American Council On Germany

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2022-03-07 09:00 - 10:00 (America/New_York)
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. Join us on Monday, March 7 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause on the developments between Russia and Ukraine and Germany’s response with Matthias Naß, International Correspondent for Die ZEIT. Matthias Naß has been the international correspondent for the weekly newspaper Die ZEIT since January 2011. He began his career as an editor in the politics department. In 1990, he became deputy head of the political department. From 1994 to 1997, he was editor-in-chief, and from 1998 to 2010 deputy editor-in-chief. He is also co-founder and scientific director of the Zeit Akademie.

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

Immigration and Integration – Between Federal Policy and State Legislators
2022-03-02 11:00 - 12:00
Join us for a discussion with Kerstin Celina, Member of the State Parliament of Bavaria (Alliance 90/The Greens), State Senator John S. McCollister of Nebraska (R), and Jan Marcus Rossa, Member of the State Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein (Alliance 90/The Greens). This discussion is held in partnership with Aspen Institute Germany as part of the State-to-State: German-American State Legislator Dialogue.
While global challenges are addressed by national governments, increasingly subnational actors such as states, communities, and cities have needed to step up to take action when traditional nation-states have been unable to make progress due to political polarization and partisan gridlock. This trend has also characterized transatlantic relations and the German-American partnership. The German-American State Legislator Dialogue draws on this notion, focusing on the role of state representatives from the United States and Germany in addressing common transatlantic challenges.
A common phenomenon that has marked the history of both the United States and Germany is that of immigration. The United States is often labeled as a nation of immigrants and the German Wirtschaftswunder would not have been possible without workers immigrating from abroad. Since then, immigration policy has moved into the center of public debate in both countries. In 2021, the United States has recorded some of the highest numbers of immigrants coming from South and Central America to the U.S.-Mexico border. In Germany, migration flows have slowed down after 2015 when large numbers of refugees fled the war in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Nevertheless, a large number of refugees take on the dangerous and often deadly journey towards the EU, fueling debates on how to address this issue on a policy level. Immigration policy is mostly a federal issue and yet it is the states and Länder that are tasked with ensuring successful integration. How can state governments help and encourage migrants to fully integrate into German and American society? What are the biggest hurdles in this effort for successful economic integration and social inclusion? What does migration mean for businesses and the economy? How important are collaborative efforts across the different levels of government and with different stakeholders? Understanding a local perspective on this big topic is the goal of this State-to-State-Dialogue.

Zeitenwende: A New Foreign and Security Policy for Germany?
2022-03-02 10:00 - 11:00
This past weekend marked a major shift in Germany’s foreign and defense policy. On Saturday, the German government announced it would send arms to Ukraine. Then on Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz outlined a new blueprint for German foreign policy at a special session of the Bundestag. In a significant shift, he committed to delivering weapons to Ukraine, increasing Germany’s defense spending, and also reducing Germany’s dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Join us on Wednesday, March 2, at 10:00 am ET for a discussion with Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, former Foreign Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, about Scholz’s speech and what it means for Germany and Europe more broadly. Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger (1985 ACG Legislative Aide Fellow) is a German journalist and political scientist. He is the former Foreign Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, where he wrote 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.

Russia’s Full-Scale Attack on Ukraine: A View from Berlin
2022-03-01 11:00 - 12:00
Earlier this week, President Vladimir V. Putin recognized two Russia-backed separatist territories in Ukraine – the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics – and ordered the Russian military into those regions to carry out “peacekeeping functions.” After months of amassing troops along the border with Ukraine, in the early hours of Thursday, February 24, Russia launched simultaneous attacks from the north, east, and south on major cities, airports, and ports in Ukraine.
With a full-scale attack underway, major western countries have reacted with outrage at Russia’s invasion. U.S. President Joe Biden said that “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Mr. Putin was “responsible for bringing war back to Europe.” And, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called this “Putin’s war” and said the Russian leader would pay a “bitter price” for his “serious error.”
Join the American Council on Germany for a conversation with Dr. Claudia Major, Head of the International Security Research Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin, about the unfolding conflict. Dr. Claudia Major is Head of the International Security Research Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. Her research, advisory work, publications, and media contributions focus on security and defense policy in Europe and in a transatlantic context (NATO, EU, Germany, UK, France). Recent publications deal with Germany’s security and defense policy, NATO’s strategic adaptation and future development, developments in EU defense, strategic autonomy, and Franco-German relations in defense. Previously she held positions at the Center for Security Studies at the ETH Zurich, the German Council on Foreign Relations, the EU Institute for Security Studies (Paris), the German Foreign Office, and Sciences Po Paris. She is a member of various boards, including the Advisory Board for Civilian Crisis Prevention at the Federal Foreign Office. She holds a diploma from Sciences Po Paris and the Free University Berlin and a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, UK.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2022-02-28 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin.
Join us on Monday, February 28 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause on the developments in Ukraine and Germany’s response former NPR international correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, who now hosts the podcast “Common Ground.” Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is the host of the podcast Common Ground and is based in Berlin. Prior to this, she served as Special Correspondent for NPR. Her reports can be heard on NPR’s award-winning programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and read at NPR.org. From 2012 until 2018, she was NPR’s bureau chief in Berlin. She won the ICFJ 2017 Excellence in International Reporting Award for her work in Central and Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Afghanistan.
She was also based in Cairo for NPR and covered the Arab World from the Middle East to North Africa during the Arab Spring. In 2006, she opened NPR’s first bureau in Kabul, from where she provided listeners with an in-depth sense of life inside Afghanistan, from the increase in suicide among women in a country that treats them as second-class citizens to the growing interference of Iran and Pakistan in Afghan affairs. For her coverage of Afghanistan, she won a Peabody Award, Overseas Press Club Award, and the Gracie in 2010. She received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award from Colby College in 2011 for her coverage in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Ms. Nelson spent 20 years as a newspaper reporter, including as Knight Ridder’s Middle East Bureau Chief. While at the Los Angeles Times, she was sent on extended assignment to Iran and Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She spent three years as an editor and reporter for Newsday and was part of the team that won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for covering the crash of TWA Flight 800.
A graduate of the University of Maryland, Nelson speaks Farsi, Dari, and German.

