesday, January 13, at 11 am EST (or 17:00 CET) for an online discussion with Juliane Schäuble and Rob Schmitz. Juliane Schäuble is the U.S. Correspondent of Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin’s biggest newspaper. Before she moved to Washington, DC, in June 2018 she was the head of the political department of the paper where she was responsible for the front page and the political section. She has more than twelve years of experience in the business and the political department of Der Tagesspiegel.
Ms. Schäuble earned her Master’s in Political Science at the University in Potsdam, Germany. Her studies included one semester at American University in Washington, DC, where she took classes in American foreign policy and worked part-time for the “American Council of Young Political Leaders” (“Washington Semester Program”).
Rob Schmitz has been reporting from Berlin since August 2019. Previously, he was NPR’s international correspondent based in Shanghai, covering the human stories of China’s economic rise and increasing global influence. His reporting on China’s impact beyond its borders has taken him to countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. He has won several awards for his reporting on China, including two national Edward R. Murrow Awards and an Education Writers Association Award.
From 2010 to 2016, Schmitz was the China correspondent for Marketplace. He’s also worked as a reporter for NPR Member stations KQED, KPCC, and MPR. Prior to his radio career, Schmitz lived and worked in China — first as a teacher for the Peace Corps in the 1990s, and later as a freelance print and video journalist. He has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

“We, the People…”: Reality or Illusion?
2021-01-15 11:00 - 12:00
The recent attack on the U.S. Capitol and incidents in other Western democracies – such as the attempt to storm the Reichstag building in Berlin in August 2020 – demonstrate how fragile our democracies are. Are the aspiration and promise of our liberal constitutions an illusion? How resilient are our democratic institutions and practices in the digital age? Can they adapt?
Join American Council on Germany and 1014 to discuss these questions with Pam Campos-Palma, Political Strategist and Consultant, and Alexander Sängerlaub, Director of futur eins. Pam Campos-Palma is an impactful political strategist and movement builder focused on peace and security, equity engineering, and movement building at home and across borders. She is an often consulted and trusted adviser to national-level leaders, organizations, think tanks, and campaigns, expertly bridging the gap between grassroots movement and grasstops policy worlds to win lasting change. At the core of all her work is the democratization of foreign/defense/security policy through the leadership development, coalition building, and political organizing of war-affected peoples, namely the vets/military community. She is also engaged in transatlantic work around populism and defeating rising global ethno-nationalism and democratic slide.
Pam served in the U.S. Air Force for over a decade as an operations and anti-terrorism intelligence analyst working in Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq and Afghanistan. She began her career in the immigrant rights movement, served as a gubernatorial appointee for the state of Oregon, and as a consultant to international NGO’s and social impact ventures. She is a 2019 Atlantik-Brücke Young Leader, was named a “Top 40 Under 40 Latinos in Foreign Policy” by Huffington Post and a 2018 Champion of Change by the UN. Pam has been featured on NBC, CNN, BBC, and NPR, among others, and holds a Masters of Public Administration from NYU with a focus in International Policy and Management. She is a Defense Council member of the Truman National Security Project, an Advisory Board member of Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS), and was a member of the 2019 Women’s March Steering Committee.
Alexander Sängerlaub is Director of future eins, an organization at the interface between politics, media, science and civil society. He has been dealing with digital public spheres for a long time and preferably in a holistic way. As a research assistant at the University of Hamburg and the Free University of Berlin from an academic perspective, in 2014 with the founding of Kater Demos, the utopian political magazine from a journalistic point of view as editor-in-chief and in his work at the Berlin agency Blumberry from a campaign and PR perspective. Since 2017, he has helped build up the “Strengthening the Digital Public Sphere” department at the Berlin think tank Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, where he led projects on disinformation (“Fake News”), fact-checking and digital news literacy.
Alexander is primarily interested in the evolution of our democratic information architectures in the digital age, whether through journalistic innovations such as Constructive Journalism or the question of how we as a knowledge society can use the full potential of digitization for our public spheres as well. On these topics he is also regularly active as a speaker (e.g. Goethe Institutes San Francisco & Seattle, Streitraum, ARD/ZDF Media Academy), host (e.g. EU Commission) or expert (e.g. German Bundestag).
He studied journalism, psychology and political communication at the Free University in Berlin and taught at the University of the Arts, the University of Applied Sciences Berlin and also at the Free University Berlin. His never written dissertation entitled “Who needs journalists when you can have robots?” on journalism and artificial intelligence was always interrupted by life (including Kater Demos).

