Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in DC?
2021-07-19 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. With Chancellor Angela Merkel in the United States to meet with President Joseph Biden, the ACG will shift the discussion from Berlin to Washington, DC
Join us on Monday, July 19 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion about Merkel’s visit and what it means for transatlantic relations with Majid Sattar, U.S. Correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Majid Sattar is the U.S. Correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. After graduating from high school and an exchange year in the United States, he studied political science and history in Saarbrücken and Freiburg. He received his doctorate in 2000 from the University of Freiburg with a dissertation on the American Congress.
He began his journalism career at Heilbronner Stimme, where he worked in the political department. In 2000, he moved to the online editorial department of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In 2004, he joined the political editorial team, and later, he joined the parliamentary editorial department in Berlin. After eight years in Berlin, he moved to Washington to serve as the U.S. Correspondent.

Measuring the Pulse: What’s the Status of Transatlantic Relations Six Months In?
2021-07-19 11:00 - 12:00
Within hours of taking office, President Biden brought the United States back to the Paris Climate Agreement. The new administration has also taken steps to return to the Iran nuclear deal, de-escalate transatlantic trade tensions, and committed more U.S. troops in Germany. Nevertheless, there are contentious issues where Europe and the United States do not see eye to eye. Join us for a discussion about the areas of collaboration – and also the sticking points – between Washington and Europe six months in to the new administration.
Opening statement:
Ambassador Emily Haber, German Ambassador to the United States
Followed by a discussion with:
Peter Beyer, Member of the German Bundestag (CDU) and Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation in the Federal Foreign Office
Molly Montgomery, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Moderator:
Ambassador John B. Emerson, Chairman, American Council on Germany

Common Security and Defense Policy: What’s at Stake?
2021-07-20 10:00 - 11:00
Geopolitical challenges continue to confront the transatlantic alliance ranging from Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine to China’s military build-up and pressure on Taiwan to President Biden’s decision to remove American troops from Afghanistan by September of this year to cyber threats from adversaries around the world. How can Europe and the United States get on the same page to effectively deal with these issues? What will “burden-sharing” look like in the months and years ahead?
Panelists:
Dr. Jana Puglierin, Head of the Berlin Office and Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
Dr. Torrey Taussig, Research Director for the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center; Nonresident Fellow, Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe
Moderator:
Lauren M. Speranza, Director of Transatlantic Defense and Security, Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA)

Climate Change Policy: Can the United States be a Credible Leader?
2021-07-20 13:00 - 14:00
A number of recent surveys in Europe and the United States have shown growing discontent with the way democracy is working, distrust in democratic institutions, and the ability of democracies to confront the many complex challenges facing our societies. What can be done to rebuild confidence and to increase citizen engagement to improve the effectiveness of our democracies?
Panelists:
Dr. Camilla Bausch, Scientific and Executive Director, Ecologic Institute
Samantha Gross, Director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative, Brookings Institution
Moderator:
Michael Mehling (2007 ACG McCloy Environmental Fellow), Deputy Director, MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR)

Post-Covid Economic Recovery: Is Infrastructure the Answer?
2021-07-21 10:00 - 11:00
President Biden has proposed a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that he states will upgrade roads, bridges, and water systems, expand digital access and broadband, hasten a shift to clean energy, and create millions of jobs. The EU’s $800 billion Recovery Fund also focuses on addressing climate change and the digital transformation as part of its economic recovery plan. What impact will these efforts have on the recovery and are there opportunities for transatlantic cooperation?
Panelists:
Greg Lindsay, Director of Applied Research, NewCities; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council’s Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative
Brandie Lockett (2018 ACG Sustainable Urban Development), City Designer, Houston Public Works, City of Houston
Thomas Puls, Senior Economist for Transportation and Infrastructure, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft
Moderator:
Dr. Steven E. Sokol, President, American Council on Germany

Global Trade and Investment: Do Economic Ties Still Bind Europe and the U.S.?
2021-07-21 12:00 - 13:00
The transatlantic economy remains the most important in the world comprising one-third of the world’s GDP, $6.2 trillion in commercial sales, 61 percent of inward FDI and 64 percent of outward FDI, as well as 27 percent of global exports and 32 percent of world imports. Currently, the U.S. economy is running on all cylinders with a forecast of 6-7 percent real GDP growth this year, while the Eurozone is still suffering. Greater cooperation could help the transatlantic community together recover better and faster.
Panelists:
Dr. Laura von Daniels, Head of the Research Division, The Americas, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)
Dr. Daniel S. Hamilton, Director of the Global Europe Program and Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Distinguished Fellow, Wilson Center
Moderator:
Julia Friedlander, Deputy Director of the GeoEconomics Center and C. Boyden Gray Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council