Black Lives in Germany and the U.S. from 1933 to Today
2022-02-25 11:00 - 12:00
In 2021, two Black victims of the Nazi regime were finally honored with so-called STOLPERSTEINE — (lit. “stumbling stones or blocks”) – pioneered by German artist Gunter Demnig in Berlin. With concrete cubes bearing the names of persecuted residents in front of their homes, victims are being remembered in Berlin and other German cities.
What was life like as a Black woman or man in Nazi Germany? Why did it take more than 75 years to honor Black victims of the Nazi regime? What are the many forms of racism in today’s Western societies, triggering a renewed global Black Lives Matter movement in 2020?
Please join us for a virtual conversation with Prof. Robbie Aitken, historian of Black Europe, Sheffield Hallam University, who led the effort to place the Stolpersteine for Martha Ndumbe and Ferdinand James Allen; Dr. Tiffany Florvil (2015 ACG Hunt Fellow), Associate Professor of 20th Century European Women’s and Gender History at the University of New Mexico; and Ms. Alice Hasters, journalist, blogger, and author who identifies as a Black German and publishes about her experience in today’s society. Moderated by Dr. Nicholas Boston (2006 ACG McCloy Fellow), sociologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at the City University of New York, Lehman College.
This event is presented by 1014, the German General Consulate New York, the School of Arts and Humanities, Lehman College (CUNY), the Goethe Institut Los Angeles, Deutsches Haus at New York University, and The Belle Zeller Scholarship Fund.

A Crisis in Eastern Europa and the Future of German-American Relations
2022-02-25 10:00 - 11:00
Assistant Secretary of State Dr. Karen Donfried will share her thoughts on the current crisis in Eastern Europe and outline the Biden administration’s vision for the U.S.-German relationship. The conversation will focus on how the new German government and the United States in tandem with our NATO allies can ensure peace and prosperity for our transatlantic community. The discussion will be moderated by Hon. Charles Boustany, President of the Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC).
This event is held in partnership with Atlantik-Brücke and the Former Members of Congress. Dr. Karen Donfried is the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Prior to her current position, she served as President of the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States from April 2014 to September 2021.
Previously, Dr. Donfried was the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs on the National Security Council at the White House. Prior to the White House, she served as the National Intelligence Officer (NIO) for Europe on the National Intelligence Council, the intelligence community’s center for strategic thinking. From 2003 to 2005, she worked for the U.S. Department of State’s Policy Planning staff, handling the Europe portfolio. She has written extensively on German foreign and defense policy, European integration, and transatlantic relations.
Dr. Donfried joined GMF in 2001 after having served for ten years as a European specialist at the Congressional Research Service. Her second term of service at GMF was 2005 to 2010, first as Senior Director of Policy Programs and then as Executive Vice President.
She became an officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2018, received the Cross of the Order of Merit from the German Government in 2011, became an officer of the Order of the Crown of Belgium in 2010, and received a Superior Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State in 2005 for her contribution to revitalizing the transatlantic partnership. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Dr. Donfried has a Ph.D and MALD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a Magister from the University of Munich, Germany. She holds a bachelor’s degree in government and German from Wesleyan University. Dr. Donfried is fluent in German.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Munich?
2022-02-22 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Tuesday, February 22 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause on the Munich Security Conference and more 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.

