American Council On Germany

What Does the End of the Assad Regime Mean for Syria and Iran's Dominance in the Region?
2024-12-12 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
Rebel forces in Syria have been steadily gaining ground in recent weeks. The culmination of their advances came on December 8, when the Iranian backed President Bashar al-Assad was forced into exile in Russia, essentially ending the 12-year civil war. Without Assad in power, the influence of Iran has suffered a major blow in the region, and potentially globally.
Join the ACG and the Center for Middle East and Global Order (CMEG) on December 12, for a virtual discussion with Iran and Middle East expert Dr. Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Founder and Director of CMEG. He will discuss the larger global impact of the end of Assad’s regime and the uncertain future for Syrians. Dr. Ali Fathollah-Nejad is a German–Iranian political scientist and author focusing on Iran, the Middle East, and the post-unipolar world order. He is Founder and Director of the Center for Middle East and Global Order (CMEG), a think-tank devoted to exploring transformations and promoting a foreign policy that reconciles interests and values. He currently teaches Middle East politics and international security at the Hertie School – The University of Governance in Berlin and is also a Fellow with the University of Bonn’s Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS). Among his publications are, most recently, The Islamic Republic in Existential Crisis: The Need for a Paradigm Shift in the EU’s Iran Policy (2023, European Union Institute for Security Studies, Chaillot Paper), the much-acclaimed book Iran in an Emerging New World Order (2021, Palgrave), The Islamic Republic of Iran Four Decades On: The 2017/18 Protests Amid a Triple Crisis (2020, Brookings), where he suggested the start of a long-term revolutionary process in Iran. His forthcoming book is titled Iran – How the West is Betraying its Values and Interests (in German). Ali is also the former Iran expert of the Brookings Institution in Doha (BDC, 2017–20), the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP, 2015–18), and the American University of Beirut’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (AUB-IFI, 2022–24) as well as a 2022 McCloy Fellow on Global Trends of the American Council on Germany (ACG). He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Department of Development Studies at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) and was the winner of the 2016/17 post-doctoral fellowship of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Iran Project. He has taught, among others, at universities in London, Berlin, Doha, Tübingen, and Prague. The author of some 300 articles in English, German and French, with translations into a dozen other languages, Ali is also a regular commentator for major outlets across the globe.

Kaffeepause: Special Edition – Germany’s Confidence Vote
2024-12-16 11:00 - 12:00
Join us on Monday, December 16, for a special edition of the ACG’s regular Kaffeepause. We’ll discuss the results of the German Bundestag’s confidence vote with Cameron Adabi, deputy editor at Foreign Policy, and Rüdiger Lentz, senior political advisor for the firm of Rud Pedersen. We’ll also talk about the first three years of the Ampelkoalition and the outlook for Germany’s snap election in February. Cameron Abadi is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy and co-host of FP’s Ones and Tooze podcast. He previously worked at the New Republic and Foreign Affairs and as a correspondent in Germany and Iran. His writing has appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek, the New Yorker, the New Republic, and Der Spiegel. He lives with his family in Berlin.
Rüdiger Lentz is currently working as a senior political advisor for the Nordic public affairs firm of Rud Pedersen in Berlin. Before that, he was the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Germany from 2013 to 2020. From 2009 until 2013, he served as the Executive Director of the German American Heritage Foundation and Museum in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, he worked as a TV correspondent and magazine journalist for Der Spiegel, ARD Television, Rias Berlin, and Deutsche Welle for over three decades. During his tenure as Bureau Chief for Deutsche Welle in Washington, D.C., he was a Visiting Lecturer at Harvard University, the School of Foreign Service in Washington, and a regular guest on BBC, CNN, and C-Span. Mr. Lentz has been a long-time member of the Atlantik-Brücke and is a member of the German Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a founding member of the German American Business Council (GABC) in Washington, D.C., and the Chairman of the Shepard Stone Foundation in Berlin.

Hot Topics, Cold Realties - Migration
2025-01-15 12:00 - 13:00
Migration played a pivotal role in the U.S. elections, and it looms prominently in political debates in Germany ahead of elections next month. Join the ACG and 1014 for a discussion with Victoria Rietig, the Head of the Center for Migration at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), and award-winning journalist Molly O’Toole. They will help shed light on the trends, challenges, and opportunities arising from migration – and the role migration plays in the current political climate. Molly O’Toole is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, working on “The Route,” a nonfiction book on global migration through the Americas to the United States, for Crown Publishing, a Penguin Random House imprint, and developing an accompanying podcast. She most recently was an immigration and security reporter for The Los Angeles Times, and a fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center, George Washington University, and the Logan Nonfiction Program. She has also taught at Cornell University and the Poynter Institute. She previously was a senior reporter at Foreign Policy and The Atlantic’s Defense One, and an editor at The Huffington Post.
From Latin America, West Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, Ms. O’Toole has written and worked for outlets such as The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Newsweek, The Intercept, the Associated Press, Reuters, and more. She was awarded the first-ever Pulitzer Prize in audio reporting in 2020 with This American Life and Emily Green. Her work has also been recognized by the Livingston Awards, the National Press Club, the Charles Rappleye Investigative Award, the Fund for Investigative Journalism, and the Silvers Grants for Work in Progress, among others. She is a graduate of Cornell and New York University, and is based in Washington, D.C., but she will always be a Californian.
Victoria Rietig is head of the Center for Migration at the DGAP. She has twenty years of experience working on migration, asylum, and refugee issues. She is the author of dozens of publications, has given hundreds of lectures and trainings on migration-related topics, and regularly comments on current migration issues in leading German and international media. She has conducted research in North and West Africa, the Middle East, and the Western Balkans, as well as Central and South America.
Before building up and leading DGAP’s Migration Program from 2019 to 2024, Ms. Rietig advised government agencies and foundations in Europe and the United States as an expert on migration policies. Prior to that, she worked as an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, and a consultant at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research in New York.
She graduated from Harvard University with a master’s degree in public policy with a focus on human trafficking and forced migration. She also completed a Magister at the Freie Universität Berlin with a focus on migration and integration.