“Knowledge Diplomacy” in Times of Disruption and Beyond
2021-07-22 11:00 - 12:00
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of science and knowledge has brought scientists even closer to policymakers than ever before – as they collectively try to meet the common public health challenge. This has been true in both domestic policy-making and also in global cooperation. Will this trend continue? And, will it embed the transfer of knowledge as a powerful diplomatic tool to shape international relations? What are the challenges and opportunities for “knowledge diplomacy”? And, how do we prepare future generations for this new kind of international exchange?
Join 1014, the American Council on Germany, and the German Center for Research and Innovation New York (DWIH) for a conversation with Dr. Esther Brimmer, Executive Director & CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators and former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, and Dr. Georg Schütte, Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation and former State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Dr. Esther Brimmer serves as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Her distinguished career includes three appointments within the U.S. Department of State, serving most recently as the Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs from April 2009 to 2013.
Prior to joining NAFSA, Dr. Brimmer was Professor of Practice of International Affairs at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs where she served a two-year term as the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor. She was also an Adjunct Senior Fellow for international institutions at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a senior adviser at McLarty Associates. She was previously Deputy Director and Director of Research at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) from 2001 to 2009, and was a member of the SAIS faculty. She also taught at the College of Europe in Belgium, and from 1995 to 1999, she was a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict. Earlier, she served on Capitol Hill as a legislative analyst for the Democratic Study Group in the U.S. House of Representatives. Immediately after earning her doctorate from Oxford University, she spent two years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Dr. Georg Schütte has been the Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation since January 2020. The private foundation, based in Hanover, is dedicated to the support of the humanities and social sciences as well as science and technology in research and higher education and is one of the largest foundations in Europe.
Prior to his engagement with the Volkswagen Foundation, Dr. Schütte served as State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education a position to which he was appointed in December 2009 by the then Minister of Education Annette Schavan. In this function, he was particularly involved in the areas of research funding, European research policy, and international scientific cooperation. From 2018 to 2019, he was in charge of negotiations at State Secretary level between the Federal Government and the Länder on the future financing of the German science system and was responsible for the ministry’s budget.
Before this, in 2004, Dr. Schütte was appointed to the post of Secretary General of the Humboldt Foundation in Bonn – his third term of employment at this foundation. From 2001 to 2003, he was Director of the German-American Fulbright Commission in Berlin. He switched to Berlin following his second appointment at the Humboldt Foundation, where he had headed its policy department from 1998 to 2001. Before this career step, he had worked as a research assistant at the University of Siegen, held teaching positions at various universities, and occupied a position as program manager at the Humboldt Foundation from 1993 to 1998.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-07-26 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, July 26 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion with Matthew Karnitschnig, Chief European Correspondent for Politico. Matthew Karnitschnig is POLITICO’s Chief Europe Correspondent, based in Berlin. He joined the publication in 2015 from the Wall Street Journal, where he spent 15 years in a variety of positions as a reporter and editor in the U.S. and Europe.
In a career spanning two decades, Mr. Karnitschnig has been on the front lines of some of the defining political and economic stories of our time. In 2008, he covered the fall of Lehman Brothers and the financial crisis that ensued. He was part of a team of Journal reporters that won a Gerald Loeb Award and was named a Pulitzer finalist for National Reporting in 2009.
He subsequently spearheaded the WSJ’s coverage of the eurozone debt crisis as the paper’s Germany bureau chief and European economics editor. He led the team that was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting in 2011 and won an Overseas Press Club award in 2012.
Mr. Karnitschnig previously worked as a journalist for Business Week, Reuters and Bloomberg.
The son of an Austrian father and American mother, he grew up in Arizona, where he got his start reporting as a stringer for the Phoenix Gazette during high school.

