American Council On Germany

Resilience and Adaptation: The Future of Liberal Democracy and the Corona Crisis
2020-05-06 10:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York)
Resilience and Adaptation: The Future of Liberal Democracy and the Corona Crisis
Are autocracies better positioned to fight pandemics than democracies? Join American political scientist and author Francis Fukuyama and Daniela Schwarzer, Director of the German Council on Foreign Relations, for a discussion about how the current crisis is handled by different regimes.
Please register here.

Video Discussion with Ambassador Emily Haber and Ambassador John B. Emerson
2020-05-07 10:00 - 11:00
The American Council on Germany is delighted to partner with the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA) to host the German Ambassador to the United States Emily Haber in conversation with ACG Chairman Ambassador John B. Emerson, Vice Chairman at Capital Group International, on Thursday, May 7, at 10 am ET. (Bios for both speakers are included below.)
This webinar builds on the successful partnership between ACG and WACA during the German government’s Deutschlandjahr USA initiative in 2018 and 2019. Our event will take place as part of a series of events hosted by World Affairs Councils across the country under the auspices of a special, inclusive “ideas summit,” titled Putting the World Back Together and branded as CxC: Amplified.
CxC: Amplified is a full week of activities designed to amplify voices on foreign and security policy across the country. Open to the public, these events will bring together thought leaders, experts, and citizens to discuss one central question: How will the world be put back together as we chart our way through this unprecedented period?
To register for the call, please click here. We hope you can join us for this timely discussion.
Emily Margarethe Haber has been German Ambassador 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.
Emily Haber has many years of experience with Russia and the former Soviet Union. She held various posts at the German Embassy in Moscow, including 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.
Emily Haber holds a PhD in history and is married to former diplomat Hansjörg Haber. The couple has two sons.
Ambassador John B. Emerson was named Chairman of the American Council on Germany on January 17, 2018. He is vice chairman of Capital Group International, Inc. and has 19 years of industry experience, all with Capital Group.
He most recently served as the United States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2015, Ambassador Emerson was awarded the State Department’s Susan M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, which is given annually to one non-career ambassador, and in 2017 he was awarded the CIA Medal and the U.S. Navy’s Distinguished Public Service award.
Prior to accepting the ambassadorial posting, John Emerson was president of Private Client Services for the Capital Group Companies. Before joining Capital, he was deputy assistant to President Clinton where he coordinated his economic conferences, served as the president’s liaison to the nation’s governors, and led the administration’s efforts to obtain congressional approval of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement and the extension of China s MFN trading status. Additionally, he was appointed by President Obama to serve on his Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Before working in the Clinton White House, John Emerson served as Los Angeles Chief Deputy City Attorney, and was a partner in the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg, and Phillips.
Ambassador Emerson holds an honorary doctor of laws degree from Hamilton College, a juris doctorate degree from the University of Chicago and a bachelors degree in philosophy from Hamilton College. He is based in Los Angeles.

Local Impact of COVID-19 and Transportation
2020-05-08 11:00 - 12:00
While ridership on public transportation has dropped dramatically across the United States during the coronavirus outbreak, millions of Americans are still riding public buses and trains, putting themselves and anyone they encounter at risk as they commute to work, go to the grocery store, or visit the doctor. At the same time, since the start of the pandemic, the use of motor vehicles has fallen dramatically in the United States and Europe – and air pollution and congestion with it. In cities in the U.S. and Europe, as residents begin to return to work and try to avoid busy public transit systems, local governments are considering reallocating streets for cycling and walking.
Join us for on Friday, May 8, at 11:00 am ET for a conversation about the future of mobility and transportation in cities – during and after the pandemic. Drawing on alumni from ACG programs, speakers include Laurin Sepoetro, Public Policy Planner for Uber Germany; Jana Kugoth, Mobility and Transportation Reporter for Der Tagesspiegel; Brandie Lockhart, Director of Urban Design for Houston Metro; and Jesse Mintz-Roth, the Vision Zero Program Manager for the Department Transportation in San Jose, CA.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CgbrTF4mS3C6geXDsaggBw

Laurin Sepoetro is the Manager of Public Policy Germany for Uber and leads on public transit partnerships, Future of Work and inclusive mobility. Before joining Uber, he worked as a policy adviser in the European Parliament and at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He holds an MSc degree in Public Policy and Human Development from Maastricht University. In 2019, he participated in the ACG’s Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour.
Jana Kugoth works as an editor for Tagesspiegel Background, an exclusive briefing for decision makers in the mobility and energy sector. Previously, she wrote for the online magazine Gründerszene.de, especially about start-ups and new business models in the mobility and logistics sector. After studying media science, German language and literature, and library and information science in Berlin, she first trained as a journalist with the Berlin based business and energy magazine Bizz Energy, for which she also reported on the world climate conferences in Paris and Marrakesh. In 2019, she was a participant in the ACG’s Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour.
Brandie Lockett is currently spearheading the research and design of Houston METROs Urban Transit Design Guideline Manuals. A collaborative effort that will aim to guide transit design consultants to develop transportation infrastructure as public space. With a Bachelors of Architecture from Tuskegee University, a Masters in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University – Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and a Certificate in Real Estate Development from University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate; her enthusiasm for urbanism inspires communities to use urban design strategies in planning and development projects; whether rural, suburban or urban, to help bring out vibrant opportunities in unlikely places. Brandie has been a part of international design forums and workshops discussing social, ecological, and infrastructural issues and solutions globally. In 2018, she participated in the ACG’s Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour.