Mobility and Borders in Europe
2025-01-23 11:00 - 12:00
Europe is a place of free movement among nations – or is it? The Schengen area, which was established in 1985 and today encompasses twenty-nine European countries, allows people, goods, and capital to cross borders without restraint. Schengen transformed European life, advancing both a democratic project of transnational citizenship and a neoliberal project of international free trade. But the right of free movement always excluded non-Europeans, especially migrants of color from former colonies of the Schengen states.
Join us for a virtual discussion on January 23 with Prof. Dr. Kiran Klaus Patel, Chair of Modern History at Ludwig Maximilian University Munich (LMU), and Young Leader alum Dr. Isaac Stanley-Becker, a National Security Reporter at the Washington Post and author of Europe without Borders. They will discuss the ideas behind the creation of the Schengen area and the opportunities and challenges it has created. Prof. Dr. Kiran Klaus Patel holds the Chair of Modern History at Ludwig Maximilian University Munich (LMU) and is the Director of Project House Europe. Before joining LMU, he held chairs at Maastricht University in the Netherlands (2011-2019) and the European University Institute in Florence, Italy (2007-2011), and an assistant professorship at Humboldt University in Berlin (2002-2007). He has been (inter alia) a visiting fellow/professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales in Paris, the Free University of Berlin, Freiburg University, Harvard University, the London School of Economics, Sciences Po in Paris, and the University of Oxford. His teaching and research focuses on issues of European and US American history. Comparative, transnational, and global approaches are prominently featured in his work.
Dr. Isaac Stanley-Becker (2024 ACG Young Leader) is a National Security Reporter at the Washington Post. He has reported from across Europe and the United States. He received his PhD from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar. His book Europe without Borders was published this month.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-01-27 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics that are making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, January 27 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Anja Wehler-Schöck, International Editor for Der Tagesspiegel. Anja Wehler-Schöck joined the Editorial Board of Der Tagesspiegel as the International Editor in January 2025. She has been Head of International Politics at Der Tagesspiegel since August 2022. Prior to that, she worked as editor-in-chief of the IPG Journal, a debate platform for issues of international and European politics. She previously worked as a social affairs officer at the German Embassy in Washington and headed the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s office for Jordan and Iraq in Amman from 2012 to 2017.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-02-03 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics that are making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, February 3 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with award-winning journalist and ACG fellow Vladimir Balzer. Vladimir Balzer is an award-winning journalist and moderator at Deutschlandfunk Kultur. He grew up in Leipzig and studied German, art history, and journalism in Dublin, Venice, and Leipzig. He studied abroad in Italy and the United States. He began his career as a presenter, reporter, and editor at Deutschlandradio and MDR. Mr. Balzer hosts, among other programs, the daily programs “Fazit – Kultur vom Tage” and “Studio 9” on Deutschlandfunk Kultur. In 2022, he was selected to be a Kellen Fellow by the American Council on Germany.

Hot Topics, Cold Realties - Trade, Tariffs, and a Shifting Global Economy
2025-02-03 11:00 - 12:00
The current state of the global economy is marked by significant uncertainty and change, driven by geopolitical tensions, evolving supply chains, and shifting economic priorities. After years of globalized trade liberalization, protectionist ideas have resurfaced, with possible trade wars and tariffs that could affect industries and consumers worldwide.
Join the ACG and 1014 for a virtual discussion on these protectionist trends and their impact on the global economy with Benn Steil, Director of International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and Rolf Langhammer, former Vice President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Rolf J. Langhammer was Vice-President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy from October 1997 until August 2012 and Professor at the Kiel Institute. He has remained active at the Institute. In addition, he has been an Honorary Professor in of International Economic Relations and Development Economics at the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration, and Social Sciences, at Kiel University since November 1995 and a Professor of Development Economics and International Trade at the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar/Koblenz from 2013-2016.
Prof. Langhammer has served as a consultant to a number of international institutions (EU, World Bank, OECD, UNIDO, ADB), as well as to the German ministries of economic affairs and economic cooperation. Between 1995 and 2007, he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development. His research issues cover international trade patterns, trade policies, regional integration, and international capital flows. He has published in professional journals and contributed to many volumes of conference proceedings.
Benn Steil is a Senior Fellow and the Director of International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He is the lead writer of the Council’s Geo-Graphics economics blog and the creator of nine web-based interactives tracking Global Monetary Policy, Global Inflation, Global Imbalances, Global Growth, Global Trade, Global Energy, Sovereign Risk, China’s Belt and Road, and Central Bank Currency Swaps. He also writes a monthly column for Barron’s.
Dr. Steil has written and spoken widely on international finance, monetary policy, financial markets, and economic and diplomatic history. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, House, and CFTC. His most recent book, The World That Wasn’t: Henry Wallace and the Fate of the American Century, was named in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Financial Times “Best Books of 2024” lists.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-02-18 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics that are making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Tuesday, February 18 at 9:00 am ET for a special edition of the Kaffeepause following the Munich Security Conference with the Political Editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Stefan Kornelius. Stefan Kornelius is the Political Editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Previously, he served as Foreign Editor of the paper for nearly 20 years. In his reporting career, he has covered Germany’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU), the chancellorship of Helmut Kohl, and defense issues in Europe. He served as Berlin Bureau Chief, and from 1996 to 1999 he was the paper’s Washington correspondent. Prior to that, he was a correspondent in Bonn.
His biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, entitled Angela Merkel, the Chancellor and her World, has been translated into 13 languages. Mr. Kornelius is a graduate of the Henri-Nannen-Journalistenschule and studied in Bonn and at the London School of Economics.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-02-24 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, February 24, at 9:00 a.m. ET for a Kaffeepause following the German federal elections with 2018 Kellen Fellow Dr. Anna Sauerbrey, Foreign Editor for Die Zeit. Dr. Anna Sauerbrey is the Foreign Editor at the German largest weekly newspaper, Die Zeit. Before assuming this position, she was Deputy Editor-in-Chief at Der Tagesspiegel, a daily newspaper based in Berlin. She has written about German politics in The New York Times and comments on German and international politics on public German radio and television programs. She has also appeared on CNN and the BBC world service. She is the author of Machtwechsel. Wie eine neue Politikergeneration das Land verändert (Rowohlt Berlin, 2022) a book on the generation of German policymakers succeeding Angela Merkel.
Dr. Sauerbrey received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Mainz in 2009. She has also studied Political Science and Journalism. She was an Arthur F. Burns Fellow with the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2013 and has extensively written about transatlantic relations and U.S. domestic politics since. In 2018, she was awarded an Anna-Maria and Stephen M. Kellen Fellowship for Berlin-based Journalists by the American Council on Germany.