The Future Of The Transatlantic Partnership
2021-07-29 12:00 - 13:00
The American Council on Germany is delighted to partner with the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth for a discussion with the German Ambassador to the United States Dr. Emily M. Haber, in conversation with former ACG Board member Lee Cullum, a journalist at Public Media of North Texas (KERA/PBS) and Senior Fellow at the John Tower Center for Public Policy and International Affairs at SMU. Dr. Emily Haber has been Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States since June 2018. Prior to her transfer to Washington, DC, she served in various leadership functions at the Foreign Office in Berlin. In 2009, she was appointed political director and, in 2011, state secretary, the first woman to hold either post. Thereafter, she was deployed to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, serving as state secretary in charge of homeland security and migration policy from 2014 until 2018.
Ambassador Haber has many years of experience with Russia and the former Soviet Union, including the Head of the Political Department. At the Foreign Office in Berlin, she served as Head of the OSCE Division and as Deputy Director-General for the Western Balkans, among other positions.
Lee Cullum is the host of CEO, KERA’s original monthly series of interviews with North Texas business leaders that airs on KERA television and radio. She is also a commentator for Morning Edition on KERA-FM and contributes columns to The Dallas Morning News. A veteran journalist, she was previously a commentator for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and All Things Considered on NPR. In addition, she was editor of the editorial page of the Dallas Times Herald and host of Conversations, a series on KERA with major newsmakers. She also worked as a reporter, on-air moderator, and executive producer of Newsroom on KERA.
Ms. Cullum is a senior fellow of the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU and a fellow at the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture. On the board of the Council on Foreign Relations for ten years, she also has served on the board of the American Council on Germany, the Pacific Council on International Policy, Freedom House, the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Social Sciences Foundation benefitting the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Currently, she is on the board of the American Security Project and the College of International Studies at the University of Oklahoma. She is a member of the Trilateral Commission and the InterAmerican Dialogue.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-08-09 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a Kaffeepause, or coffee break, with a journalist to discuss the latest developments in Berlin. On August 9, the ACG will be joined by Sonja Gillert, Editor for Die Welt.

The Strategic Importance of American Leadership and Partnership with Europe
2021-08-11 15:00 - 16:30
The Los Angeles Warburg Chapter will host a discussion and luncheon with Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges, Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis, on “The Strategic Importance of American Leadership and Partnership with Europe” with special guest Stefan Schneider, Consul General in Los Angeles.
There is a $75 ($55 for ACG Members) charge to attend this event. RSVP (acceptances only) to the American Council on Germany at events@acgusa.org by Monday, August 9. Space is limited. Once capacity is reached, a waitlist will be created. Valet Parking available at $15 Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges holds the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis. He joined CEPA in February 2018.
A native of Quincy, Florida, General Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was commissioned in the Infantry. After his first assignment as an Infantry Lieutenant in Garlstedt, Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels in the 101st Airborne Division, including Command of the First Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” of the 101st Airborne Division in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2003-2004). His other operational assignments include Chief of Operations for Multi-National Corps-Iraq in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2005-2006) and Director of Operations, Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan (2009-2010).
General Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions to include Tactics Instructor; Chief of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; Director of the Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff; Chief of Legislative Liaison for the United States Army; and Commander, NATO Allied Land Command (İzmir, Turkey). His last military assignment was as Commanding General, United States Army Europe (Wiesbaden, Germany) from 2014 to 2017. He retired from the U.S. Army in January 2018.
Stefan Schneider has been Consul General in Los Angeles since September 2018. He started his diplomatic career in 1987 and his many assignments have taken him all over the world. He served as Head of the Legal and Consular Section in Thailand, Head of the Trade and Commerce Section in Bulgaria, Deputy Consul General in Miami, Counsellor for Political Affairs in Paris and Consul General in Izmir. Before being posted to Los Angeles, he served as Head of the Cultural Affairs Department at the German Embassy in Rome. At the German Foreign Office, he was assigned to the Middle East desk, the Disarmament and Arms Control desk, the German as a Foreign Language division, and he served as Head of International Academic Exchange, also responsible for the Fulbright Program. Mr. Schneider studied law in Munich and Cologne. He also earned a degree in French literature from the Sorbonne University in Paris. He speaks English, French, Italian, Spanish and Bulgarian.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-08-16 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, August 16 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion with journalist Gordon Repinski, Deputy Editor-in-Chief at ThePioneer. Gordon Repinski serves as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief at ThePioneer. He is a graduate of the German School of Journalism. He worked for five years as a correspondent for Der Spiegel (including in Washington D.C. and Berlin). Most recently, the award-winning journalist (Otto Brenner Prize 2010, Arthur Burns Prize 2011) headed the main city bureau of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). At ThePioneer, he looks wrote about SPD, the Greens, and global politics, among other things

The Corona Crisis as a Catalyst for Greater Transatlantic Cooperation on China
2021-08-20 11:00 - 12:00
The spread of the Covid-19 from Wuhan to the rest of the world underscores just how interconnected – and interdependent – the world has become. The spread of new variants also makes clear that no one is safe as long as the virus is rampant in other parts of the world. Addressing the pandemic can only be done together with China. All countries should have a vested interest in great cooperation when it comes to overcoming the pandemic.
The current crisis is just one of many issues that connect Europe and the United States with China. Join the American Council on Germany for a virtual discussion with Bundestag Member Nils Schmid, the Foreign Policy Spokesperson for the SPD, about the need for Europe to develop a common approach to China and opportunities for greater transatlantic cooperation vis-à-vis China. 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.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-08-23 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. Next week we will discuss the inner circle around the three main candidates for chancellor, Annalena Baerbock, Armin Laschet, and Olaf Scholz.
Join us on Monday, August 23 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion about the key advisors in the run-up to next month’s German federal election with political journalist Corinna Emundts. Corinna Emundts (2004 ACG Kellen Fellow) is a political journalist in Berlin. From 2008 to 2013, she was head of the Berlin editorial department of tagesschau.de. Since February 2013, she is the coordinator of and correspondent for tagesschau.de in ARD’s Berlin studio. As a freelance political correspondent, she wrote and reported from Berlin between 2004 and 2008 for the Hamburg weekly newspaper Die Zeit and “tagesschau.de” as well as Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio. Before that, the political scientist and winner of the Theodor Wolff Prize in 1995 worked as an editor and reporter for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, and Die Woche.

