American Council On Germany

A Bastille Day Discussion: Emmanuel Macron, France, and Europe’s Place in the World
2020-07-14 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
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.

From Structural Change to COVID-19: Sustainable Strategies from Dortmund and Pittsburgh
2020-08-07 11:00 - 12:00
Cities that were built on iron, steel, and coal have had to overcome deep economic challenges and structural changes in recent decades. Both Dortmund and Pittsburgh have rebuilt themselves as thriving metropolises. However, the spread of COVID-19 is forcing cities to confront a new set of challenges. Three months ago, the ACG discussed the impact of the pandemic with the Mayors of Dortmund and Pittsburgh. (Watch it here.)
Join us on Friday, August 7, at 11:00 am ET for the second webinar with William Peduto, Mayor of Pittsburgh, and Ullrich Sierau, Mayor of Dortmund, for an update on how their cities have developed sustainable strategies to meet the challenges of structural change, a public health crisis, and diversity and inclusion in their communities – and how they are preparing for the future. (Their full bios are below)
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr 2020 and 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. William Peduto was elected to the office of Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh in the General Election on November 5, 2013, and took office as Pittsburgh’s 60th Mayor in January of 2014. Prior to taking office, he worked for 19 years on Pittsburgh City Council – seven years as a staffer then twelve years as a Member of Council. As a Councilman, Bill Peduto wrote the most comprehensive package of government reform legislation in Pittsburgh’s history. As Mayor, Peduto continues to champion the protection and enhancement of Pittsburgh’s new reputation – maintaining fiscal responsibility, establishing community based development plans, embracing innovative solutions and becoming a leader in green initiatives.
Since taking office, Mayor Peduto has led a collaborative effort to make Pittsburgh a leading 21st Century city. The Peduto administration has partnered with the White House on numerous initiatives, resulting in direct access to federal support related to affordable housing, education, economic development, energy efficiency, immigration, manufacturing, community policing, workforce development, technology and transportation. Under Peduto’s leadership the City of Pittsburgh has played an active role in National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Pennsylvania Municipal League initiatives. Pittsburgh was recently selected to join the Rockefeller Foundation network’s 100 Resilient Cities, which provides resources to improve city resilience in the face of climate change, globalization and urbanization trends. In 2015 Mayor Peduto signed a unique agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to make the city a world leader in district energy production and Pittsburgh joined the UN’s Compact of Mayors, a global coalition of climate leaders committed to local action and global impact. Recently Mayor Peduto joined with mayors around the world to reaffirm Pittsburgh’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and efforts to combat climate change. Mayor Peduto is also a founding member of the MetroLab Network, a national alliance of cities and universities committed to providing analytically-based solutions to improve urban infrastructure, services and other public sector priorities.
Ullrich Sierau is the Mayor of the City of Dortmund. After completing his degree in urban planning at Dortmund and Oxford, he worked in the Ministry of Urban Development, Housing, and Transportation of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1994, he became the director of the Dortmund-based Institute for Urban and Regional Development Research of North Rhine-Westphalia (ILS). From 1999–2007 he served as councilor and head of Dortmund’s Department of City Planning before being appointed planning officer for Urban Planning and Infrastructure in 2007.
In 2009, he was elected as Mayor of the City of Dortmund and was re-elected in 2014. Throughout his tenure in office, Mayor Sierau has focused on implementing sustainable urban development projects. As a result, Dortmund was awarded the title of Germany’s Most Sustainable City in 2014 and won the title of Germany’s Most Digital City in 2018.