Kaffeepause: Special Edition
2025-02-27 11:00 - 12:00
Join us for a “Special Edition” of our regular Kaffeepause following the German federal elections with Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, former Foreign Editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Nadine Lindner, Correspondent with Deutschlandradio. Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger was the Foreign Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. His writings deal especially with the United States, European, transatlantic, and international politics. He holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science, Economics, and American Studies from Frankfurt University. He joined the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany’s leading national daily, in 1986, and served in various capacities, as European, International, and Editorial Page Editor. Mr. Frankenberger was a Member of the Trilateral Commission and of the Scientific Council of the Institute for European Politics in Berlin. He also served on the Advisory Board of the Federal Academy for Security Policy in Berlin and is associated with several organizations that deal with the transatlantic relationship.
Nadine Lindner has been a Correspondent in the Berlin studio of “Deutschlandradio” since early 2016 and is responsible, among other things, for covering the AfD and transport policy. Before that, she was a Correspondent in the Free State of Saxony for two and a half years and followed the rise of Pegida there. She studied Political Science, Journalism, and African Studies in Leipzig and discovered her enthusiasm for radio there at the training station “mephisto 97.6.” After graduating from university, she worked as a freelance journalist for “MDR sputnik” and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as well as Deutschlandradio.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-03-03 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, March 3, at 9:00 a.m. ET for a Kaffeepause with Paul-Anton Krüger, Editor for Der Spiegel. Paul-Anton Krüger has been an Editor at SPIEGEL’s capital city office since January 2025. He was the Parliamentary Correspondent in the Berlin Bureau of the Süddeutsche Zeitung from September 2021 to December 2024. He previously reported on political affairs and served as Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Department, focusing on the Middle East and international security for three years. Before that, he spent four years in Cairo as a correspondent covering large parts of the Arab world and Iran.
After graduating from the Alte Landesschule in Korbach, he studied journalism in Berlin and Munich. In August 2005, he joined the Süddeutsche Zeitung as a volunteer, worked as an editor from 2008, and as head of the foreign policy department from 2011. In the fall of 2007, Mr. Krüger was a guest editor at the Chicago Tribune as part of the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship, the German-American journalism scholarship of the International Journalism Programs e.V.

Analyzing the German Elections: What Comes Next?
2025-03-05 12:00 - 13:00
Join the ACG and the Pacific Council for a virtual event analyzing the implications of Germany’s federal election on February 23, 2025. This election, prompted by the collapse of Chancellor Scholz’s coalition government, is poised to reshape German politics. Our expert speakers, Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller, Director of the Center on the United States at Brookings, and Peter S. Rashish, Vice President and Director of the Geoeconomics Program at the American-German Institute will examine what the election means for Germany, the United States, and the global community. ACG President Dr. Steven E. Sokol will moderate the discussion. Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller is an expert on German, European, and transatlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She is the director of the Center on the United States and Europe and the inaugural holder of the Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and Transatlantic Relations at Brookings. She held the Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress from October 2019 to March 2020, and served as the inaugural Robert Bosch Senior Fellow at Brookings from 2014 to 2019.
Dr. Stelzenmüller is the former director of GMF’s Berlin office. From 1994 to 2005, she was defense and international security editor in the political section of the German weekly DIE ZEIT; previously, she had covered human rights issues, war crimes tribunals, and 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.
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).
Peter S. Rashish is Vice President and Director of the Geoeconomics Program at AGI. He also is the author of The Wider Atlantic blog. Before joining AGI, Mr. Rashish has served as Vice President for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he spearheaded the Chamber’s advocacy ahead of the launch of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Previously, Mr. Rashish was a Senior Advisor for Europe at McLarty Associates, Executive Vice President of the European Institute, and a staff member and consultant at the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, UNCTAD, the Atlantic Council, the Bertelsmann Foundation, and the German Marshall Fund.
Mr. Rashish has testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade and the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia and has advised three U.S. presidential campaigns. He has been a featured speaker at the Munich Security Conference, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the Salzburg Global Seminar and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jean Monnet Institute in Paris and a Senior Advisor to the European Policy Centre in Brussels. His commentaries have been published in The New York Times, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and The National Interest, and he has appeared on PBS, CNBC, CNN, and NPR.
He earned a BA from Harvard College and an MPhil in international relations from Oxford University. He speaks French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
Dr. Steven E. Sokol (moderator) 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. Prior to this, 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.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-03-17 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, March 17, at 9:00 a.m. ET for a Kaffeepause with Marc Felix Serrao, Editor-in-Chief in Germany for the Neue Züricher Zeitung. Marc Felix Serrao has been the Head of the Berlin office since July 2017 and Editor-in-Chief of the Neue Züricher Zeitung in Germany since 2021. After military service, he studied political science in Berlin. In 2004/05, he was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University in New York. He graduated in 2006. Mr. Serrao worked for the Süddeutsche Zeitung from 2007 to 2016 – first as a trainee, then as deputy head of the society and style department. In 2015, he began a part-time Executive MBA at the Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Unternehmensführung (WHU) and the Kellogg School of Management. From 2016 to 2017, he served as the Business editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