The Growing Political Divide in the United States and Germany
2021-08-27 18:00 - 20:00
Roundtable discussion on the growing political divide in the U.S. and Germany with Luisa Emmi Beck, Berlin Correspondent for the Washington Post and 2020 ACG McCloy Fellow.
This discussion will take place in person, masks are recommended.
More information here: https://www.gaimn.org/acg-roundtable/

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-08-30 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, August 30 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion with journalist Miriam Hollstein, Chief Political Reporter for FUNKE Zentralredaktion. We’ll begin by getting her take on the first debate between the three candidates for chancellor, which takes place Sunday. 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.

Defending Democracy Abroad: Afghanistan and the End of Western Nation-Building?
2021-09-08 11:00 - 12:00
After the Western military withdrawal, the rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban ends two decades of Western efforts to rebuild the nation based on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Now, the gains in education, social and economic welfare as well as the legal system are at stake for millions of Afghans. Women are afraid to lose their rights yet again, refugees are trying to flee the country. Why did nation-building fail in Afghanistan? Did the West pursue the wrong approach? Does Afghanistan mark the end of the West’s efforts to promote and defend democracy abroad?
Join the American Council on Germany and 1014 for a transatlantic conversation with Judy Dempsey, Editor-in-Chief at Carnegie Europe; Dr. Markus Kaim, Senior Fellow at the German Institute for International Security Affairs (SWP); and Dr. Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. Judy Dempsey is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and editor in chief of the Strategic Europe blog. She is also the author of the book The Merkel Phenomenon(Das Phänomen Merkel, Körber-Stiftung Edition, 2013).
She worked for the International Herald Tribune from 2004 to 2011 as its Germany and East European Correspondent and from 2011 to September 2013 as a columnist. Dempsey was the diplomatic correspondent for the Financial Times in Brussels from 2001 onward, covering NATO and European Union enlargement. Between 1990 and 2001, she served as Jerusalem bureau chief (1996–2001), Berlin correspondent (1992–1996), and Eastern European correspondent in London (1990–1992) for the Financial Times. During the 1980s, Ms. Dempsey reported on Central and Eastern Europe for the Financial Times, the Irish Times, and The Economist. Ms. Dempsey graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, where she studied history and political science.
Dr. Markus Kaim is Senior Fellow in the International Security Division of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs – Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP). He has taught and held fellowships at universities on both sides of the Atlantic: As DAAD Professor of German and European Studies at the University of Toronto (2007-2008), as Acting Professor of Foreign Policy and International Relations at the University of Constance (2007), as Visiting Fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies/ Johns Hopkins University (2005), as Adjunct Professor at the Department for Political Science, University of Zurich (since 2012) and as Guest Instructor at the Hertie School, Berlin (since 2012). He studies political science, history, philosophy, and comparative religion in Bonn and Jena.
Dr. Kori Schake is a senior fellow and the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Before joining AEI, she was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in academia and government, working at the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House.
Dr. Schake is the author of five books and has been widely published in policy journals and the popular press, including in CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, Politico, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. She is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and War on the Rocks.
Dr. Schake has a Ph.D. and MA in government and politics from the University of Maryland, as well as an MPM from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Her BA in international relations is from Stanford University.

What’s Next in Afghanistan? A View from Germany
2021-09-09 09:00 - 10:00
Following the swift takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, the international community has been in a state of shock. In Germany, in particular, many people are asking what the lasting impact of Germany’s military and civilian engagement over the past 20 years will be. And, questions loom regarding the future of Afghanistan.
Join the American Council on Germany for a discussion about the current situation in Afghanistan and future prospects for the region with Bundestag member Omid Nouripour, who serves as the foreign affairs spokesperson for the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group in the German parliament. With thanks to the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung for supporting this event. Omid Nouripour is a German politician of the Alliance ’90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2006. He is his parliamentary group’s spokesman on foreign affairs and is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He has been closely involved in Germany’s efforts in Afghanistan and has been dealing with the country for the past 15 years as a German parliamentarian.