The U.S. Supreme Court and the German Federal Constitutional Court: Do They Serve as Models or Are They in Need of Reform?
2022-02-17 11:00 - 12:00
As the oldest constitutional court, the U.S. Supreme Court has served as a model for other democracies and countries have often relied on the constitutional jurisprudence of the Supreme Court. The German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht), which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, also adopted practices from the U.S. and has been seen as a model for constitutional review in the world. While separated in age by 162 years, both courts today face significant challenges related to the increasing politicization of courts and judicial processes, the legality of health restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, cases concerned with states’ (or Länder) rights versus the federal government, how to align fast-moving technological developments with settled constitutional rights regimes, and the perils populism poses to liberal democracies.
In light of these challenges, some are questioning the power of these courts. In the U.S., this has led to calls for judicial reform. Yet, even while facing a similar slate of issues, there is little talk of reforming the Federal Constitutional Court. Are these courts still respected, and do they serve as models for democracies? What do they have in common, and what are their most significant differences? To discuss this, please join us for a discussion with Caroline Fredrickson, Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice and a Visiting Professor at Georgetown Law School, and Russell Miller, Head of the Max Planck Law Network and J.B. Stombock Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University. Caroline Fredrickson (Bosch Fellow 1993-94) is a Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice and a Visiting Professor at Georgetown Law School. Last year, she served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. From 2009 to 2019, Ms. Fredrickson was the President of the American Constitution Society. Before joining ACS, she served as the Director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office and as General Counsel and Legal Director of NARAL Pro-Choice America. In addition, she served as the Chief of Staff to Senator Maria Cantwell, of Washington, and Deputy Chief of Staff to then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, of South Dakota. During the Clinton Administration, she served as Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs.
Ms. Fredrickson has published works on many legal and constitutional issues and is a frequent guest on television and radio. In addition, she regularly contributes opinion pieces for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other news outlets. She is also the author of Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over, The Democracy Fix: How to Win the Fight for Fair Rules, Fair Courts, and Fair Elections, and most recently, The AOC Way. Together with other Bosch Fellowship alumni, Ms. Fredrickson has a contributed chapter, “Employment Discrimination: Germany’s Lack of Legal Remedies” in Germany in Transition: A Unified Nation’s Search for Identity.
Russell Miller (Bosch Fellow 1999-2000) is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Max Planck Law Network. He is the J.B. Stombock Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University (currently on leave). Since joining the Washington and Lee law faculty in 2008, his teaching and scholarly research has focused on public law subjects (Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, International Law), Comparative Law Theory and Methods, and German Law and Legal Culture. From 2002 to 2008, Mr. Miller was a professor at the University of Idaho College of Law. He is a two-time recipient of a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship (Heidelberg Max Planck Institute in 2009–2010; University of Münster 2020-2021). He also has been a Max Planck Visiting Senior Research Fellow (Heidelberg Max Planck Institute in 2015–2016). During his Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship in 1999-2000, Mr. Miller completed professional assignments at the Bundesverfassungsgericht and the European Court of Human Rights.
A recognized expert in German Law and Legal Culture, Mr. Miller is the author/editor of several books and articles in the fields of comparative law and international law, including Privacy and Power: A Transatlantic Dialogue in the Shadow of the NSA-Affair and The Constitutional Jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany. He publishes a monthly column in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; the most recent contribution was entitled “Karlsruhe Around the World: A Mid-Life Crisis?” reflecting on the 70th anniversary of the German Federal Constitutional Court. Mr. Miller is the Co-Founder and Co-Editor in Chief of the German Law Journal, an online and open-access, English-language journal reporting on developments in German, European and International jurisprudence. In 2021, he was awarded a Humboldt Senior Research Prize in recognition of his years of high-level research on German law.

MdB Roundtable: Priorities And Challenges For The New German Government And The Parliament
2022-02-14 12:00 - 13:00
Germany’s federal election last September led to a new three-party governing coalition led by the Social Democrats together with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, as well as the formation of the 20th German Bundestag. Not even 100 days into office, the executive and legislative branches of government face a host of domestic and foreign policy challenges – ranging from the pandemic response and economic recovery to tensions with Russia over Ukraine.
Join the American Council on Germany for a discussion with three Bundestag members about how the government and the parliament work together and their priorities for the coming years. We will be joined by Dorothee Martin (SPD), Frank Müller-Rosentritt (FDP), and Dr. Konstantin von Notz (Greens). Dorothee Martin has been a member of the Bundestag since 2020, representing the Hamburg Nord electoral district. Since the 2021 election, she has served as the Social Democratic Party’s Spokesperson on Transportation. She joined the SPD in 1998 and was a member of the Hamburg Parliament from 2011 until 2020. Originally from Kaiserslautern, Ms. Martin studied Political Science and Law at the University of Hamburg.
Frank Müller-Rosentritt has been a member of the Bundestag from the State of Saxony since 2017. He serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Sub-Committee on Cultural Relations and Education Policy. In this capacity, he serves as the Free Democrats rapporteur on relations with Asia. From 2019 to 2021, Mr. Müller-Rosentritt served as chairman of the FDP in Saxony. Before entering parliament, he worked for Deutsche Bank in New York, Baden-Baden, and Dresden. He studied Business Administration at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University in Stuttgart.
Dr. Konstantin von Notz is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens in the German Bundestag, where he has served since 2009. Since the 19th term of the Bundestag, he has been the Deputy Chairman of the Alliance 90/the Greens Parliamentary Group. He is a member of the Committee of Inquiry on the 2016 Christmas Market Attack (“Breitscheidplatz”) and Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Control Panel. During his time in the Bundestag, Dr. von Notz has held a number of committee assignments with central importance for issues involving technology, the internet, and privacy. He has been his party’s spokesman for the Committee on Political Strategy for the Internet, and during the 18 terms of the Bundestag, he was the spokesman for the Committee of Inquiry on NSA Surveillance. During the 17th term of the Bundestag, Dr. von Notz served as spokesman of the Study Commission on the Internet and Digital Society. Prior to entering the German Parliament, he studied law, earning his Ph.D. at the University of Heidelberg. He then practiced law as an attorney in Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2022-02-14 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin.
Join us on Monday, February 14 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Clemens Wergin, Chief Correspondent for Die Welt. Clemens Wergin has been the Chief Correspondent for Die Welt since 2020. He began his career at Der Tagesspiegel in 2000 and moved to Die Welt in 2007. Mr. Wergin served as Head of Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2020. He was Washington, DC Bureau Chief from 2014 to 2018. In 2003, he was awarded an Arthur F. Burns Fellowship and worked at the Chicago Tribune.