The Future of Artificial Intelligence and Technology
2025-03-20 11:00 - 12:00
Join the ACG and the Aspen Institute for an insightful virtual discussion on March 20 between German and U.S. state legislators to highlight the role of states, cities, and local governments in fostering innovation, addressing AI-related challenges, and promoting cross-border cooperation. The conversation will include Senator Lashrecse Aird (D), Senate of Virginia, Nina Eisenhardt (Alliance 90/The Greens), State Parliament of Hesse, and Franziska Müller-Rech (FDP), State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Senator Lashrecse D. Aird (D) was sworn into the Virginia State Senate in 2024. She previously served three terms (2016-2022) in the Virginia House of Delegates where she held the distinction as the youngest woman ever elected to that body. Senator Aird helped Virginia make history with the passage of Breonna’s Law, prohibiting the use of no-knock search warrants. Her legislation also led Virginia to become the first southern state to declare racism a public health crisis, to declare access to water a human right, and to make Virginia a leading state in combating maternal and infant mortality. She currently serves on the Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee, the Joint Commission on Technology and Science, the Behavioral Health Commission, the Fentanyl and Heroin Enforcement Task Force, and the Joint Commission on Technology and Science.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Virginia State University and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Political Leadership Program, and a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Minority Political Leadership Institute. As a result of her policy efforts, in 2020 Senator Aird was invited to serve as a Congressional European Parliament Initiative (CEPI) Fellow with the Bertelsmann Foundation.

A tireless and trusted community leader, Lashrecse Aird is actively engaged in numerous civic boards and organizations. She is the Virginia State Social Action Coordinator for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She serves on the Global Advisory Board for the Presidential Precinct. She also serves on the boards for Chippenham Johnston-Willis Hospital, the Sorensen Political Leadership Institute, Sports Backers, and the Virginia League of Planned Parenthood. She is also a member of the Responsible Leaders Network for the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt. Professionally, Lashrecse works in higher education administration at Virginia State University.
Nina Eisenhardt (Alliance 90/The Greens) is a member of the Hessian State Parliament and the spokesperson for universities, science, and artificial intelligence for the BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN parliamentary group. She studied political science at the Technical University of Darmstadt and later earned a master’s degree in International Studies: Peace and Conflict Research at Goethe University Frankfurt. She also worked at KfW Development Bank, focusing on international cooperation.
Her political journey started early—she was elected to the city council of her home town Renningen at the age of 19. A member of BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN since 2012, she has been active in various committees pushing for fairer education and science policies. She had various leading positions in her party, including serving her party’s board as state treasurer for BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN in Hesse.
On January 18, 2019, she was elected to the Hessian State Parliament, representing Groß-Gerau County and Main-Taunus County. She is member of the parliamentarian committees for science and art as well as digitalization and data protection. She focuses on future-oriented policies in science, digitalization, and higher education.
Franziska Müller-Rech (FDP) has been a member of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament since 2017. She joined the Free Democrats in 2006 during her studies. In 2015, she became deputy district chairwoman of the FDP. Since March 2018, she has succeeded Joachim Stamp as district chairwoman of the FDP in Bonn. In March 2018, she was elected to the Cologne district executive committee at the district party conference in Leverkusen.
In Bonn, Ms. Müller-Rech is a member of the school committee of the city of Bonn as an expert citizen and has been the spokesperson for school policy there since 2014. She was also a spokesperson for school policy in the FDP state parliamentary group. In the 2017 state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Ms. Müller-Rech won a seat on her party’s state list. On January 27, 2023, she replaced Joachim Stamp in the State Parliament after leaving it in 2022 due to loss of FDP seats.
After graduating from the Erzbischöfliche Liebfrauenschule in Bonn in 2003, she studied at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences (specializing in insurance). She successfully completed an apprenticeship as an insurance saleswoman and a degree in business administration (FH). Before she entered the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament, she worked as a team manager in customer service for company pension schemes at Talanx. Ms. Müller-Rech studied “Communication & Leadership” at Quadriga University Berlin and graduated with a Master of Arts in summer 2024.

Kaffeepause: What’s Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-03-24 12:00 - 13:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, March 24, at 12:00 p.m. ET for a Kaffeepause with Vladimir Balzer, an award-winning journalist and moderator at Deutschlandfunk.

Vladimir Balzer grew up in Leipzig and studied in Dublin, Venice, and Leipzig. He began his career as a presenter, reporter, and editor at Deutschlandradio and MDR. Mr. Balzer hosts, among other programs, the daily program “Fazit – Kultur vom Tage” on Deutschlandfunk Kultur. In 2022, he was selected to be a Kellen Fellow by the American Council on Germany. In 2023 he started as a correspondent at the Capital Studios of Deutschlandfunk in Berlin. He is known as a commentator for German Television, such as ZDF. He also regularly reports for his broadcaster from the U.S.