Reflecting on 9/11: Twenty Years Later
2021-09-10 13:00 - 14:00
This month marks the 20 anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington – and two decades of conflict. In the days following the attacks, two young German journalists worked tirelessly to piece together the developments leading up to September 11, 2001. Their experiences then have influenced their careers, and one might even say that they have been following some of the leads immediately after 9/11 ever since. Journalists and authors Souad Mekhennet and Elmar Theveßen have become leading terrorism experts.
In 2012, they won Germany’s prestigious Deutsche Fernsehpreis for their two-part documentary “9/11: The Day the World Changed.” Produced ten years after the terrorist attacks, the program analyzes the profound global impact of the day on politics and society. Join the American Council on Germany for a discussion with Souad Mekhennet and Elmar Theveßen on the impact of 9/11 today. Souad Mekhennet is a correspondent for The Washington Post’s national security desk, and she has reported on terrorism for the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and NPR. She was a 2012 Nieman fellow at Harvard University and a visiting fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Ms. Mekhennet first reported for The Post in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, delving into the backgrounds of the Hamburg cell and writing on the al-Qaeda threat in Europe, North Africa, and the Gulf. She was part of The Post’s coverage of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. In 2004, she began a long interlude at the New York Times, where she produced some of the most distinguished reporting on the Bush administration’s war on terrorism. Ms. Mekhennet returned to The Post as a contributor in 2014 and became a staff writer in 2017. With her colleagues, she helped unmask Jihadi John. She reported the death of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the leader of the group that staged the Paris attacks, 15 hours ahead of a government announcement and the rest of the media.
Ms. Mekhennet has written four books, most recently her critically acclaimed memoir, “I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad.” It was included in the 2017 longlist for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and received the Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism. Her other books include: “Islam”; “The Eternal Nazi: From Mauthausen to Cairo, the Relentless Pursuit of SS Doctor Aribert Heim,” co-written with Nicholas Kulish; and “The Children of Jihad: The New Generation of Islamist Terror in Europe,” co-written with Claudia Sautter and Michael Hanfeld.
Elmar Theveßen is a German journalist and author and has served as the bureau chief of ZDF’s studio in Washington, DC. since March 2019. He is an expert on international security and terrorism and studied history, political science, and German studies at the University of Bonn as well as foreign policy and journalism at American University in Washington, DC.
From 1991 to 1995, Mr. Theveßen was tv-journalist for politics in ZDF-studio Bonn. Until 2001 he worked as a tv-journalist for ZDF-studio in Washington, DC. From 2001 to 2002 he worked as tv-journalist for Frontal21 at ZDF. Since 2007 Mr. Theveßen was ZDF’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief and managing editor for the current affairs department in Mainz.
He is the author of seven books, including four on terrorism and Al-Qaida.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-09-13 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, September 13 at 9:00 am EDT, for a discussion on the morning after the second television debate between the three candidates for Chancellor with Bloomberg Opinion columnist Andreas Kluth. 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.

Germany after Angela Merkel: Her Legacy and the Leadership Transition
2021-09-14 12:00 - 13:00
On September 26, Germans will vote in federal elections that will determine the composition of the Bundestag. The new majority in the parliament – most likely a coalition of three parties – will elect the next German Chancellor, marking the end of 16 years of leadership by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Join us for an online conversation about Chancellor Merkel’s legacy, the outlook for the elections, and the likely implications for Germany of this historical leadership transition with Stefan Kornelius, Foreign Editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung and author of a biography of Angela Merkel.
This event is a partnership between the American Council on Germany, Atlantik-Brücke, Cleveland Council of World Affairs, and the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA). It is part of WACA’s Wunderbar Together 2021 Engage America Series on “Germany’s Elections and the Future of Transatlantic Relations.” Wunderbar Together is a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Goethe-Institut. Stefan Kornelius has been Foreign Editor of the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung since 2000. In his reporting career, he has covered Germany’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU), the chancellorship of Helmut Kohl, and defense issues in Europe. From 1996 to 1999, he served as the paper’s Washington correspondent. His biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, entitled Angela Merkel, the Chancellor and her World, has been translated into 13 languages.
Steven E. Sokol is the President of the American Council on Germany (ACG). Previously, he served as President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh from July 2010 until April 2015. Prior to that, he was the Vice President and Director of Programs at the ACG for seven years. Educated in the United States and Germany, Dr. Sokol has more than 20 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations in both countries.