Europe 30 Years after the Maastricht Treaty
2022-02-11 11:00 - 12:00
Thirty years ago, the Maastricht Treaty was signed by the then twelve members of the European Community. The Treaty created the framework for today’s “European Union” – and was the most important document on European integration since the Treaty of Rome, which was signed in 1958. The Maastricht Treaty provided the contours for a single currency, a common foreign and security policy, closer cooperation on justice and home affairs, and institutional reforms.
Since then, one country has left the Union and 14 new member states have joined. What lessons can be drawn from the Maastricht Treaty 30 years later? What went right? What went wrong? To answer these questions, join the American Council on Germany for a discussion with Dr. Ulrike Guérot, Faculty Chair of European Politics at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn and founder of the European Democracy Lab in Berlin. Dr. Ulrike Guérot is the Faculty Chair of European Politics at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn and the founder of the European Democracy Lab in Berlin, a think-tank generating innovative ideas for Europe. Previously she was a professor at the Danube University in Krems, Austria, and served as Head of the Department for European Policy and the Study of Democracy.
In addition to working and teaching at universities in Europe and the United States, Dr. Guérot has worked at and directed several European research institutes and think tanks. Her books, “Why Europe Must Become a Republic” in 2016 and “The New Civil War – the Open Europe and its Enemies” in 2017, hit best-selling marks in Germany and beyond. Her work has been widely translated and published throughout Europe.

Multilateral Responses to the Growing Crisis over Ukraine: A View from Berlin
2022-02-10 09:30 - 10:30
Concerns continue to mount regarding the build-up of Russian forces along the border with Ukraine. After Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip to Washington and before the Munich Security Conference, join the ACG and the New York Office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung for a discussion with Bundestag Member Nils Schmid (SPD) about German and European leadership in the face of the unfolding crisis.
What role can Germany, Europe, and multilateral organizations play in meeting common challenges from the financial crisis to migration to aggressive posturing on Europe’s doorstep? Nils Schmid has been a Member of the German Bundestag since September 2017. He is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and has been the foreign policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary caucus since 2018. He is also a deputy member of the Committee on Transport and Digital Infrastructure. In addition, he is a member of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.
In 1997, Mr. Schmid became a member of the state assembly of Baden-Württemberg. After his reelection in 2001, he became fiscal policy spokesperson for the SPD’s state assembly caucus. In 2006, his caucus elected him as deputy chairman. In 2009, the state party elected him chairman of the Baden-Württemberg SPD. He held that office until 2016. From 2011 to 2016, he was Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs of the state of Baden-Württemberg as well as Deputy Minister-President.

Mr. Scholz’s Comes to Washington: What Did We Learn?
2022-02-09 11:00 - 12:00
Early next week, Olaf Scholz will make his first trip to Washington DC as Chancellor. Foreign policy will be high on the agenda in his meetings at the White House, on Capitol Hill, and elsewhere. Scholz’s trip comes as tensions are flaring between Russia and the West over Ukraine and the Olympics in China get underway. This will be an opportunity to see where there is alignment in U.S. and German foreign policy priorities but also where there are chances for greater cooperation between Washington and Berlin.
Join the American Council on Germany for a discussion with Ines Pohl, the Washington Bureau Chief for Deutsche Welle, about the main takeaways from the visit. Ines Pohl is the Washington Bureau Chief for Deutsche Welle (DW). She served as the Editor-in-Chief of DW from 2017 to 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. 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.
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.” Ms. Pohl is a frequent guest on national TV news shows in Germany and has also appeared on CNN and MSNBC.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2022-02-07 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin.
Join us on Monday, February 7 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with opinion writer for Der Tagesspiegel Malte Lehming, who will discuss what to expect from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip to Washington and other breaking news from Berlin.
Malte Lehming works as a writer for the Tagesspiegel, where he heads the opinion page. 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.