Jesse Mintz-Roth is Vision Zero Program Manager at the San Jose Department of Transportation. In this role he oversees a staff of 10 including crash data analysis, street redesign engineering, traffic safety education, and safe routes to schools. Vision Zero is the city’s initiative to reduce traffic fatalities. In February 2020, the city committed $6.8 million to the first year of a five year Action Plan which will redesign arterial streets to reduce speeds with a particular focus on lowering pedestrian fatalities which have risen in recent years. Before moving to California from New York City in December 2018, he worked for 2 years as Senior Advisor for Transportation Improvements at the New York City Department of City Planning, and for 7 years at the New York City Department of Transportation, where he was a Senior Project Manager working on Vision Zero street redesign projects. In 2018, he was a participant in the Sustainable Urban Development Study Tour.

Resilience and Adaptation: Globalization and the Corona Crisis
2020-05-12 11:00 - 12:00
Resilience and Adaptation: Globalization and the Corona Crisis
The current pandemic has slowed the global economy. It has exposed the interdependence inherent in global supply chains. Will things snap back when the concerns over the virus subside? Join us for a discussion with Thorsten Benner, co-founder and director of the Global Public Policy Institute, and Shannon O’Neil, the Vice President, Deputy Director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, about globalization in volatile times.
Please register here.

Global Order in Crisis Mode: Coping Strategies of the West
2020-05-14 11:00 - 12:00
As part of the 2020 Virtual German-American Conference, the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Brücke cordially invite you to join a video discussion on: “Global Order in Crisis Mode: Coping Strategies of the West”
Thursday, May 14, 2020
11:00 am – 12:00 pm Eastern Standard Time
with
Omid Nouripour, Foreign Policy Spokesperson of the Green Parliamentary Group, German Bundestag; Member of the Board, Atlantik-Brücke
Ambassador Victoria Nuland, former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. State Department; Senior Counselor, Albright Stonebridge Group
Moderated by: Dr. David Deißner, Executive Director, Atlantik-Brücke
The international community has been faced with an unprecedented health and economic crisis in recent months. While global leadership seems to be divided by political differences and is struggling to find common ground, restrictions due to COVID-19 are still in place. In light of these challenges, our guests will explore possible coping strategies for the Western alliance.

Emerging from the Lockdown: How Cities are Coming Back to Life During a Pandemic
2020-05-15 11:00 - 12:00
As lockdown restrictions begin the lift, cities are faced with a new set of challenges. Join us for a discussion with William Peduto, Mayor of Pittsburgh, and Ullrich Sierau, Lord Mayor of Dortmund, on how their cities have coped with the pandemic – and how they are preparing for the future.
This event is being held in cooperation with the Office of International Relations and Sustainable Development of the City of Dortmund and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh.
Click here to register.

Resilience and Adaptation: Digitalization and the Corona Crisis
2020-05-19 11:00 - 12:00
Resilience and Adaptation: Digitalization and the Corona Crisis
In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, many businesses have closed. Many people are working from home – but not everyone is able to do so. An almost complete lock-down has magnified many existing social inequalities and the digital divide. Thought leaders in the fields of AI the impact of digitalization Gesche Joost and Mona Sloane will talk about the benefits and barriers created through digitalization in this unprecedented time.
Please register here.

Did We Miss the Warning Signals? Global Trends and New Security Threats
2020-05-21 10:00 - 11:00
As part of the virtual 2020 German-American Conference, the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Brücke will host a video discussion on “Did we miss the warning signals? Global trends and new security threats,” with Ambassador Boris Ruge, Vice-Chairman of the Munich Security Conference and Gregory F. Treverton, Professor of the Practice of International Relations and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California and former Chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Moderated by: Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller, Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress and a Senior Fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.
With the spread of COVID-19, an unprecedented public health crisis has brought global travel to a halt and slowed international commerce. The current environment was almost unimaginable as recently as January of this year. Or, should we have seen this coming? Our guests will discuss whether or not we should have anticipated this pandemic and how the definition of security threats is evolving.
Ambassador Boris Ruge took up his assignment as Vice-Chairman of the Munich Security Conference in August 2019. He previously served as Director Middle East/North Africa at the Foreign Office in Berlin, as German Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and as Deputy Chief of Mission at the German Embassy in Washington, DC.
Having joined the Foreign Service in 1989, much of Ambassador Ruge’s career has been focused on security policy and stabilization. He worked at NATO Headquarters in Brussels during the Kosovo air campaign and later served as Chief Political Adviser to two successive Commanders of the Kosovo Force and as Head of the Political Department at the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina. At the Foreign Office he was also in charge of European security and defense issues.
Following undergraduate studies at the University of Cologne, Ambassador Ruge received a master’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds a diploma in international relations from the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University and was a participant in the 2005 course of the Royal College of Defense Studies in London. He is married and has three daughters and one son.
Gregory F. Treverton is Professor of the Practice of International Relations and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California.
He served as chairman of the National Intelligence Council from September 2014 to January 2017. Earlier, he directed the RAND Corporation’s Center for Global Risk and Security, and before that, its Intelligence Policy Center and its International Security and Defense Policy Center. He also was associate dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
He has served in government for the first Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, handling Europe for the National Security Council and as vice chair of the National Intelligence Council, overseeing the writing of America’s National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs). In addition to RAND, he has taught at Harvard and Columbia universities, has been a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and also Deputy Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller is an expert on German, European, and transatlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She currently holds the Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress and is a Senior Fellow at The Brooking’s Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe. She served as the inaugural Robert Bosch Senior Fellow at Brookings from 2014 to 2019.
Prior to working at Brookings, Dr. Stelzenmüller was a Senior Transatlantic Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), where she directed the influential Transatlantic Trends survey program. She is the former director of GMF’s Berlin office. From 1994 to 2005, she was an editor for the political section of the German weekly DIE ZEIT, where she had also served as defense and international security editor and covered human rights issues and humanitarian crises.
She has worked in Germany and the United States, and speaks English, French, German, and Spanish. Dr. Stelzenmüller holds a doctorate in law from the University of Bonn (1992), a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1988), and a law degree from the University of Bonn (1985).