The Remarkable Odyssey of Angele Merkel: The Future of German Politics in a Post-Merkel Era
2021-09-15 12:00 - 13:00
In 2005, Angela Merkel made history as the first woman to be elected chancellor of Germany. Over the 16 years she has served, Merkel has undeniably established Germany as a preeminent leader in Europe and the world. However, when Germany holds its federal elections this month, Merkel will not be running for re-election. As Germany enters its final days before the election, this event will unpack Merkel’s legacy and look towards the future of German politics.
Join acclaimed writer Kati Marton – author of The Chancellor, a riveting political biography and an intimate human story of Chancellor Merkel’s rise and reign – for a discussion about the last two decades of German political history and the pressing question of where Germany is headed in a post-Merkel era. Kati Marton is the author of several books and an award-winning former NPR and ABC News correspondent.
You can pre-order a copy of THE CHANCELLOR by Kati Morton with a signed bookplate from Chevalier’s Bookshop here, or unsigned copies are available here.
This event is hosted by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-09-20 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, September 20 at 9:00 am EDT, for a discussion about the television debate between the three candidates for Chancellor and what to expect in the final days before the federal election 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.

Behind the Numbers: Polling and the German Election
2021-09-20 11:00 - 12:00
In February, the Christian Democrats were riding high in the polls. By May, they had dropped some 10 percentage points and the Greens had surged to a temporary peak. Trailing by two or more percentage points throughout the year, in August the Social Democrats swept past the Greens and the Christian Democrats to take a strong lead in the polls. Much of the jockeying in the polls has to do with the candidates for Chancellor and how they are resonating with the public.
The race to succeed Angela Merkel in Germany’s federal election in less than two weeks is still wide open. Experienced analysts and casual observers have been closely following the polling data in the run up to September 26 in the hope that it might reveal how the election might play out. But few have watched the polling numbers as closely as Dr. Cornelius Hirsch, an Intelligence Analyst with POLITICO Europe and a co-founder of pollofpolls.eu which was acquired by POLITICO. Join the American Council on Germany for a discussion about the polls in the last days of campaigning. Dr. Cornelius Hirsch joined POLITICO Europe as an Intelligence Analyst in May 2019. Previously, he co-founded pollofpolls.eu, a polling data website which was acquired and integrated into POLITICO’s website. Poll of Polls offers professional polling aggregations for all upcoming national elections in Europe.
In 2020, Dr. Hirsch completed his doctoral studies in economics and social sciences at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien) focusing on international trade, globalization, and the impact of both on rural areas. He holds an M.Sc. in agricultural economics from Humboldt-University Berlin and a B.Sc. in economics from the Free University Berlin.

Black, Red, Green: What to Expect in the German Federal Election
2021-09-21 12:00 - 13:00
On the eve of the German federal election, a panel of experts will weigh in on the various issues concerning German voters, the legacy of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, the potential impact of this election on the EU and Germany’s relationship with the U.S., and the significance of the Green Party mounting their first ever candidate for the Chancellorship.
Join the American Council on Germany for this discussion, moderated by ACG President Steven E. Sokol, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh European Studies Center and the Jean Monnet in the USA series, an initiative of several EU-funded Universities across the United States. The panelists are Dr. Kai Arzheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Mainz; Prof. Marcel Lewandowsky, DAAD Visiting Assistant Professor at the Center for European Studies at the University of Florida; Dr. Jana Puglierin, Head of ECFR’s Berlin office and a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations; and Dr. Jae-Jae Spoon, Professor of Political Science and Director of the European Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
This event is hosted by the University of Pittsburgh European Studies Center. Dr. Kai Arzheimer is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Mainz. His main research interests are the comparative analysis of micro data and comparative political sociology, elections and electoral behavior, extreme right/radical right/populist right parties in Europe, and German politics. During 2017-18, he was the Hannah Arendt Visiting Chair in German and European Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy & Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. From 2006-2009, he was a Lecturer in German and West European Politics/DAAD Lektor in the Department of Government at the University of Essex.
Marcel Lewandowsky is a DAAD Visiting Assistant Professor at the Center for European Studies at the University of Florida. His research and teaching focuses on comparative politics with special regard to parties and party systems, populism in Europe and the political system of Germany. He received his doctoral degree in 2013 with a study on German regional election campaigns from the University of Bonn, Germany. From 2012 to 2013, he was a lecturer at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, and from 2013 until summer 2019, Prof. Lewandowsky worked as a lecturer at the University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg. Prior to his application at the University of Florida, he served as a professor pro tempore at the NRW School of Governance of the University of Duisburg-Essen.
Dr. Jana Puglierin has been the head of ECFR’s Berlin office and a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations since January 2020. Before joining ECFR, Puglierin headed the Alfred von Oppenheim Center for European Policy Studies at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Prior to this, she was an advisor on disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation in the German Bundestag, where she also worked on matters relating to German and European foreign and security policy. Between 2003 and 2010, she was a researcher and lecturer to the chair of political science and contemporary history as well as in the program for North American studies at the University of Bonn. She was also an associate at Stiftung Neue Verantwortung in Berlin from October 2010 until October 2011. Dr. Puglierin earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science, international and European law, and sociology from the Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn.
Dr. Jae-Jae Spoon is a Professor of Political Science and Director of the European Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh. She is co-editor of the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (JEPOP) and Research & Politics (R&P). Her research focuses on comparative electoral behavior primarily in Europe. She is interested in understanding political party strategies and their outcomes for the party, its elected officials, and voters, and how party type and size, institutions, and context influence parties’ decision‐making at both the domestic and European levels. Professor Spoon received her PhD from the University of Michigan in 2005. Before coming to Pittsburgh, she taught at the University of Iowa and the University of North Texas and was a visiting researcher at the University of Mannheim.