Germany’s Response to the Ukraine Crisis
2022-02-01 11:00 - 12:00
Although the United States and its European allies still hope diplomacy can avert a conflict with Russia over Ukraine, it is not clear how united the west is in its response to the unfolding crisis.
It was widely reported that the United Kingdom sent aircraft carrying weapons bound for Ukraine “around” Germany and that Germany stopped the transfer of artillery from Estonia to Ukraine sparking questions about Berlin’s support for Kyiv. Over the weekend Germany’s chief naval officer resigned over controversial remarks he made about Russia and the threat to Ukraine. Some analysts and observers have described Germany’s position on the crisis as “schizophrenic.” Writing for the Center for European Policy Analysis, Oxana Schmies spoke of “Germany’s paralyzing fear of war,” and warned that for the new government it is “worryingly clear that forging a united Russia policy is difficult and marred by underlying disagreement. [Link]
As the prospects of Russian provocation and action against Ukraine reach the boiling point, it is fair to ask how reliable a partner Germany is (and will be) as the United States and other allies lean forward in deterrence and preparation for response.
Join the American Council on Germany and the Tennessee World Affairs Council for a discussion with Ambassador John Kornblum, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, and Dr. Liana Fix, Resident Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Ambassador John C. Kornblum has a long record of service in the United States and Europe both as a diplomat and as a businessman. He is recognized as an eminent expert on U.S.-European political and economic relations, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001. Before that, he occupied a number of high-level diplomatic posts, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European affairs, Special Envoy for the Dayton Peace Process, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Process), Deputy U.S. Ambassador to NATO, and U.S. minister and deputy commandant of forces in divided Berlin.
Dr. Liana Fix is a Resident Fellow at the German Marshall Fund’s Washington office, while on sabbatical from the International Affairs Department of the Körber Foundation in Berlin. She is a political scientist and historian, and her work focuses on Russia and Eastern Europe, European security, arms control, and German foreign policy. She will be focusing on transatlantic policy toward Russia while at GMF. Dr. Fix has published widely in academia, thinktanks, and national and international media. She holds a doctorate degree from the Justus Liebig University Giessen and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2022-01-31 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin.
Join us on Monday, January 31 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Melissa Eddy, Berlin Correspondent for the New York Times. Among other topics, she will discuss Germany’s response to growing tensions with Russia. Melissa Eddy is a correspondent based in Berlin who covers German politics, social issues, and culture for The New York Times. Her most recent work has delved into the challenges of integrating 1 million refugees, the spate of Islamist terror attacks, and the legacy of a trove of Nazi-looted art.
She has covered Germany’s green energy transformation and Chancellor Angela Merkel since she entered office in 2005. A Minnesota native fluent in German and French, she came to Germany as a Fulbright scholar in 1996. Before joining The International Herald Tribune, now the international edition of The New York Times, in 2015, she was a correspondent for The Associated Press in Frankfurt, Vienna, and the Balkans.

On the Ground in Kyiv: A Report from Ukraine
2022-01-28 13:30 - 14:30
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine are spiraling as Russian forces gather along the border and Russia is targeting Ukrainian government agencies with cyberattacks. Meanwhile, Europe and the United States are trying to develop a collective response to Russia’s aggression and to deter a further invasion of Ukraine.
Last week a group of German parliamentarians visited Kyiv (and Warsaw) to have a look at the situation on the ground. Bundestag member Metin Hakverdi (SPD) was part of the delegation. Join the American Council on Germany and the New York Office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung for a discussion with Mr. Hakverdi about the trip and about Germany’s position on the Ukraine crisis.

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. Mr. Hakverdi was a distinguished visitor at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies in 2019 and a 2020 John F. Kennedy Memorial Policy Fellow at Harvard’s Center for European Studies (CES). He is a member of the Atlantik-Brücke e.V.