Rising Above or Lagging Behind? Inequality in Higher Education
2025-03-26 12:00 - 13:00
As part of the Transatlantic Tandem Talks, join the ACG, University of Cologne NY Office, DAAD North America, DWIH NY, & partners for a discussion with experts from both sides of the Atlantic as they compare the higher education systems in the U.S. and Germany, analyze the current state of inequality in higher education, and explore its causes, consequences, and potential pathways toward greater equity. Speakers include Prof. Dr. Claudia Buchmann, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor in Sociology at The Ohio State University and Prof. Dr. Marita Jacob, Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences (WiSo) at the University of Cologne; and moderated by Peter R. Kerrigan, Deputy Director of the German Academic Exchange Service’s (DAAD) Regional Office in New York office Prof. Dr. Claudia Buchmann is a College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor in Sociology at The Ohio State University. She is internationally known for her research on gender inequalities in education, with a focus on how women have come to attain more education than men in much of the world today. Her award-winning book The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What it Means for American Schools (2013, Russell Sage Foundation). Her prior research includes cross-national and comparative studies of the impact of economic policies and educational systems on educational outcomes and social well-being as well as case studies of stratification and mobility in Africa. A theme uniting her varied research projects is a concern for the intersection of institutional factors with family- and individual-level processes in determining social inequalities. Dr. Buchmann’s influential scholarship has been published in many top journals and has received widespread attention from the academic community and the news media, including The New York Times, Washington Post, National Public Radio, and the BBC. She is a recipient of the Joan N. Huber Faculty Fellowship, and her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Spencer Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. She has served as deputy editor of the American Sociological Review and on the editorial boards of Sociology of Education and Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. More recently, she served on the Wissenschaft Zentrum Berlin (WZB) advisory board in Germany and on the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee on Social Stratification (RC28). Dr. Buchmann is an advisory board member of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi), Germany. Buchmann received her BA in German from the University of Wisconsin and her PhD in Sociology and African Studies from Indiana University.
Prof. Dr. Marita Jacob is a Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Management, Economics, and Social Sciences (WiSo) at the University of Cologne and is actively involved in the WiSo-Key Research Initiative Demography and Social Inequality. Additionally, she serves as the Faculty’s Vice Dean for Academic Careers. After her studies in social sciences, mathematics, and economics, she worked as a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and received her PhD at the Free University of Berlin. She then continued as a Postdoc at the Institute for Employment Research in Nuremberg. Before joining the University of Cologne, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Mannheim. Her research focuses on social inequalities in education, employment, and family dynamics. She is particularly interested in how factors such as family background, gender, and ethnic origin influence educational decisions, with a recent emphasis on strategies to mitigate social inequalities in higher education. Her work also explores the relationship between gender equality in the labor market and family dynamics. In her latest research on enrollment disparities, she examined how intensive counseling can help reduce social inequalities in enrollment, specifically among native and immigrant students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. She also investigated the role of gendered risk and return preferences and gender differences in the choice of academic majors in higher education.
Peter R. Kerrigan (moderator) is the Deputy Director of the German Academic Exchange Service’s (DAAD) Regional Office in the New York office and is the Director of Marketing and Outreach for DAAD in North America. He is responsible for all areas of marketing German higher education and research and DAAD’s scholarship programs in the U.S. and Canada. Peter served as Vice President of Membership Development and Services at The Forum on Education Abroad; Assistant Director of the Higher Education Resource Group at the Institute of International Education (IIE); and Senior Program Coordinator in the Work Abroad Division of the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE). Peter is an active speaker in the field of international education and has presented at conferences and workshops around the world. He has served in various volunteer governance positions for the European Association for International Education (EAIE), NAFSA: Association of International Educators, and The Forum on Education Abroad. He is helping EAIE restructure its mentorship program and serves as the Chair of EAIE’s Social Responsibility Thematic Committee. Peter helped found and grow the Rainbow Scholarship at the Fund for Education Abroad (FEA). This scholarship enables financially disadvantaged LGBTQI students to study abroad. In September 2016, Peter received EAIE’s Transatlantic Leadership Award. Peter was awarded an M.A. in Political Science by the Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, and a B.A. in Political Science and German by Bates College, Maine, USA.

Hot Topics, Cold Realities: The Green Energy Transition – Dead in its Tracks?
2025-03-27 11:00 - 12:00
The shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources has been unfolding over decades. While the idea of sustainable energy emerged in the 20th century, it accelerated in the new millennium, driven by rising environmental concerns, growing awareness of climate change, and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Under President Biden and his signature climate legislation and the European Green Deal aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050, the global momentum for a green transition gained significant momentum.
However, the war in Ukraine and new governments in the United States and Germany have ushered in a political shift from clean energy to more secure and affordable energy sources. President Trump’s push to “Drill Baby, Drill” and the priorities of Germany’s incoming Chancellor Merz on defense capabilities over climate concerns in a new geopolitical era, raise questions about the future of the green energy transition.
Join 1014 and the ACG on March 27 to discuss this development with Cameron Abadi, Deputy Editor at Foreign Policy and Co-Host of FP’s Ones and Tooze podcast, and Dr. Kira Vinke, Head of Center for Climate and Foreign Policy at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Cameron Abadi is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy and co-host of FP’s Ones and Tooze podcast. He previously worked at the New Republic and Foreign Affairs and as a correspondent in Germany and Iran. His writing has appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek, the New Yorker, the New Republic, and Der Spiegel.
Dr. Kira Vinke is head of the Center for Climate and Foreign Policy at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). She is also a member of the Advisory Board to the Federal Government for Civilian Crisis Prevention and Peacebuilding, which she co-chaired from 2018 to January 2025. From 2014-2022, she worked at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Before joining DGAP, she headed the East Africa Peru India Climate Capacities (EPICC) project there.
She completed her doctoral dissertation (summa cum laude) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin on the subject of climate change and migration; her studies were funded by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-03-31 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, March 31, at 9:00 a.m. ET for a Kaffeepause with ACG Fellowship alumna Miriam Hollstein, Chief Political Reporter for Stern Miriam Hollstein serves as the Chief Political Reporter for Stern. Before this, she was the Chief Report from January 2022 to Septepmber 23 atT-Online in Berlin. Prior to this position, she served as the Chief Political Reporter for FUNKE Zentralredaktion from November 2020 to December 2021. She wrote for the Berliner Zeitung while still a student and worked as an editor for Internationale Politik. She worked as a foreign reporter for the Welt am Sonntag, and from 2006-2014 was a WELT-Gruppe’s domestic policy editor and reporter. From 2015 to 2020, she worked for the Bild am Sonntag, first as a domestic policy and then from 2018 as chief reporter of politics. Her reporting brought her into regular contact with the office of the German Chancellor. Since March 2020, she has worked as a freelance writer and moderator.
In 2009, she published the first graphic biography of Angela Merkel, entitled “Miss Tschörmanie,” together with illustrator Heiko Sakurai. She appears regularly on the German news program “Phoenix,” where she speaks on political and societal issues. She regularly travels internationally for reporting assignments. In addition, she was a 2005 Marshall Memorial Fellow, a 2008 ACG McCloy Fellow, and was recognized in 2015 by the DEFA Stiftung (German Film Corporation Foundation) for her contribution to preserving German film heritage.