The Race to Replace Angela Merkel
2021-09-22 11:00 - 12:00
There has been a lot of uncertainty surrounding Germany’s federal election. But one thing is clear: Angela Merkel is not running again. As the traditional catch-all Volksparteien – the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats – have lost traction in recent years, three candidates compete to replace her.
In the final days before Germans take to the polls in an historic election which marks the end of the “Merkel Era,” join the American Council on Germany for a discussion with veteran political observer and journalist Dr. Christoph von Marschall to discuss the candidates, possible coalitions, and what this election means for Germany, Europe, and the transatlantic relationship. Dr. Christoph von Marschall is Chief Diplomatic Correspondent of the German daily Der Tagesspiegel, published in Berlin. He has been with the paper since 1991. From 2005 to 2013, he was Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent. Before that, he served as the newspaper’s Editorial Page Editor.
His most recent book is “Wir verstehen die Welt nicht mehr. Deutschlands Entfremdung von seinen Freunden” (Herder Verlag 2018), which analyzes the foreign policy challenges facing Germany and Europe. He has also written several books on Barack Obama and the differences in political culture between Germany and the United States, including “What’s the Matter with America? Why They Hate What We Love” and “The New Obama. What to Expect from the Second Term.”
He holds a PhD in East European History from the University of Freiburg, Germany.

The Rise of Olaf Scholz and the Social Democrats
2021-09-24 13:00 - 14:00
Since the beginning of August, the Social Democrats have seen a jump from 16 to 26 percent in opinion polls in the final weeks of Germany’s federal election campaign. The SPD’s Kanzlerkandidat Olaf Scholz is largely credited with this turnaround. In snap polls following each of the three television debates between the three candidates for chancellor, Scholz was dubbed the winner for projecting continuity after Angela Merkel leaves office. After the most recent debate this past Sunday, 42 percent of viewers found him to be the most convincing. The CDU’s Armin Laschet ranked second with 27 percent, followed by the Green’s Annalena Baerbock at 25 percent.
Olaf Scholz has several key advisors yet few of them are as close to him as Wolfgang Schmidt, who currently serves as State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance. Their political careers have been intertwined for 20 years, and since early this year Schmidt has been an outspoken advocate for his boss. He believes Olaf Scholz is the best person to succeed Angela Merkel. Join us for a discussion about the turnaround of the SPD and the career of Olaf Scholz. Wolfgang Schmidt has served as State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Finance since March of 2018. In this capacity, he is responsible for economic and fiscal policy strategy, international economy, and finance. Previously, he worked directly with Olaf Scholz and served as State Secretary of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Commissioner of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg to the Federation, to the European Union, and for foreign affairs. From 2014 to 2015, he chaired the Conference of the Länder Ministers for European Affairs and from 2015 to 2018 he was a member of the European Committee of the Regions.
Trained as a lawyer and active as a Juso (Young Social Democrat), earlier in his career Mr. Schmidt served as Chief-of-Staff to the SPD Secretary-General, Chief-of-Staff to the First Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD parliamentary group, and Chief-of-Staff and Head of the Policy and Planning unit at the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

The Polls Have Closed in Germany: An Election Readout
2021-09-27 09:00 - 23:00
With less than a week to go, the race to succeed Angela Merkel as Germany’s next chancellor has become a nail-biter. The results of Germany’s federal election will determine the coalition talks for a new German government and the ultimate course of the country’s political future.
To unpack one of Germany’s most unpredictable and transformative elections in recent history, we would like to invite you to an exclusive virtual readout hosted by the American Council on Germany, Atlantik-Brücke e.V., and The German Marshall Fund of the United States. Our experts will provide timely analysis of the results and consider the multifaceted implications of the outcome, including Germany’s role on the world stage and the future of the transatlantic relationship.
Our speakers include: The Hon. Marieluise Beck, Director for East-Central and Eastern Europe, LibMod and Former Member of the German Bundestag (Alliance 90/The Greens); Steven Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent in Europe, The New York Times; Amb. John B. Emerson, Chairman of the American Council on Germany and Former Ambassador of the United States to Germany; The Hon. Sigmar Gabriel, Chairman, Atlantik-Brücke e.V. and Former Member of the German Bundestag (SPD), Vice Chancellor, and Foreign Minister; Janina Mütze, Co-Founder and CEO, Civey; Ruprecht Polenz, President, The German Association for East European Studies and Former Member of the German Bundestag (Christian Democrats); Julia Reuschenbach, Associate Lecturer and Political Scientist, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn; and Anna Sauerbrey, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Der Tagesspiegel.