Transatlantic Perspectives: The Local Impact of COVID-19 and Education
2020-05-22 11:00 - 12:00
Friday, May 22 at 11:00 am – “Transatlantic Perspectives: The Local Impact of COVID-19 and Education” with Susana O’Daniel, Director of Public Affairs for the Arkansas Education Association; Daniela Schneckenburger, Commissioner of the Department for School, Youth, and Family for the City of Dortmund; and Laura Ward, Vice President of Talent Development, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Click here to register.

Resilience and Adaptation: Civil Society and the Corona Crisis
2020-05-26 11:00 - 12:00
Resilience and Adaptation: Civil Society and the Corona Crisis
The current pandemic has forced civil society to grapple with new challenges. The spread of COVID-19 has led some communities to develop new ways to look after each other – and respect social distancing guidelines. In other areas, the social fabric has been tested. Join experts and practitioners Nina Lemmens and Daniela Kaisth for a discussion about the ways in which civil society is coping with the current crisis and how the philanthropic community is responding.
Please register here.

The Merkel-Macron EU Recovery Fund: A Historic Moment for Europe?
2020-05-29 12:30 - 13:30
Just over a week ago, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined forces in proposing a 500 billion euro EU recovery fund to help respond to the corona virus crisis. If other EU member states agree to the plan, it would be an important step forward for a more unified Europe – and it might bring the bloc closer together rather than fracturing it. But, the proposal is not without controversy.
Please join us for an online discussion on Friday, May 29 at 12:30 pm (ET) with Bundestag member Metin Hakverdi (SPD) titled “The Merkel-Macron EU Recovery Fund: A Historic Moment for Europe?”

POSTPONED Transatlantic Perspectives: The Local Impact of COVID-19 and Digitalization
2020-06-05 11:00 - 12:00
The coronavirus outbreak has demonstrated ways in which digitalization has helped communities by allowing many people to work from home and enabling students to continue their education via remote learning. We’ve also seen how technology can assist with healthcare both in terms of service and tracking the pandemic. However, the crisis has also exposed a continued “digital divide” – a gulf between those with access to technology and those with little or no access – that has a profound impact on equity in communities. And the increased use of technology also raises concerns about cyber-security and data privacy.
Join us on Friday, June 5, at 11:00 am ET for a conversation about digitalization and cities – during and after the pandemic. Drawing on alumni from ACG programs, speakers include Sunanna Chand, Vice President of Systems Reinvention at Teach for America, Bruce Clark, Executive Director at Digital Charlotte; and Devin Dienes, Project Manager at Digitalstadt Darmstadt.

Racial Injustice And National Security
2020-06-09 11:00 - 12:00
Over the past two weeks, protests have erupted across the United States following the killing by police of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis. Racial injustice has long been an issue for civil rights activists, but it also has a national security dimension.
Against the backdrop of racial injustice and inequality at home, join us on Tuesday, June 9, at 11:00 am ET for a virtual discussion on “Racial Injustice and National Security” with Bishop Garrison (2017 ACG Young Leader), Director of National Security Outreach at Human Rights First, President and Co-Founder of the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy, and former Defense and Homeland Security Official under the Obama Administration.

Bishop Garrison, Jr. is a graduate of United States Military Academy at West Point and an Operation Iraqi Freedom Army veteran.
He served in multiple national security positions in the Obama Administration to include Advisor to the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These efforts included serving as the Executive Director of the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee as well as a role as Deputy Lead on a TSA Blue Ribbon Panel that reviewed the airline passenger screening system. Following his time in the Administration, he served as the Deputy Foreign Policy Adviser on the Presidential campaign of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Along with two Bronze Stars, a Combat Action Badge, and a Meritorious Service Medal, his civilian accolades include participation as a member of the Obama Administration’s National Security Leadership Workshop. He is also a graduate of the College of William and Mary Law School as well as the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership’s Political Leaders Program at the University of Virginia. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Council for a Livable World, a non-profit focused on the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons, as well as the Northern Virginia Regional Advisory Board of the non-profit Urban Alliance.
In 2017, he served as an American Delegate for the American Council on Germany’s Young Leaders Conference in Munich and Berlin as well as a member of Cultivate the Karass Campfire Cohort III. He is also the recipient of 2017 Taylor Revelry “Citizen Lawyer” Award from the College of William and Mary Law School.