Moving Towards NATO 2030
2021-01-19 12:00 - 13:00
After France’s President Emmanuel Macron said NATO was suffering “brain death” in November 2019, Alliance leaders asked the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to engage a forward-looking assessment of how to strengthen the political dimension of the NATO Alliance – in an effort to keep the organization relevant and vibrant as it faces new challenges from China and Russia. To this end, in April 2020, Secretary General Stoltenberg appointed an independent Reflection Group co-chaired by Thomas de Maizière and A. Wess Mitchell. Over the course of nine months, the group met virtually and consulted with government representatives from around the world. The findings of the group were released last month.
Join us for a presentation of the report and discussion with Bundestag member and former Defense Minister, Dr. Thomas de Maizière, and Dr. A. Wess Mitchell, Vice Chairman of the Center for European Policy Analysis and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe. Dr. Thomas de Maizière (1989 ACG Young Leader) has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2009. In addition, he has served in various roles at both the state and federal levels including Federal Minister and Head of Federal Chancellery of Germany (2005-2009); Federal Minister of the Interior (2009-2011; 2013-2018); and Federal Minister of Defense (2011-2013); as well as Minister of State of Justice of Saxony (2002-2004) and Minister of State of the Interior of Saxony (2004-2005). He currently serves as a member of the County Executive Committee of CDU Meißen, a member of the National Executive Committee of CDU Germany; a member of the Executive Committee of CDU Germany; Chairman of the National Committee Saxony of the CDU/CSU- Parliamentary Group; and a member at Finance Committee of the German Bundestag. He has been a member of the Christian Democratic Union since 1971.
After completing his schooling and compulsory military service, he studied law and history from 1974 to 1979 in Münster and Freiburg. After passing the first state examination in law and completing the required period of practical in-service training, he completed his law degree with the second state examination, which he then followed with a doctorate in 1986. From 1985 to 1989, he worked in der Berlin Senate Chancellery as a speechwriter and head of the basic policy matters section, and later on as press spokesman for the Christian Democratic parliamentary group in the Berlin Chamber of Deputies. In 1990, he was invited by his cousin, Lothar de Maizière, to work as an adviser on the staff of the last government of East Germany.
Dr. A. Wess Mitchell (2008-2010 ACG Multilateral Young Leader) served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2017 to 2019. In this role, he was responsible for diplomatic relations with the 50 countries of Europe and Eurasia, as well as the institutions of NATO, the EU, and OSCE. At the State Department, he played a principal role in formulating Europe strategy in support of the 2017 National Security Strategy, led the Interagency in building instruments to counter Russian and Chinese influence in Europe, and spearheaded new diplomatic initiatives for Central Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Balkans.
Prior to joining the State Department, Dr. Mitchell cofounded and served as President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). He is the author of numerous articles and reports that have been translated into a dozen languages and appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, American Interest, National Interest, Orbis, and Internationale Politik. He is the author of three books, including most recently Unquiet Frontier: Rising Rivals, Vulnerable Allies and the Crisis of American Power (with Jakub J. Grygiel) and The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire (Princeton University Press, 2018).
Dr. Mitchell holds a doctorate in political science from the Otto Suhr Institut für Politikwissenschaft at Freie Universität in Berlin, a master’s degree from the Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he was awarded the 2004 Hopper Award, and a bachelor’s degree in history from Texas Tech University.

Inauguration Day in America: Linking Washington and Berlin
2021-01-20 10:30 - 14:00
America has voted. On January 20, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Rarely has a U.S. presidential transition sparked as much attention – and concern – as the current one. Themed “America United,” Biden’s inauguration ceremony is intended to mark a new chapter in bringing the country together.
To conclude our Road to Election Night & Beyond series, representatives from the transatlantic community will convene to help you make sense of the inaugural process and its implications on both sides of the Atlantic. Join us for two virtual panel discussions on Inauguration Day and listen in as representatives from key transatlantic institutions and political foundations share their expectations regarding the Biden-Harris administration and the future of the transatlantic bond.
10:40 – 10:45 a.m.: Welcoming Remarks
10:45 – 11:45 a.m.: Panel Discussion on “The New Presidency: What to Expect”
12:00 p.m.: Livestream of the Inaugural Address by President Joe Biden
12:45 – 1:45 p.m.: Panel Discussion on “The Biden-Harris Administration: Priorities and Challenges”
The discussion will be live-streamed here.
Speakers will include:
Martin-Sebastian Abel
Board Member, Freundeskreis AmerikaHaus NRW e.V.
Director, MSL Germany
(2019 ACG Fellow)
Daniel Benjamin
President, American Academy in Berlin
Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State (2009-2012)
Knut Dethlefsen
Representative to the U.S. and Canada, Friedrich Ebert Foundation
John B. Emerson
Chairman, American Council on Germany
Ambassador of the United States to Germany (2013-2017)
Markus Ferber
Chairman, Hanns Seidel Foundation
Member of the European Parliament (CSU)
Prof. Dr. Stefan Fröhlich
Board Member, German Atlantic Association
Chairman, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Institute of Political Science
Tina Hassel
Head and TV Editor-in-Chief, ARD-Hauptstadtstudio in Berlin
Bastian Hermisson
Executive Director North America, Heinrich-Böll-Foundation
Michael Link
Board Member, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom
Member of the German Bundestag (FDP)
Warren Marine
Treasurer, American Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V.
Partner, KPMG
Mareike Ohlberg
Senior Fellow, Asia Program, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Anahita Thoms, LL.M.
Board Member, Atlantik-Brücke e.V.
Partner, Baker McKenzie
Dr. Meike Zwingenberger
Executive Director, Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations
Both panel discussions will be moderated by
Terry Martin
Senior Anchor, Deutsche Welle News