After the German Election: What Can the World Expect from Berlin?
2021-09-29 11:00 - 12:00
As the dust settles after Germany’s historic election and parties engage in complex negotiations to form a governing coalition, questions will abound concerning the foreign policy priorities of the new government – and what the end of the Merkel era means for Germany, Europe, and the world. What are the key issues that will shape Germany’s role on the world stage in the years to come?
Join the ACG and the Freunde des American Council on Germany e.V. for an analysis of the results of the German federal election and their foreign policy implications with Dr. Stefan Fröhlich, Professor of International Politics and Political Economy at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and ACG Board member Dr. Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University. The event will be moderated by ACG Young Leader alumna Sonja Gillert, who serves as the Head of Audio for Welt. Stefan Fröhlich is Professor of International Politics and Political Economy at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He is currently also a guest professor at the College of Europe (in Brugge and Natolin) at Oxford University, and at the Universities of Bonn and Zurich. His fields of research include EU foreign, economic, and security policy; transatlantic relations; German foreign, economic, and security policy; and international political economy. He is a frequent commentator on international affairs for German and international media.
Dr. Fröhlich was Director of the postgraduate European Studies Program at the Center for European Integration Studies in Bonn from 1998 to 2002 and spent time in Washington, DC, as a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins (2002-03); the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2007); and the German Marshall Fund’s Transatlantic Academy (2016-17).
He is a board member of the German Atlantic Council (Berlin), Center for European Integration Studies (Bonn), German Council on Foreign Relations (Berlin), German Society for Political Science, Association for European Integration (Berlin), and the Institute for European Politics (Berlin). He is the author of numerous books and more than 200 articles on German and European foreign policy and transatlantic relations.
He studied Political Science, Economics, as well as American and Spanish Literature in Bonn, Paris, and Washington (MA 1985; Ph.D. 1989; “Habilitation” (Dr.phil.habil.) 1996).
Dr. Charles Kupchan is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government.
From 2014 to 2017, Dr. Kupchan served as special assistant to the president and senior director for European affairs on the staff of the National Security Council (NSC) in the Barack Obama administration. He was also the director for European affairs on the NSC during the first Bill Clinton administration. Before joining the Clinton NSC, he worked in the U.S. Department of State on the policy planning staff. Previously, he was an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University.
Dr. Kupchan is the author of Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself From the World (2020), No One’s World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn (2012), How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace (2010), The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-first Century (2002), Power in Transition: The Peaceful Change of International Order (2001), Civic Engagement in the Atlantic Community (1999), Atlantic Security: Contending Visions (1998), Nationalism and Nationalities in the New Europe (1995), The Vulnerability of Empire (1994), The Persian Gulf and the West (1987), and numerous articles on international and strategic affairs.
Dr. Kupchan has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, Columbia University’s Institute for War and Peace Studies, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the Centre d’Étude et de Recherches Internationales in Paris, and the Institute for International Policy Studies in Tokyo. From 2006 to 2007, he was the Henry A. Kissinger Scholar at the Library of Congress and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. From 2013 to 2014, he was a senior fellow at the Transatlantic Academy.
Moderator: Sonja Gillert (2019 ACG Young Leader) is the head of audio for Welt. Previously, she served as an editor in the paper’s foreign policy department in Berlin, where she focuses on Latin America, Iran, and China. In 2015 she spent three months in China with the Media Ambassador China Germany Program.
She attended the journalist training program at Axel Springer Academy in Berlin and previously worked as a freelance journalist at three of Germany’s major radio stations. In 2009 she earned her MA in Political Science and German Literature at Bonn University. Sonja Gillert also studied at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, for one semester in 2008. In 2009, she spent three months in Costa Rica volunteering for an environmental project.

The World's Most Important Election: Bundestag 2021
2021-09-29 19:00 - 20:30
On September 26, 2021, German federal elections will be held to elect the 20th Bundestag – the first in 16 years without Angela Merkel standing as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Join us for an online conversation about the implications of these elections for Germany, the European Union, and the world, with Jeff Rathke, President of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) at the Johns Hopkins, and Sophia Besch, a senior researcher with the Centre for European Reform.
This event is hosted by the World Affairs Council of Maine.