Virtual Discussion with Amb. Emily Haber and Amb. John B. Emerson
2020-06-09 14:30 - 15:00
The ACG and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council will host a video discussion with German Ambassador to the United States Emily M. Haber and Ambassador John B. Emerson, Chairman of the ACG and former U.S. Ambassador to Germany.
The Ambassadors will be taking questions from livestream participants during our audience Q&A. CLICK HERE to register.
H.E. Emily Margarethe Haber has been German Ambassador 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. Emily Haber has many years of experience with Russia and the former Soviet Union and held various posts at the German Embassy in Moscow.
H.E. John B. Emerson was named Chairman of the American Council on Germany on January 17, 2018. He is Vice Chairman at Capital Group International. Previously, he served as United States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from August, 2013 until January 20, 2017. He served at a particularly challenging time, and in 2015 Ambassador Emerson was awarded the State Department’s prestigious Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, which is given annually to one non-career Ambassador. He also served on President Obama’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

We’re In This Together: Science and the Fight for Global Health
2020-06-11 11:00 - 12:00
It has been more than three months since the first lockdown measures were introduced in the United States, and many states and communities are now in the process of reopening. The precautions have helped flatten the curve, but the coronavirus is still spreading at home and around the globe. COVID-19 will continue to spread until a vaccine has been found.
Join us for a virtual discussion on Thursday, June 11, at 11:00 am ET on “We’re In This Together: Science and the Fight for Global Health” with Dr. Kathrin U. Jansen, Senior Vice President and Head of Vaccine Research and Development for Pfizer Inc. Kathrin U. Jansen, PhD, is Senior Vice President and Head of Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer Inc, and a member of Pfizer’s Worldwide Research and Development leadership team. She oversees a fully integrated, global vaccines research and development organization, with responsibilities ranging from discovery to registration and post-marketing commitments of first-in-class or best-in-class vaccines to prevent or treat diseases of significant unmet medical need. More recent accomplishments are the global licensures of Prev(e)nar13® to prevent pneumococcal diseases and the development and licensure of Trumenba®, the first vaccine licensed in the United States to prevent invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B.
Dr. Jansen received her doctoral degree in microbiology, biochemistry & genetics from Phillips Universität, Marburg, Germany. Following completion of her formal training, she continued her postdoctoral training at Cornell University working on the structure and function of the acetylcholine receptor. She then joined the Glaxo Institute for Molecular Biology in Geneva, Switzerland, where she focused on basic studies of a receptor believed to be a drug target to treat allergies. Dr. Jansen was appointed an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania – School of Medicine in 2010.
Before the Wyeth acquisition by Pfizer in 2009, Dr. Jansen served as Senior Vice President at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and on Wyeth’s Research and Development Executive Committee since 2006 and was responsible for vaccine discovery, early development and clinical testing operations. Dr. Jansen also briefly worked at Vaxgen as Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President for Research and Development with responsibility for the company’s late stage development programs. Prior to joining Vaxgen, Dr. Jansen spent 12 years at Merck Research Laboratories where she directed or supported a number of vaccine efforts, including Merck’s novel bacterial vaccine programs and viral vaccine programs (rotavirus, zoster and mumps, measles and rubella). Dr. Jansen initiated and led the development of Gardasil®, the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine.

Resilience and Adaptation: Social Inequity and the Corona Crisis
2020-06-15 10:00 - 11:00
The combined public health and economic crises have exacerbated social inequity in our societies. Social injustice and police brutality have led to widespread protests and unrest. From essential workers risking their lives on minimum wage to poor living conditions to inadequate access to health care and the digital world, we must right many existing wrongs in the United States and in Europe. German sociologist Jutta Allmendinger and American community leader Bill Strickland will discuss how to heal and preserve the fabric of our communities. This event is being held with support from the Thomas Mann House.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6Q4-fYVYTT6d31sCcIW8hQ
Prof. Dr. Jutta Allmendinger, President of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and Professor of Educational Sociology and Labor Market Research at Humboldt University
Bill Strickland, community leader and Founder and Executive Chairman of the non-profit Manchester Bidwell Corporation

Transatlantic Defense Cooperation? The US Military Drawdown in Germany
2020-06-17 11:00 - 12:00
The Trump administration recently announced a new cap on U.S. forces based in Germany which will result in a reduction of 9,500 troops. The decision was made within the context of the ongoing transatlantic debates about NATO defense spending by individual members and evolving security threat perceptions. Does this move strengthen or weaken the United States, and how does it impact NATO and transatlantic relations?
Join us for a virtual discussion on Wednesday, June 17, at 11:30 am ET with Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis and former Commanding General, United States Army Europe, and Dr. Claudia Major, Head of the International Security Research Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

Resilience and Adaptation: Climate and the Corona Crisis
2020-06-23 11:00 - 12:00
The corona crisis demonstrates that nature ultimately cannot be controlled. It does not negotiate nor does it abide by the rules of maximizing economic benefits. Climate change has long been on the global agenda – but it has not been taken seriously by everyone. Does the current moment provide an opportunity to address environmental concerns in a new way? Experts Claudia Kemfert and Jennifer Morgan will discuss the lessons learned from the pandemic regarding the impact for the climate as well as how recovery funds can be used to push for a green transition in the United States and Europe.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_15ddjYeiS4GPydU8MuyWZA
Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert, Professor of Energy Economics and Sustainability at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin and head of the Energy, Transportation, and Environment Department at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)
Jennifer Morgan, International Executive Director of Greenpeace International