Istanbul’s Political Crisis: Implications of Ekrem İmamoğlu’s Arrest
2025-04-02 11:00 - 12:00
On March 23, 2025, Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul and the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was jailed. İmamoğlu had been awaiting trial on corruption charges, which sparked the largest protests in Turkey in over a decade. Many view these charges as politically motivated. In response, İmamoğlu’s party – the Republican People’s Party (CHP) – voted to nominate him as their candidate for the 2028 presidential election. Meanwhile, Germany, home to an estimated three million people of Turkish heritage, condemned İmamoğlu’s arrest as “totally unacceptable.”
Given Turkey’s crucial role in European security, migration, and regional stability, İmamoğlu’s arrest sent shockwaves through Europe and beyond. What does this mean for Turkey’s relations with Germany and the broader European Union? How might this affect Europe’s foreign policy moving forward?
Join us on April 2 for a virtual discussion with Turkey expert Dr. Sinem Adar from the Center for Applied Turkey Studies at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). We will delve into these questions, explore the circumstances surrounding İmamoğlu’s detention and arrest, and examine the broader implications for Turkish democracy. Dr. Sinem Adar is with the Center for Applied Turkey Studies of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). She focuses on Turkish domestic politics and foreign policy, and EU-Turkey relations. Before joining SWP, Dr. Adar was an Einstein Fellow at Humboldt University. She holds a Doctorate degree in Sociology from Brown University and a Master of Science in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

Hot Topics/ Cold Realities: Politics, Constitutions, and the Law
2025-04-10 11:00 - 12:00
“He who saves his country does not violate any law,” President Donald Trump posted last month on social media. Since the new administration in the United States took office on January 20, many legal scholars have raised concerns over an extensive use of executive power, disregard of judicial orders, and erosion of checks and balances. This has led to questions about the role of the executive branch in shaping national policy – and whether such actions undermine the Constitution’s principles of separation of powers.
In Germany, the outgoing parliament passed amendments to the constitution which allow for deficit spending and the loosening of the so-called constitutional debt-brake, a move that is now under scrutiny in the courts. In other European countries, various policies have been introduced that challenge the rule of law, undermining judicial independence and consolidating political power.
Join 1014 and the American Council on Germany to discuss the current trends of executive power, judicial oversight, and constitutional integrity in both the United States and Europe with experts on constitutional law and comparative law Prof. Franz Mayer from the University of Bielefeld, and Prof. Russel Miller from Washington and Lee University, Virginia. The conversation will explore the implications of recent legal and political developments and their impact on democratic governance across the Atlantic. Prof. Franz Mayer holds the Chair in Public Law, European Law, Public International Law, Comparative Law and Law and Politics at the University of Bielefeld (Law Faculty). He studied Law, Political Science and History at the Universities of Bonn and Munich, at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po) and at Yale Law School. Visiting researcher Harvard Law School 2000; annual Visiting lecturer University of Warsaw since 2000; Visiting professor at Paris 1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne) 2007 and at Paris 2 (Panthéon-Assas) 2010; General Course Academy of European Law, European University Institute, Florence, 2011; Senior Emile Noël Fellow, NYU School of Law 2011; Visiting professor of Law at Columbia Law School Winter term 2012/2013; Short Term International Visiting Professor of Law at Columbia Law School Fall term 2024 (non-resident).
Professor Mayer was Counsel in proceedings at the German Constitutional Court to the German Parliament in the Treaty of Lisbon-trial in 2008-2009 and in the first case related to the Euro-crisis, the case on the Euro stabilization mechanism 2010-2012, his most recent case for the German Parliament was the Next Generation EU-case on the €800 billion temporary recovery instrument (2021-2022). He was Counsel at the German Constitutional Court to the German government in the CETA case (2016-2022) and in the case on the Unified European Patent Court (2017-2020). His most recent case for the German government concerns the constitutionality of the new EP election law (2023-2024). In 2023, he was part of a Franco-German Group of 12 experts invited by the German and the French minister for Europe to write a report on institutional reform of the EU.
His teaching and research interests focus on European constitutional and administrative law, on comparative law, on the relationship between European law and politics, on parliaments in times of globalization, on internet law, sports law (European soccer law) and more generally on international law and public law. Since 2016, he has been a member of the German Football Association’s Federal Court (DFB Bundesgericht), ethics chamber. He has dual French and German citizenship and lives in Berlin with his family.
Professor Russell Miller joined the Washington and Lee law faculty in 2008. His teaching and scholarly research focuses on public law subjects (Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, International Law), Comparative Law Theory and Methods, and German Law and Legal Culture. Previously, he taught at the University of Idaho College of Law. He often has been a guest professor in Germany. Alongside his work at the School of Law, Professor Miller has a joint-appointment as Lecturer in Literature in Washington and Lee University’s undergraduate College. In that position he works extensively with colleagues and students in W&L’s German and Russian Department. Professor Miller, a recognized expert in German Law and Legal Culture, is the author/editor of a number of books in the fields of comparative law and international law.
Professor Miller is the co-founder and Co-Editor in Chief of the German Law Journal, an on-line, English-language journal reporting on developments in German, European and International jurisprudence. Now in its second decade, the German Law Journal is one of the most successful and innovative fora for legal scholarship from a transnational perspective.
Professor Miller has been recognized for his work on German law and transatlantic affairs. In 2013, Professor Miller was named a KoRSE Fellow at the University of Freiburg. Professor Miller was a 2009/2010 Fulbright Senior Research Fellow in residence at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and Public International Law in Heidelberg, Germany. In 1999/2000, Professor Miller was a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow and, during that program, he participated in internship and clerkship experiences at the German Federal Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights. In appreciation for his work on behalf of the Bosch Fellowship and German-American relations, Professor Miller was recognized as the Bosch Alumni of the Year in 2012.
Professor Miller served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Robert H. Whaley of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. For four years prior to becoming a professor, Miller served as appellate and post-conviction counsel for indigent, death-sentenced inmates in the state and federal courts of Arizona and Tennessee. Professor Miller is admitted to the Arizona State Bar.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-04-14 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on April 14 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, former Foreign Editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Nadine Lindner, Correspondent with Deutschlandradio. They will discuss the German government coalition agreement and provide insights into the new cabinet selections. Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger was the Foreign Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. His writings deal especially with the United States, European, transatlantic, and international politics. He holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science, Economics, and American Studies from Frankfurt University. He joined the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany’s leading national daily, in 1986, and served in various capacities, as European, International, and Editorial Page Editor. Mr. Frankenberger was a Member of the Trilateral Commission and of the Scientific Council of the Institute for European Politics in Berlin. He also served on the Advisory Board of the Federal Academy for Security Policy in Berlin and is associated with several organizations that deal with the transatlantic relationship.
Nadine Lindner has been a Correspondent in the Berlin studio of “Deutschlandradio” since early 2016 and is responsible, among other things, for covering the AfD and transport policy. Before that, she was a Correspondent in the Free State of Saxony for two and a half years and followed the rise of Pegida there. She studied Political Science, Journalism, and African Studies in Leipzig and discovered her enthusiasm for radio there at the training station “mephisto 97.6.” After graduating from university, she worked as a freelance journalist for “MDR sputnik” and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as well as Deutschlandradio.