Assessing the Domestic and Foreign Policy Priorities of Germany’s New Government
2022-01-28 12:00 - 13:00
After weeks of negotiations following Germany’s federal election in September, a new government was sworn in on December 8. Following 16 years of conservative leadership under Angela Merkel, Olaf Scholz became Chancellor. Promising a new start, his center-left Social Democrats will govern in a coalition together with the Greens and the business-friendly Free Democrats. The new government has ambitious plans to fight climate change by phasing out coal early and focusing on renewable energy, but its initial priority will be tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly 50 days into the new government, we are already seeing tensions within the governing coalition over how to address challenges – ranging from pandemic response to tensions with Russia. Join the American Council on Germany, Atlantik-Brücke, and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall for a discussion with former U.S. Ambassador to Berlin John B. Emerson and former Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. The discussion will be moderated by Juliane Schäuble, U.S. Correspondent of Der Tagesspiegel. Together they will discuss how the new government will address Germany’s domestic and foreign policy priorities. Ambassador John B. Emerson was named Chairman of the American Council on Germany at the Council’s Annual Meeting of the Members on January 17, 2018. He is Vice Chairman at Capital Group International. Previously, he was U.S. Ambassador to Germany, from 2013 to 2017. In 2015, Ambassador Emerson received the State Department’s Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, an award given annually to one non-career Ambassador. In 2017, the Secretary of the Navy and the Director of the CIA awarded him their highest civilian honors for his service.
Before going to Berlin, he was the President of Capital Group Private Client Services from 1997 to July 2013. Previously, he served on President Clinton’s senior staff, from 1993 to 1997, as Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel, and subsequently as Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. Ambassador Emerson also coordinated the Economic Conference of the Clinton-Gore transition team and led the Administration’s efforts to obtain congressional approval of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement in 1994, and the extension of China’s Most-Favored-Nation trading status in 1996. In 2010, President Obama appointed Ambassador Emerson to serve on the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Earlier in his career, Ambassador Emerson served as the Los Angeles Chief Deputy City Attorney (1987-1993).
In 1988, he traveled to Germany on an ACG Political Exchange Fellowship, carried out in collaboration with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Before that, he was a Partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, specializing in business and entertainment litigation and administrative law.
Sigmar Gabriel was Federal Minister for the Economy and Energy from 2013 to 2017 as well as Vice-Chancellor from 2013 to 2018 and served as Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018. On June 26, 2019, Mr. Gabriel was elected Chairman of Atlantik-Brücke by its members.
Mr. Gabriel has been politically active since 1976. Born in Goslar, he began his political career in a socialist youth organization and joined the SPD in 1977. Two years later, Gabriel joined the ÖTV union, and membership in IG Metall and Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO), a social welfare organization, followed. Trained as a high school educator, he assumed various responsibilities in adult education and became a member of
Lower Saxony’s parliament over the course of the 1980s. During the subsequent decade, among other positions, he held the post of chair of the environmental committee of Lower Saxony’s parliament and was a member of the SPD executive committee. He served as prime minister of Lower Saxony from 1999 to 2003, and he has been a directly elected member of Germany’s Lower House of Parliament since 2005, taking over the post of the Environmental Minister that same year. Gabriel, who represents the Salzgitter-Wolfenbüttel district, occupied the position of SPD chairman from 2009 until 2017.
Juliane Schäuble (Moderator) 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”).

Is America Back? Biden and the Transatlantic Partnership: Views from Berlin
2022-01-24 12:00 - 13:00
“America is back!”
President Joe Biden entered office in January 2021 with a commitment to revive and revitalize relations with allies and partners. This has given hope to the transatlantic community. Over the past year, there have been positive developments – such as rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, the resolution of bilateral trade disputes, the launch of a new technology and trade initiative as well as a “Futures Forum”, and an international summit to address the challenges to democracy. But, there have also been some irritants to the transatlantic relationship – such as the mishandling of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the AUKUS submarine deal, and some divisions over how to handle relations with China.
From the pandemic to climate change to concerns over Russia and China, the United States and Europe face a host of common challenges that are best addressed together. However, some Europeans worry that the United States might not be a reliable partner.
One year into the Biden administration, join the ACG for a discussion about how the United States is perceived from Berlin with Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, the Director of the German Council on Foreign Relations (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, DGAP), and Dr. Stefan Mair, the Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, SWP) Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook is the Director and CEO of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin. Previously she served as Executive Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School for ten years. The project, which she co-founded, addresses 21st-century foreign policy challenges through research by international leaders in academia and diplomacy as well as teaching conflict research and prevention. Since 2018, Ms. Clüver Ashbrook has also directed a research program on Europe and transatlantic relations. Previously, she served on the management board of the European Policy Centre (EPC) in Brussels and worked as both a consultant and senior journalist at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in France and China, among other countries. She began her career as a television journalist at CNN International in Atlanta and London.
Ms. Clüver Ashbrook contributes to international publications, such as the New York Times and Washington Post, as well as leading German media on transatlantic relations – especially trade and security policy – and German foreign and digital policy. She also advises foreign ministries in Europe and South America on their digital strategy.
Dr. Stefan Mair has served as Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and Executive Chairman of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) since October 1, 2020. He began his career at SWP in 1992, and worked at SWP for 18 years, first as a researcher on Sub-Saharan Africa and later as a member of the Executive Board. From 2002 to 2010, he was a member of the management of the SWP, and from 2007 to 2009, he was the Director of Research. In 2010 Dr. Mair moved from the SWP to the Federation of German Industries (BDI) to serve on the Executive Board, with particular responsibility for international issues.
He studied Political Sciences, Economics, and Sociology at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. From 1989 to 1991 he held a scholarship from the ifo-Institute for Economic Research. He was subsequently awarded his doctorate in Political Sciences by the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2022-01-24 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin.
Join us on Monday, January 24 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Sonja Gillert, Head of Audio for Die Welt, joined the ACG for a discussion on the meetings between officials from Germany and Russia.