The Impact of COVID-19 on the United States
2020-06-25 11:00 - 12:00
Online Presentation and Discussion with Andrew Frank, Founder & President, KARV Communications; and Eric Andrus, Executive Vice President, KARV Communications.
Andrew Frank and Eric Andrus of KARV Communications will present an overview of the present situation in the United States as the business sector and all of the nation grapple with the pandemic’s enormous global economic and societal impact. They will discuss the complex communications challenges companies doing business in the U.S. may face as the economy begins to reopen – amidst an enduring pandemic and civil rights activism.
KARV Communications has examined public health and economic realities in the U.S., assistance and regulatory initiatives by government and private sector entities, and the potential business and political ramifications of these developments – and will provide insights of interest to companies doing business in the U.S. as well as enterprises around the world.
ACG Young Leader alumnus Andrew Frank brings a wealth of experience in a number of areas, including crisis communications, public affairs and media skills. Prior to founding KARV Communications, he served for 15 years in various positions at Strategy XXI Partners and Kreab Gavin Anderson, including Managing Partner. From 1992-1997 he was a political appointee in the Clinton Administration, including Managing Director of the United States Information Agency’s New York Foreign Press Center, and Senior Advisor for Communications to the Director of U.S.I.A. beginning in January 1993. Andrew graduated from The George Washington University in Washington D.C., and studied at Syracuse University’s London Centre. He is a former Adjunct Professor of Crisis Communications at Fordham University Graduate School of Business, a guest lecturer at Columbia University, American University and others.
Eric Andrus is a senior strategic communications strategist with more than three decades of experience advising corporate, government, and non-profit leaders on a range of critical reputational, financial communications, and positioning issues. Before joining KARV, Eric served as a partner at Finsbury, where he helped the firm’s Fortune 500 clients advance their business goals while facing complex changes and challenges. He received two political appointments during the Clinton Administration: Director of Communications for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Director of the U.S. Information Agency’s New York Foreign Press Center. Eric previously held senior media strategist and spokesperson positions with two New York City economic development agencies, and served as an account executive with Geto & de Milly, Inc., a New York City-based firm specializing in public and government relations. Earlier in his career, Eric served in communications-related positions for a number of presidential, congressional, and state-wide political campaigns. A long-standing member of the Board of United Neighborhood Houses, Eric graduated from Emerson College with a B.S. degree in Mass Communication.

Transatlantic Perspectives: The Local Impact of COVID-19 and Digitalization
2020-06-26 11:00 - 12:00
The coronavirus outbreak has demonstrated ways in which digitalization has helped communities by allowing many people to work from home and enabling students to continue their education via remote learning. We’ve also seen how technology can assist with healthcare both in terms of service and tracking the pandemic. However, the crisis has also exposed a continued “digital divide” – a gulf between those with access to technology and those with little or no access – that has a profound impact on equity in communities. And the increased use of technology also raises concerns about cyber-security and data privacy.
Join us on Friday, June 26, at 11:00 am ET for a conversation about digitalization and cities – during and after the pandemic. Drawing on alumni from ACG programs, speakers include Sunanna Chand, Vice President of Systems Reinvention at Teach for America, Bruce Clark, Executive Director at Digital Charlotte; and Devin Dienes, Project Manager at Digitalstadt Darmstadt.

Resilience and Adaptation: Rethinking Civil Society
2020-06-30 11:00 - 12:00
The corona crisis is affecting almost every aspect of civil society. It is having an impact on individuals, families, and organizations – with long-lasting reverberations for the institutions that shape civil society. Against the backdrop of simultaneous public health and economic crises, there are calls for greater social equity. What does civil society need to address the current challenges? How can institutions and practices adapt to best serve their communities? Practitioners and experts from Germany and the United States will take on these and other questions. Join us on June 30 at 11:00 am ET for a video discussion with Brian Gallagher, President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way Worldwide; Melanie Harrington, Senior Director for Affiliate Equity Programs at the ACLU; and Dr. Andreas Rickert, Founder and CEO of PHINEO.

The European Council Presidency: Can Germany Bring Europe Together?
2020-07-02 11:00 - 12:00
On July 1, Germany will assume the six-month rotating Presidency of the European Council. Germany takes on this role at a critical juncture for the European Union. The public health and economic implications of the corona crisis, Brexit and European cohesion, and the state of the transatlantic relationship are only some of the issues on the agenda. What is expected of Germany in 2020? Join us on Thursday, July 2 at 11:00 am ET for a discussion about Germany and the future of Europe with Dr. Ulrike Guérot, Head of the Department for European Policy and the Study of Democracy at the Danube University in Krems (Austria) and the founder of the European Democracy Lab in Berlin. Dr. Ulrike Guérot is professor at the Danube University in Krems, Austria and head of the Department for European Policy and the Study of Democracy. Moreover, she is the founder of the European Democracy Lab in Berlin, a think-tank generating innovative ideas for Europe. Besides working and teaching at universities in Europe and the United States, Ulrike 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.