Germany Prepares for a Post-America Deterrence Future
2025-04-17 11:00 - 12:00
After weeks of negotiations, the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats have presented a coalition agreement to form a new government. In the 144-page document, the parties have pledged to ramp up defense spending and enhance national security readiness. This renewed focus on defense comes at a time of mounting geopolitical tension and increasing uncertainty surrounding the transatlantic alliance – especially as the prospect of a diminished U.S. nuclear presence in Europe raises urgent questions about the future of the continent’s security architecture.
For decades, Germany has operated under the protection of the U.S. nuclear umbrella. But, with growing doubts over the reliability of Washington’s extended deterrence commitments, Germany now faces a pivotal strategic crossroads. While France and the United Kingdom remain nuclear allies, the absence of U.S. leadership in Europe’s nuclear deterrence posture would mark a profound shift. The incoming German government appears increasingly concerned – and is preparing for a strategic recalibration of its nuclear defense policy.
Join the American Council on Germany for a discussion with security expert Dr. Karl-Heinz Kamp, Associate Fellow in the German Council on Foreign Relations’ (DGAP) Center for Order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, to explore this critical moment, the future of nuclear deterrence in Europe, and Germany’s evolving role in a changing security landscape. Dr. Karl-Heinz Kamp has been an Associate Fellow in DGAP’s Center for Order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia since October 2023. He holds a lectureship at the University Roma Tre in Rome and was the political director’s representative at Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defense until 2023. Prior to that, he was president of the Federal Academy for Security Policy in Berlin.
From 2007 to 2013, Kamp was director of research at the NATO Defense College in Rome. Previously, he held various positions at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Bonn and Berlin as well as in the planning staff of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-05-05 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on May 5 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Nette Nöstlinger, Political Reporter for Politico Europe. Nette Nöstlinger is a Politics Reporter for Politico Europe in Berlin, where she keeps an eye on all things relevant to an international audience interested in the EU’s biggest economy. Her coverage has ranged from the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to Germany’s fiscal and military U-turn in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She was trained at Reuters with stints in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Brussels. She grew up in Antwerp with a Belgian father and an Austrian mother.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-05-19 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on May 19 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Malte Lehming, Columnist for Tagesspiegel. Malte Lehming works as a columnist for the Tagesspiegel. From late 2000 to 2005, he was the newspaper’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the Tagesspiegel in 1991 as foreign policy editor — focusing on security policy, transatlantic relations, and the Middle East. From 1989 to 1991, he worked as a personal assistant and speechwriter for former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Mr. Lehming studied philosophy, German literature, and European history in Hamburg.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-05-27 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on May 27 at 9:00 am ET for a Tuesday edition of our Kaffeepause with Nette Nöstlinger, Political Reporter for Politico Europe.
Nette Nöstlinger is a Politics Reporter for Politico Europe in Berlin, where she keeps an eye on all things relevant to an international audience interested in the EU’s biggest economy. Her coverage has ranged from the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to Germany’s fiscal and military U-turn in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She was trained at Reuters with stints in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Brussels. She grew up in Antwerp with a Belgian father and an Austrian mother.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Washington?
2025-06-06 11:00 - 12:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. This Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will make his first trip to the United States as Chancellor to meet with President Trump. Join us the following morning for a special edition Kaffeepause as we reflect on their meeting with Deutsche Welle’s Washington Bureau Chief Ines Pohl. Ines Pohl is the Washington Bureau Chief for Deutsche Welle. She served as the Editor in Chief of Deutsche Welle from 2017-2020. During her three-year tenure, she focused on increasing DW’s social media presence and the exclusive content of all 30 language services. She joined DW in 2015 as a correspondent in the Washington Bureau. As a journalist, she is particularly interested in questions of democratic legitimacy and transition and is passionate about human rights and the role of democratic structures in developing countries. Ms. Pohl strongly advocates using social media to enhance the connection between audiences and journalists in the digital age.
She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2005, where she spent the year focused on immigration and the impact of religion and leadership. She currently serves on the board of trustees for Reporters without Borders and Youth Against AIDS. From 2009-2015, Ms. Pohl was the editor-in-chief of Die Tageszeitung “taz,” a national daily German newspaper, where she launched a new weekend edition and restructured www.taz.de, now one of Germany’s popular news sites.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-06-09 11:00 - 12:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, June 9 at 11:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Paul-Anton Krüger, Editor for Der Spiegel. Paul-Anton Krüger has been an Editor at SPIEGEL’s capital city office since January 2025. He was the Parliamentary Correspondent in the Berlin Bureau of the Süddeutsche Zeitung from September 2021 to December 2024. He previously reported on political affairs and served as Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Department, focusing on the Middle East and international security for three years. Before that, he spent four years in Cairo as a correspondent covering large parts of the Arab world and Iran.
After graduating from the Alte Landesschule in Korbach, he studied journalism in Berlin and Munich. In August 2005, he joined the Süddeutsche Zeitung as a volunteer, worked as an editor from 2008, and as head of the foreign policy department from 2011. In the fall of 2007, Mr. Krüger was a guest editor at the Chicago Tribune as part of the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship, the German-American journalism scholarship of the International Journalism Programs e.V.