Returning to the Skies? Air Travel and COVID-19
2020-08-10 10:00 - 11:00
Virtually every aspect of life has changed due to the spread of COVID-19. Perhaps one of the hardest hit industries is travel. Global stay-at-home orders and travel bans have drastically cut domestic and international travel. As some areas of the world begin to reopen, airlines and hotels begin to set in place new precautions to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. When will it be safe to travel again? What will the travel industry look like in a post-pandemic world?
Join us on Monday, August 10 at 10:00 am ET for a special online discussion with Frank Naeve, Vice President of Sales for the Americas for Lufthansa, on what COVID-19 means for the airline industry today and in the future. Frank Naeve serves as the Vice President of Sales of the Americas for Lufthansa. His professional career commenced in 1987 in the air and sea freight division of the Schenker Company and two years later in 1989, he joined Lufthansa’s cargo division.
His career with Lufthansa has been a varied and exciting one. He attended Lufthansa’s International Airline Professional Program, a training initiative designed to prepare young executives for future managerial responsibilities, and following a stint in passenger sales, he moved to Singapore as Lufthansa Cargo’s Regional Marketing Manager for Southeast Asia and Australia.
In 1997, he moved to the pricing department at Lufthansa Cargo’s Frankfurt-based headquarters and took over as Departmental Manager a year later. Soon after, he was appointed Manager Career Opportunities, Development and Recruitment at Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
Mr. Naeve moved to Shanghai in November 2001 as General Manager Sales Greater China, and four years later returned to Frankfurt as Vice President Margin Management. In 2011, he rose to the position of General Manager of Jade Cargo International, a Chinese joint venture of Lufthansa Cargo, and in 2014 became Vice President, Digitization of Lufthansa Cargo.
He was appointed Vice President Asia-Pacific in 2015, and two years later was named Vice President Region South & Southeast Asia and Vice President Region Northern Asia. And, on May 1st, 2019, he was appointed Lufthansa Group Vice President of Sales for the Americas, responsible for sales of the group’s carriers in North & South America out of the group’s New York regional headquarters.

Defense Spending, the U.S. Military Drawdown, and More: Assessing the German-American Relationship at a Critical Juncture
2020-08-11 11:00 - 12:00
There are a number of important issues on the transatlantic agenda. And, yet the relevance of the partnership between the United States and Germany has been called into question in recent years. From defense spending and the proposed U.S. military drawdown, to transatlantic trade and investment, to relations with other countries such as China and Russia, the German-American relationship has been charged. With the German presidency of the European Council, what can we expect for the transatlantic relationship in the months and years to come?
Join us on Tuesday, August 11 at 11:00 am ET for an online discussion about the evolving German-American relationship with Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Senior Member of House Committee on Armed Services, and Bundestag Member Dr. Tobias Lindner (Die Grüne), Spokesman for Security Policy, Chairman of the Defense Committee. The event will be moderated by Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Executive Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project and Executive Director of The Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of the ACG’s Eric M. Warburg Chapter in Boston.
This event is being held as part of WunderbarTogetherUSA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the Germany Federal Foreign Office and implemented together with the Goethe-Institut. A public school teacher turned public servant, Rob Bishop represents Utah’s First Congressional District in the U.S. Congress. Congressman Bishop is a life-long resident of the First District, with the exception of two years he spent in Germany while serving a mission for the LDS Church. He was born and raised in Kaysville, Utah. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Utah with a degree in Political Science. He started teaching at Box Elder High School (BEHS) in Brigham City in 1974. From 1980 through 1985 he taught German and coached debate at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden, Utah, before returning to BEHS. Before retiring in December of 2002, he taught advanced placement courses in government and U.S. History, while serving as the Chair of the History Department at BEHS. Now in his ninth term in the House, Congressman Bishop serves as Ranking Member of the House Committee on Natural Resources and as a Senior Member of House Committee on Armed Services where he sits on the Readiness Subcommittee and the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee.
Since 2011, Dr. Tobias Lindner has served as Member of the Bundestag, representing Südpfalz. He currently serves as Spokesman for Security Policy, Chairman of the Defense Committee, Member of the Budget Committee, Deputy Chairman of the Audit Committee, Chairman of the Green Regional Group Rhineland-Pfalz. He joined the Green Party in 1998, later serving as Party chairman of Germersheim County and the City of Wörth am Rhein. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT).
Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook is a German and American national and the founding Executive Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), which examines the challenges to negotiation and statecraft in the 21st century. In January 2018, she was named Executive Director of the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship. From 2011-2017, she served as the Executive Director of the India and South Asia Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at HKS, a program which ended formal activities in 2018. Her areas of expertise include EU-US relations – including trade and security policy – and digital public policy in urban and national contexts