Resilience and Adaptation: Culture and the Corona Crisis
2020-07-07 11:00 - 12:00
Social distancing requirements have abruptly put a halt to most cultural events. While museums and libraries in some communities in the United States and in Europe slowly start to re-open, concerts, performances, and many other cultural events are being cancelled for the rest of the year. How can cultural institutions survive under such circumstances – and will they adapt? What can artists, musicians, and cultural managers do? What will the future look like for cultural institutions? Join us on Tuesday, July 7 at 11:00 am ET for a conversation with Elke Buhr, Chief Editor of Monopol, Germany’s largest contemporary art magazine, and Adrian Ellis, Chairman of the Global Cultural Districts Network and Founder/Director of AEA Consulting, on the unique challenges facing the arts and culture in this unprecedented time.

Resilience and Adaptation: Media and the Corona Crisis
2020-07-14 11:00 - 12:00
ournalism and the media play an indispensable role in democracies – especially in times of crisis. How can journalists keep the public informed about the world around them in the midst of a lock-down and with social distancing in place? How can they gather information for their reporting and opinion pieces? And, how does one ensure that alternative facts do not masquerade as opinion? Joining us to discuss the challenges facing the media in Europe and the United States during the pandemic are two editorial page editors.
Join us on Tuesday, July 14 at 11:00 am ET for a conversation with with Sewell Chan (2014 ACG Young Leader), Editorial Page Editor for the Los Angeles Times, and Anna Sauerbrey (2018 ACG Kellen Fellow), Opinion Page Editor for Der Tagesspiegel and monthly contributor to the New York Times. Sewell Chan oversees the editorial board and the Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion pages of the Los Angeles Times. He was named to the position in April 2020. He previously served as a deputy managing editor, overseeing foreign and national news coverage; the front page; the Data and Graphics Department; the multiplatform copy desks; newsletters; and the editorial library. He also supervised the home page and audience engagement teams and helped reorganize them into an integrated News Desk.
Before joining The Times in September 2018, he worked for 14 years at the New York Times, where he was a metro reporter, Washington correspondent, deputy Op-Ed editor and international news editor. He began his career in July 2000 as a reporter at the Washington Post, reporting on local government, education and social services.
A native New Yorker, he grew up in an immigrant family and was the first in his family to finish college. He graduated from Harvard with a degree in social studies and received a master’s degree in politics from Oxford, where he studied on a British Marshall scholarship.
Anna Sauerbrey heads the opinion pages of Der Tagesspiegel and Tagesspiegel Causa, her newspaper’s online magazine for debate. She writes essays and comment for her own newspaper and a monthly column on German politics and culture for the New York Times. The development of Tagesspiegel Causa was supported by Google’s Digital News initiative.
She studied middle and modern history, political science and journalism in Mainz and Bordeaux. From 2005 to 2009, she was a research assistant at the History Department of the University of Mainz. She worked as an intern at the F.A.Z. and ZDF, among others, and was a freelancer for the Mainzer Rhein-Zeitung for several years. In 2009, Ms. Sauerbrey completed a traineeship at the Berliner Tagesspiegel and became a staff member of its opinion editorial department. In 2013, she was an Arthur F. Burns Fellow at the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 2018, she was awarded an Anna-Marie and Stephen M. Kellen Fellowship for Berlin-based Journalists. She conducted research on the role religion plays in American politics.

A Bastille Day Discussion: Emmanuel Macron, France, and Europe’s Place in the World
2020-07-14 14:00 - 15:00
The American Council on Germany is delighted to partner with the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Townhall to host a conversation with ACG Chairman Ambassador John B. Emerson, Vice Chairman at Capital Group International, and former ACG President William M. Drozdiak, nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe and a senior advisor with Europe with McLarty Associates, titled “A Bastille Day Discussion: Emmanuel Macron, France, and Europe’s place in the world” on Tuesday, July 14, at 11 am PT. (Bios for both speakers are included below.)
This special discussion will focus William Drozdiak’s new book, THE LAST PRESIDENT OF EUROPE: Emmanuel Macron’s Race to Revive France and Save the World, where Drozdiak argues that Macron is the last staunch leader working to hold the European project together. The book delves into the plethora of challenges facing Macron at home and abroad — including Trump’s attacks on NATO and the international order, European politics, the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protesters, the resurgence of anti-Semitism, and the endless turmoil of Brexit. The conversation will move beyond Drozdiak’s book to an in-depth discussion regarding Franco-German relations, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and European Union post-pandemic recovery fund, and Europe’s role on the world stage.
To register for this webinar, please click here. We hope you can join us for this timely discussion.

Fighting Unemployment during the Corona Crisis: A Transatlantic Perspective
2020-07-17 10:00 - 11:00
Under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/19, the American Council on Germany and the Heidelberg University Association partnered to hold a series of in-person “Heidelberg Lectures.” Over the next few months, we plan to continue this collaboration in an online format as part of WunderbarTogether 2020.
We hope you can join us on Friday, July 17 at 10 am EDT, for the first of four events. Heidelberg University’s Prof. Dr. Welf Werner – who also serves as the Director of the Heidelberg Center for American Studies – will discuss “Fighting Unemployment during the Corona Crisis: A Transatlantic Perspective.” Born in Göttingen, Prof. Dr. Welf Werner was trained in economics, finance, management, and economic history at the Freie Universität Berlin and Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Before joining the faculty of International University Bremen as Professor of International Economics in 2004, he taught U.S. economic policy and history as lecturer and assistant professor at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies. Welf Werner received his Ph.D. and venia legendi from the Economics Department of the Freie Universität in 1992 and 2003, respectively. He was a John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University’s Center for European Studies in 1994 and returned to the United States in 1997 as a research fellow at both Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and George Washington University.
In February 2018, Welf Werner was appointed Professor of American Studies at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at Universität Heidelberg and director of the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. His research and teaching focus on U.S. domestic and foreign economic policies while giving due regard to their intertwining with history and political science. His interdisciplinary cooperation has occasionally gone beyond the social sciences, as, for example, with the volume Wie viel Ungleichheit verträgt die Demokratie? Armut und Reichtum in den USA, co-edited with Winfried Fluck in 2004. Specific research interests have touched upon fields such as international trade in services, financial market globalization, monetary regime change, natural disasters and international risk management, globalization and inequality, welfare state reform, and the economic determinants of populism.