Germany's New Government: A View from the Opposition
2022-01-21 10:00 - 11:00
With a new government coming up to speed in Berlin, there is no shortage of domestic policy issues on the agenda. From energy and the environment to public health and Covid response and from infrastructure and digitalization to fiscal policy, there is a lot to do. But, what is the view from the opposition?
Join the American Council on Germany and the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung for a virtual discussion with Markus Blume, Secretary General of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union. Markus Blume has been a Member of the Bavarian State Parliament since 2008 and the Secretary General of the Christian Social Union (CSU) since 2018. He has also served as the Chairman of the CSU Economic Commission since 2011 and was the editor-in-chief of the new CSU party platform which was presented in 2016. Mr. Blume first studied physics at the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, and then political science at the Bavaria School of Public Policy Munich.

Berlin Keynote from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
2022-01-20 09:30 - 10:00
Atlantik-Brücke and its partners, the American Council on Germany, Aspen Institute Germany, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States are honored to host U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken for a keynote on the transatlantic partnership. We cordially invite you to join our live stream for this exceptional occasion.
Thursday, January 20, 2022
3:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. (CET)
9:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. (ET)
Livestream

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2022-01-18 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. Join us on Tuesday, January 18 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with journalist Miriam Hollstein, Chief Political Reporter for FUNKE Zentralredaktion. Miriam Hollstein serves as the Chief Reporter for FUNKE Zentralredaktion. 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 2015-2020 she worked for the Bild am Sonntag, first as domestic policy and then from 2018 as chief reporter politics. Her reporting brought her into regular contact with the office of the German Chancellor. Since March 2020 she works 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 the preservation of German film heritage.

Russia’s Threat to Ukraine: The West Responds
2022-01-17 11:00 - 12:00
Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed crosshairs on Ukraine, a country he sees as linked to Russia and the people of Ukraine as “one people” with Russians. To back up this fixation with repairing a “historic injustice” Moscow has amassed a force of over 100,000 troops and supporting armor and aircraft along the border with Ukraine. Leading the West’s response, President Biden has threatened “massive consequences” if Russia invades Ukraine.
American and Russian diplomats are meeting this week. However, the lines are drawn: Putin is demanding an end to NATO’s eastward expansion, include Ukraine, and Biden and the West say there will be a very high economic price to pay as well as increased deployments on NATO’s eastern flank.
What is the context for this provocation and what are the U.S. and Allies prepared to do? Join the American Council on Germany and the Tennessee World Affairs Council for a discussion with former ACG Board member Ambassador John Kornblum about the crisis. Joining us from Berlin, he will also discuss how we got to where we are and what the possible courses of action for the U.S. and Europe might be. The conversation will be led by ACG Young Leader alumnus Dr. Thomas Schwartz, Distinguished Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. This event is held in cooperation with the Belmont University Center for International Business and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. Ambassador John C. Kornblum has a long record of service in the United States and Europe both as a diplomat and as a businessman. He is recognized as an eminent expert on U.S.-European political and economic relations, in particular in central and eastern Europe. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001. Before that, he occupied a number of high-level diplomatic posts, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, special envoy for the Dayton Peace Process, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Process), Deputy U.S. Ambassador to NATO, and U.S. Minister and Deputy Commandant of Forces in divided Berlin. From 2001 to 2009, he was Chairman of Lazard Freres Germany. He currently serves as Senior Counsellor to the international law firm Noerr LLP and as a senior advisor to the worldwide consultancy Accenture. Ambassador Kornblum has also served on a number of Supervisory and Advisory Boards, including those of ThyssenKrupp Technologies AG, Bayer AG, Russell Reynolds, and Motorola Europe. He is a member of the Boards of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, the American Academy in Berlin, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, and of numerous nonprofit organizations on both sides of the Atlantic, and he is a former ACG Board member. He received a B.A. from Michigan State University in 1964, and he has been the recipient of many awards, including a Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit from Germany and an Order of Merit from Austria.
Dr. Thomas Schwartz (1989 ACG Young Leader) is a historian of the foreign relations of the United States, with related interests in American politics, the history of international relations, Modern European history, and biography. His most recent book is Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography (Hill and Wang, 2020). Earlier in his career, Schwartz was the author of America’s Germany: John J. McCloy and the Federal Republic of Germany (Harvard, 1991), which was translated into German. This book received the Stuart Bernath Book Prize of the Society of American Foreign Relations, and the Harry S. Truman Book Award, given by the Truman Presidential Library. He is also the author of Lyndon Johnson and Europe: In the Shadow of Vietnam (Harvard, 2003), which examined the Johnson Administration’s policy toward Europe and assessed the impact of the war in Vietnam on its other foreign policy objectives. He is the co-editor with Matthias Schulz of The Strained Alliance: U.S.-European Relations from Nixon to Carter, (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
Professor Schwartz has held fellowships from the Social Science Research Council, the German Historical Society, the Norwegian Nobel Institute, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Center for the Study of European Integration. He has served as President of the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations. He served on the United States Department of State’s Historical Advisory Committee as the representative of the Organization of American Historians from 2005-2008. Professor Schwartz received The Madison Sarratt Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching on April 3, 2013, at the Spring Faculty Assembly, Vanderbilt University. In 2008 Professor Schwartz received the Annual Alumni Education Award from the Vanderbilt Alumni Association. Schwartz is the recipient of the 2008 Book Award by Chi Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order. This award is given to a faculty member who has been particularly influential in the lives and education of members of KAO. Professor Schwartz presented, “The Arab Spring: Revolution in the Middle East,” on April 19, 2011, as part of the Samuel L. Shannon Distinguished Lecture Series at Tennessee State University. Professor Schwartz has also presented lectures for the OAH Distinguished Lecturers Program.
Professor Schwartz taught for five years at Harvard University and has been teaching at Vanderbilt since 1990.