The Covid Crisis, Economic Insecurity, and the Impact on Women in Germany and the United States
2021-01-27 11:00 - 12:00
The corona virus crisis disrupted the lives of millions of people in Europe and the U.S. Beginning in March, non-essential businesses were closed, workers were furloughed or laid off – or in Germany subject to Kurzarbeit. In the U.S. schools and daycare centers were shuttered. In Germany and the U.S., families struggle to come to terms with home schooling. In short, COVID-19 has disrupted the labor market and education – and this has had disastrous consequences for working women and their families.
Join the American Council on Germany and the Heidelberg University Association for an online discussion regarding the economic impact of the COVID crisis on women in the United States and Germany. Prof. Dr. Christiane Schwieren, Professor of Economics at the Alfred Weber Institute at Heidelberg University, and Julie Kashen, Senior Fellow and Director for Women’s Economic Justice at The Century Foundation, will join German television journalist Birte Meier (2009 ACG Kellen Fellow) to discuss the challenges facing women in the pandemic. Julie Kashen is a Senior Fellow and Director for Women’s Economic Justice at The Century Foundation, with expertise in work and family, caregiving, economic mobility, and labor. She has more than two decades of experience forwarding these issues in federal and state government and through the nonprofit sector, including helping to draft three major pieces of national legislation. As a labor policy advisor to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), she helped draft and build momentum for the first paid sick days bill in Congress, the Healthy Families Act. As policy director of the three-year Make It Work campaign, she drafted a visionary childcare proposal, whose principles were incorporated into the Child Care for Working Families Act. And as a senior advisor to the National Domestic Workers Alliance, she led the work to create and introduce the first ever national Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. In addition, as deputy director of policy for Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ), she helped New Jersey become the second state in the nation to adopt paid family and medical leave. She is an active member of many childcare, paid leave, and equal pay coalitions and tables.

Ms. Kashen holds a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s with highest honors in political science from the University of Michigan. She was an adjunct lecturer on work and family issues and poverty in the United States at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey.
Birte Meier (moderator) is an award-winning investigative journalist and a seniorproducer/director with German national public tv broadcaster ZDF. Currently, she produces feature-length documentaries on current affairs. Her work covers topics around digitalization and globalization. She has been awarded the Environmental Media Award (2019), the Friedrich Vogel Award for economic reporting (2018) and the German Economic Film Award (2015). Before 2007, she worked for Spiegel-TV and various ARD and ARTE programs.
In 2020, she was a Thomas Mann Fellow in Los Angeles to do research on what Germany can learn from California with regard to equal pay. She has also received journalist’s grants from the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin for research on education, from the Robert Bosch Stiftung for a stay of several months in China, and from the American Council on Germany to conduct research on the crisis of journalism in the US.
She studied at the FU Berlin, the University of Chicago and the University of the Arts Berlin. She received her master’s degree in North American Studies, Modern History and Journalism in 1998.
Prof. Dr. Christiane Schwieren is Professor of Economics at the Alfred Weber Institute at Heidelberg University, and also serves as the University’s Gleichstellungsbeauftragte (or gender equity or equal opportunity officer). She does research in neuroeconomics, experimental economics and behavioral economics. Her current research focuses on two broad areas: decision making and self-regulation under stress, and uncertainty and individual differences in mostly labor market settings. She also works on public good games, identity framing, and trust. As Heidelberg University’s gender equity officer, Prof. Schwieren works to ensure that gender equity is a core value for the university as an employer and that available services address the ever-changing needs that women face as students, researchers, and faculty.
Prof. Schwieren holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maastricht, where her thesis research focused on discrimination in the labor market. She also completed a Diploma in in psychology at and a master’s in political science and history Heidelberg University.

What Can Europe Expect from the Biden Administration?
2021-01-29 11:00 - 12:00
Europe has high hopes for President-elect Joe Biden. But, what can Europeans realistically expect from a Biden administration? As a minimum, there will be a change in tone, greater civility, and predictability in an increasingly uncertain environment. For many Europeans, Joe Biden is a known quantity. Foreign policy is part of his DNA. He understands how diplomacy functions, knows how to work across ideological lines, and recognizes that security and economic growth are more easily achieved through international collaboration.
Upon taking office, Joe Biden has a long to-do list at home and abroad. He will renew America’s commitment to multilateralism – specifically through NATO and the UN – and he will seek to bring the United States back into the Paris Climate Agreement and the Iranian nuclear deal. However, much of his attention will be focused on bringing together a divided country and addressing the simultaneous public health, economic, and social justice crises.
Join the American Council on Germany and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for a virtual discussion about how the Biden Administration’s domestic agenda might impact its foreign policy priorities – and what Europe can expect from the new government. After welcoming remarks from Paul Linnarz, Director of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’s U.S. office, the following panelists will speak:
Dr. Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University
Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert, Chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and former President of the German Bundestag
Robin Wright, Columnist at The New Yorker, Distinguished Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace

Moderator: Dr. Steven E. Sokol, President of the American Council on Germany