Welf Werner has occasionally advised private companies and industries on their international endeavors and engaged in public sector consulting, including for the economics ministries of Germany and Jordan. He has been granted research funding and academic honors from institutions such as Harvard University, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, VolkswagenStiftung, the German Academic Exchange Service, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Bundesverband Deutscher Banken, Bremer Landesbank, and Stiftungsfonds Deutsche Bank.

A Marathon EU Summit: Compromise and Concessions
2020-07-23 11:00 - 12:00
After days and nights of negotiations at the longest EU Summit in 20 years, European leaders announced that they had reached agreement regarding a $857 billion pandemic recovery plan. Leaving perhaps her final mark on the European Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel was instrumental in achieving European consensus regarding this new plan.

Join us Thursday, July 23 at 11:00 am ET for a virtual discussion titled “A Marathon EU Summit: Compromise and Concessions.” Steven Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent in Europe for the New York Times, will discuss what the recovery plan means for the EU and for Chancellor Merkel’s legacy.

Steven Erlanger is the Chief Diplomatic Correspondent in Europe for The New York Times, a position he assumed in 2017. He is based in Brussels.
Mr. Erlanger was previously the bureau chief in London, from 2013 to 2017; in Paris, from 2008 to 2013; in Jerusalem, from 2004 to 2008; in Berlin, from 2001 to 2002; in Prague, from 1999 to 2001; in Moscow, from 1994 to 1996; and in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1988 to 1991.
Mr. Erlanger has also served as the newspaper’s editor of cultural news, from 2002 to 2004; as the chief diplomatic correspondent in Washington, from 1996 to 1999; and as a Moscow correspondent, from 1992 to 1994. He joined The Times in 1987, as a metro reporter.
Before coming to The Times, Mr. Erlanger worked for The Boston Globe for 11 years. At The Globe, he was a European correspondent, based in London, from 1983 to 1987, and the deputy national and foreign editor for three years before that. He also served as assistant national editor and assistant foreign editor, and reported from Eastern Europe, Canada and revolutionary Iran.
From 1975 to 1983, Mr. Erlanger was a teaching fellow at Harvard University, first in the College and then at the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He also was the assistant editor of the Nieman Reports, the journal of Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism, in 1975.
Mr. Erlanger shared the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for a series about Russia, and was part of a team awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting, for his work on Al Qaeda. In 2016, Mr. Erlanger was made a chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur by the French government for his long career in journalism. He shared and received the American Society of News Editors’ Jesse Laventhol prize for deadline reporting on 2001 for his work in the former Yugoslavia. He received the German Marshall Fund’s Peter Weitz Prize in 2000 for excellence and originality in reporting and analyzing European and transatlantic affairs and the Robert Livingston Award for international reporting in 1981 for a series of articles about Eastern Europe.
Mr. Erlanger graduated from the Taft School in Watertown, Conn., and received an A.B. degree, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Harvard College in 1974. He majored in political philosophy in the government department. He also studied Russian as a senior fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford.
Mr. Erlanger has published articles in The Economist, The Spectator, The New Statesman, The New Republic, The Financial Times, Foreign Policy, The National Interest, the Columbia Journalism Review and other publications. He wrote a monograph, “The Colonial Worker in Boston, 1775,” for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1975.

Fighting the Pandemic and Balancing Economic, Social, and Health Challenges in Europe and the United States
2020-07-29 10:00 - 11:00
After Germany’s first confirmed COVID-19 case was documented near Munich, Bavaria was forced to take up the fight against the pandemic. Confronted with high infection rates and located in close proximity to Austria and northern Italy, Bavaria had to act swiftly to prevent a health care disaster. But, as the chair of the Ministers-President Conference, Bavaria was also thrust into the national spotlight – and Bavaria’s successful corona crisis management has led to strong approval ratings for Minister President Markus Söder. There is no doubt that the coronavirus crisis has had public health and economic implications on the federal, state, and local levels in Germany – and the United States.
As communities on both sides of the Atlantic try to move back to normalcy, join us for a timely discussion on Wednesday, July 29, at 10 am ET. The American Council on Germany and the Hanns Seidel Foundation are delighted to host a conversation with Michael Chertoff, Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee ReOpen DC, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of The Chertoff Group, and Dr. Florian Herrmann, Chair of the Bavarian Corona Crisis Task Force, Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery, and State Minister for Federal and European Affairs and Media, titled “Fighting the Pandemic and Balancing Economic, Social, and Health Challenges in Europe and the United States.” The discussion will be moderated by Ann Marie Hauser (2007 ACG Young Leader), Vice President for Public Affairs at The Hudson Institute. Michael Chertoff is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of The Chertoff Group and the former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009. Before heading up the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Chertoff served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Earlier, during more than a decade as a federal prosecutor, he investigated and prosecuted cases of political corruption, organized crime, corporate fraud and terrorism – including the investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mr. Chertoff is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1975) and Harvard Law School (1978). From 1979-1980 he served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, Jr.
Dr. Florian Herrmann (CSU) is the Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery, State Minister for Federal and European Affairs and Media, and the Chair of the Bavarian Corona Crisis Task Force. He began his career in politics in 1999 when he became the Director of the Freising branch of the Christian Social Union and thereafter has held many positions within the CSU. Since 2013, Dr. Herrmann has been a member of the CSU Party Executive Board. Since 2008, Dr. Herrmann has been a member of the Bavarian Landtag (State Parliament). Dr. Herrmann received a Master of Law from the University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. in international law in Frankfurt, Germany.
Ann Marie Hauser (Moderator) is Vice President of Public Affairs at Hudson Institute and an ACG Young Leader alumna. Previously, she served as the deputy staff director of the Senate Republican Conference chaired by Sen. John Thune (R-SD). She has held prominent communications positions in both private and political realms. In 2011, she served as communications director for Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s presidential bid, and previous government service includes: communications director for Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE); director of public affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce for Sec. Gutierrez; and spokesperson for international affairs at the U.S. Department of Treasury in the George W. Bush administration. Ms. Hauser holds a Bachelor of Arts from Texas A&M University in speech communications and journalism.