Negotiating with Russia: What if the Talks Fail?
2022-01-14 11:00 - 12:00
Earlier this week, senior U.S. and Russian officials held talks in Geneva. Representatives from the two countries are slated to participate in a NATO-Russian Council meeting in Brussels on Wednesday and will come together again at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Vienna on Thursday.
These meetings come at a time when relations between Russia and the United States are fraught. Tensions stem largely from the situation on the border with Ukraine, where Russia has positioned thousands of troops. U.S. intelligence sources believe that Moscow is planning a military offensive, but Russia denies any intent to invade Ukraine. The situation is further complicated because Russia sent troops into neighboring Kazakhstan last week after the oil-producing former Soviet republic was hit by a wave of unrest.
In two conversations over the past five weeks, U.S. President Joe Biden warned Putin that Russia would face unprecedented economic sanctions in the event of further aggression against Ukraine. The Group of Seven nations and the European Union have also threatened “massive consequences.” Join the ACG for a discussion with Russia experts Dr. Stefan Meister and Dr. Angela Stent about this week’s talks with Russia. Dr. Stefan Meister has been the head of the German Council on Foreign Relations’ Program on International Order and Democracy since August 2021. From 2019 until then, he worked as director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s South Caucasus Office.
From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Meister was head of the Robert Bosch Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia at DGAP, where he had previously headed its program for Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia. Before that, he was a senior policy fellow in the Wider Europe Team at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) in Berlin and London. In the 2015/16 term, Dr. Meister was a visiting fellow at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington, DC, where he wrote on Russian disinformation and propaganda. He has served as an election observer for the OSCE in post-Soviet countries several times and worked on conflict transformation and institution building in post-Soviet countries.
Dr. Meister is co-author of Geopolitics and Security: A New Strategy for the South Caucasus (KAS/DGAP/GIP, 2018), The Russia File (Brookings, 2018), Eastern Voices (Center for Transatlantic Relations/DGAP, 2017), and The Eastern Question (Brookings, 2016).
He studied international relations and East European history in Jena, Leipzig, and Nizhni Novgorod and holds a Ph.D. from Friedrich Schiller University in Jena with a thesis on the transformation of Russian higher education and research system.
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 the 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 Press, 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’s of Science with distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and her master’s and doctorate from Harvard University.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2022-01-10 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin.
Join us on Monday, January 10 at 9:00 am ET for the first Kaffeepause of the year with Bloomberg Opinion columnist Andreas Kluth. In addition to talking about what is going on in Berlin, he’ll also share his outlook for 2022. Andreas Kluth is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Between March of 2017 and February of 2019, he was editor-in-chief of Handelsblatt Global, the English-language edition of Germany’s leading business newspaper. For the two decades before that, he wrote for The Economist — in London, Hong Kong, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and Berlin.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-12-20 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin.
Join us on Monday, December 20 at 9:00 am ET for the last kaffeepause of the year with ACG Young Leader alumnus Matthias Deiß, Deputy Director of ARD’s television studio in Berlin. Matthias Deiß is the Deputy Director of ARD’s Hauptstadtstudio in Berlin and deputy editor-in-chief of television. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the editorial director for ARD’s political magazine Kontraste. Prior to this, he worked from 2012 to 2017 as a TV correspondent with ARD. He studied communications and political science at the University of Munich and at the German School of Journalism in Munich.

Germany’s New Government is in Place: What will it do now?
2021-12-17 11:00 - 12:00
The Merkel era is over. Last week a new government led by the center-left Social Democrats – together with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats – took office. How much of a break will this be from the conservative-led governments over the past 16 years under the leadership of Angela Merkel?
The new government made up of three parties exemplifies continuity and change. As the coalition agreement shows, we can expect consensus and stability – but this government also wants to go in new directions and address important challenges facing the country. This government is likely to be more progressive and future-oriented than its predecessor.
Join us on December 17 at 11:00 am ET for an online discussion about the new German government 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.