Hot Topics / Cold Realities: Sovereign Debt Crisis - U.S. Out, Germany In?
2025-06-18 11:00 - 12:00
In the United States, the Trump administration is moving forward with a sweeping fiscal initiative – the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Introduced as fulfilling a campaign promise to rein in the national debt, critics worry that the bill would instead add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Meanwhile, in Germany, Chancellor Merz has pushed through a landmark €500 billion public lending package in a dramatic departure from Germany’s strict fiscal tradition – even rewriting its constitutional debt rule – to revive its economy and military strength.
Join the American Council on Germany and 1014 for an insightful discussion with ACG Board Member Tara Hariharan, Managing Director of Global Macro Research at NWI Management, and Prof. Dr. Michael Hüther, Director and Member of the Executive Committee of the German Economic Institute, to explore how sovereign debt can serve as a valuable tool for financing government expenditures and necessary investments, while also examining the risks of allowing debt to reach unsustainable levels. Tara Hariharan is Managing Director of Global Macro Research and Head of Macro Research at NWI Management LP, a New York-based global macro hedge fund. She appears on CNBC and Bloomberg Television as an expert on China and emerging markets, and regularly presents her assessments of China’s economy and U.S.-China relations to senior U.S. and international policymakers. She was named one of New York’s “40 Under 40” top business professionals by Crains New York Business in 2024.
Ms. Hariharan is a board member of the American Council on Germany (ACG) and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations She was a 2014 German Marshall Fund Marshall Memorial fellow, a 2016 ACG young leader, 2022 Economic Club of New York fellow and 2023 Millennium Leadership fellow at the Atlantic Council. 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 China’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.
Prof. Dr. Michael Hüther has served as Director and Member of the Executive Committee of the German Economic Institute since 2004. He has previously worked in a number of important positions in research, teaching, and banking, including at Stanford University, the German Council of Economic Advisers, and DekaBank. Since 2001 he has held the Honorary Professorship for Economics at the European Business School. He is also a member of the EU Commission‘s Refit Platform, which advises the Commission on the efficient, effective and practical implementation of EU legislation. He has a Ph.D. in Economics and History from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen. He was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the President of the Republic.

A Crisis for the Governing Coalition? The Case of Prof. Brosius-Gersdorf and Her Judicial Appointment
2025-07-21 11:00 - 12:00
Late last week the German Parliament (Bundestag) postponed a vote that would have decided on the empanelment of three new justices at the country’s powerful Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht). The delay – likely lasting the duration of the government’s summer holiday – was triggered when members of the Union Parties signaled their late-emerging opposition to University of Potsdam Professor Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, who had been nominated to the Court by the SPD. Brosius-Gersdorf’s chances looked imperiled because the Union-SPD coalition would have to vote together – and count on support from other parties – to secure the two-thirds majority needed to confirm a justice at the Constitutional Court. These judicial machinations matter for the traditions of collegiality, consensus, and neutrality that have long legitimized the work of the Constitutional Court. But they also have political ramifications because they suggest a lack of unity, compromise, and commitment in Chancellor Fredrich Merz’s freshly-minted governing coalition. What caused this judicial appointments crisis? And what does it mean for the broader political picture in Germany?
Join the ACG for a virtual discussion with German law experts Prof. Russell Miller, J.B. Stombock Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University, and Prof. Dr. Alexander Thiele, Associate Dean for Research and Interdisciplinarity and Chair for State Theory and Public Law at BSP Law School in Berlin. Prof. Russell Miller is the J.B. Stombock Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University. He is a leading scholar of German law and legal culture from a comparative perspective. He is the author of a number of books on the subject, including “An Introduction to German Law and Legal Culture” (Cambridge University Press 2024).
Prof. Dr. Alexander Thiele is Associate Dean for Research and Interdisciplinarity and Chair for State Theory and Public Law at BSP Law School in Berlin. He is a widely respected scholar, commentator, and advocate on constitutional law issues in Germany. He is the author of a number of books on the subject, including “Machtfaktor Karlsruhe: Das Bundesverfassungsgericht im System des Grundgesetzes” (Campus Verlag 2025).

The Trump-Putin Meeting and the Future of Ukraine
2025-08-21 11:00 - 12:00
The world is watching as Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump meet in Alaska — a momentous summit on American soil to discuss the war in Ukraine. Trump, who had pledged during his 2024 campaign to bring a swift end to the conflict, entered the talks under intense global scrutiny. The historic meeting marked the first time the two leaders have sat down face-to-face since Trump’s return to the White House, with stakes running high for U.S. foreign policy, NATO unity, and the future of Ukraine’s sovereignty. For Germany — a key NATO ally and one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters — the implications of these talks for its security posture and role in transatlantic relations remain to be seen.
Join us on August 21 for an online conversation with renowned Russia expert Dr. Angela Stent as we unpack the negotiations, explore the future paths for both Russia and Ukraine, and assess what this summit means for the international order. Dr. Angela Stent (1982 ACG Young Leader) is Senior Adviser to the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University where she is also Professor Emerita of Government and Foreign Service. She is also a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-chairs its Hewett Forum on Post-Soviet Affairs. From 2004-06 she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council. From 1999 to 2001, she served in the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State.
Dr. Stent’s publications include: “From Embargo to Ostpolitik: The Political Economy of West German-Soviet Relations, 1955-1980” (Cambridge University Press, 1981); “Russia and Germany Reborn: Unification, The Soviet Collapse and The New Europe” (Princeton University Pres, 1999); “The Limits of Partnership: US-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century” (Princeton University Press, 2014), for which she won the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Douglas Dillon prize for the best book on the practice of American Diplomacy. Her most recent book is “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest” (Twelve Books, 2019) for which she won the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy’s prize for the best book on U.S-Russian Relations.
She was a member of the senior advisory panel for NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe for Admiral James Stavridis and General Philip Breedlove. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a contributing editor to Survival and is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Cold War Studies, World Policy Journal, Internationale Politik and Mirovaia Ekonomika i Mezhdunarodnie Otnosheniie. She has served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Russia and Central Asia. She was a trustee of the Eurasia Foundation. Dr. Stent received her bachelor’s from Cambridge University, her Master of Science with distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and her master’s and doctorate from Harvard University.