China: A Common Transatlantic Challenge
2020-07-30 11:00 - 12:00
Late last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a controversial speech about engagement with China in the past, present, and future – and called upon democratic and free societies to stand up to an increasingly authoritarian and internationally assertive China. Europe has been directly – and indirectly – affected by increasing rivalry between China and the United States. The Trump administration has long been critical of the stance of European allies vis-à-vis China. However, the United States and Europe have shared interests when it comes to developing an approach to China and this realization may now gain traction through a new initiative, the EU-US Dialogue on China agreed to by Secretary Pompeo and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell. Has the moment for transatlantic collaboration on China arrived? What are the opportunities and challenges for greater cooperation amongst allies across the Atlantic?
The American Council on Germany and the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society are partnering to host an online conversations about the United States, Europe, and China. We hope you can join us on Thursday, July 30 at 11 am ET for a panel discussion with Dr. Melanie Hart, Senior Fellow and Director of China Policy at the Center for American Progress; Dr. Mikko Huotari, Executive Director of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS); and, Dr. Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society, on “China: A Common Transatlantic Challenge.” Dr. Melanie Hart is a senior fellow and director of China Policy at the Center for American Progress. She leads the organization’s work on China and U.S.-China relations. Her most recent work focuses on developing a comprehensive U.S. strategy toward China, analyzing the domestic political factors driving Chinese foreign policy in the Xi Jinping era, tracking Chinese industrial policy in the energy and information technology sectors, and assessing China’s intentions toward the global order.
Dr. Hart has worked on Chinese domestic and foreign policy issues for nearly two decades. Before joining American Progress, she worked primarily in the information technology sector, helping American businesses understand China’s emerging industrial policies. She currently serves on the board of the American Mandarin Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the professional development of current and future stewards of the U.S.-China relationship.
Dr. Hart has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. from Texas A&M University. She studied Chinese at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing and has worked as a Chinese-English translator for Caijing Magazine.
Dr. Mikko Huotari is the Executive Director of MERICS. His research focuses on China’s foreign policy, China-Europe relations and global (economic) governance and competition. He has published on China’s rise as a financial power, trade and investment relations with Europe as well as on geopolitical shifts related to China’s emergence as a global security actor.
Dr. Huotari studied in Freiburg, Nanjing and Shanghai. He holds a Ph.D. from Freiburg University and was a guest scholar at the University of California in San Diego in 2017/2018. In 2019, he was appointed as one of 15 German representatives to the German-Chinese Dialogue Forum.
Dr. Orville Schell is the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society. He is a former professor and Dean at the University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism. Dr. Schell is the author of fifteen books, ten of them about China, and a contributor to numerous edited volumes, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Nation, and The New York Review of Books. His most recent book is Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the 21st Century with John Delury (2013). Dr. Schell worked for the Ford Foundation in Indonesia, covered the war in Indochina as a journalist, and has traveled widely in China since the mid-70s.

The Impact of the Proposed US Military Drawdown - for Germany and Beyond"
2020-08-03 11:00 - 12:00
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced the drawdown of nearly 12,000 U.S. troops from Germany. This decision will have a significant impact on the security of Europe – and has the potential to change the dynamic of the German-American partnership.
Join us on Monday, August 3 at 11:00 am ET for an online discussion with the Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Deputy Foreign Editor, Paul-Anton Krüger, who will discuss the implications of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany. (His full bio is below)
We hope you can join us for this timely discussion Paul-Anton Krüger has been Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Department with a focus on the Middle East and international security since October 2018. Prior to that, he was a correspondent for large parts of the Arab world and Iran based in Cairo for four years. After graduating from the Alte Landesschule in Korbach, he studied journalism in Berlin and Munich. In August 2005, he joined the Süddeutsche Zeitung as a volunteer, worked as an editor from 2008 and as head of the foreign policy department from 2011. In the fall of 2007, Mr. Krüger was a guest editor at the Chicago Tribune as part of the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship, the German-American journalism scholarship of the International Journalism Programs e.V.