Pipeline Politics: The Transatlantic Debate over Nord Stream II
2020-08-12 11:00 - 12:00
In mid-July, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced revised guidelines regarding sanctions on energy pipeline projects – including Nord Stream II and TurkStream. The Trump administration is concerned that Nord Stream II, which is nearing completion, threatens to give Moscow economic and political leverage over Europe and will undermine Europe’s energy security. However, these new sanctions may also lead to further tensions in the transatlantic relationship.
Join us on Wednesday, August 12 at 11:00 am ET for an online discussion about Nord Stream II, European energy policy, and what this all means for the transatlantic relationship featuring Ambassador Daniel Fried, Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council and former US Ambassador to Poland, and Dr. Kirsten Westphal, Head of Geopolitics of Energy Transformation for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Ambassador Daniel Fried is the Atlantic Council’s Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow. In the course of his forty-year Foreign Service career, Ambassador Fried played a key role in designing and implementing American policy in Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. As special assistant and NSC senior director for Presidents Clinton and Bush, ambassador to Poland, and assistant secretary of state for Europe (2005-09), Ambassador Fried crafted the policy of NATO enlargement to Central European nations and, in parallel, NATO-Russia relations, thus advancing the goal of Europe whole, free, and at peace. During those years, the West’s community of democracy and security grew in Europe. Ambassador Fried helped lead the West’s response to Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine starting in 2014: as State Department coordinator for sanctions policy, he crafted US sanctions against Russia, the largest US sanctions program to date, and negotiated the imposition of similar sanctions by Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia.
Ambassador Fried became one of the US government’s foremost experts on Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. While a student, he lived in Moscow, majored in Soviet studies and history at Cornell University (BA magna cum laude 1975), and received an MA from Columbia’s Russian Institute and School of International Affairs in 1977. He joined the US Foreign Service later that year, serving overseas in Leningrad (human rights, Baltic affairs, and consular officer), and Belgrade (political officer), and in the Office of Soviet Affairs in the State Department.
As Polish desk officer in the late 1980s, Fried was one of the first in Washington to recognize the impending collapse of Communism in Poland, and helped develop the immediate response of the George H.W. Bush Administration to these developments. As political counselor at the US Embassy in Warsaw (1990-93), Fried witnessed Poland’s difficult but ultimately successful free market, democratic transformation, working with successive Polish governments.
Ambassador Fried also served as the State Department’s first special envoy for the closure of the Guantanamo (GTMO) Detainee Facility. He established procedures for the transfer of individual detainees and negotiated the transfers of seventy detainees to twenty countries, with improved security outcomes.
Dr. Kirsten Westphal is based at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. For more than 50 years, the SWP has provided analysis on foreign policy issues not only to the Bundestag and the German Federal Government, but also to economic actors and the general public.
Dr. Westphal is assigned for International Energy Relations and Global Energy Security at the institute. She was a Member of the Expert Panel to the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation in 2018-2019 and contributed to the Commission’s Report “A New World”, published in 2019. In parallel, she has been leading the Project “Geopolitics of Energy Transformation 2030 (GET 2030)” supported by the German Federal Foreign Office. Over the course of 2019/2020 the follow-up project (EU GET 2030) examines the geopolitics of the energy transformation from the EU’s perspective. This project involves IFRI in Paris, PISM in Warsaw; and Real Instituto Elcano in Madrid. It is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.
Since 2015, Westphal has been conducting a series of Track 2 dialogues with Russia and Poland, with the kind support of the German Federal Foreign Office. Previously, she has worked as a consultant in the energy industry. She has experience in international election observation missions of the OSCE and EU. She is on the Advisory Board of the Regional Centre for Energy Policy Research (REKK) Foundation, Budapest, member of the Scientific Council of the Royal Institute Elcano, Madrid, and on the Editorial Board of the European Energy & Climate Journal.
She has published widely on international energy relations and EU external energy relations. Her books include Global Energy Governance in a Multipolar World (Aldershot/ Burlington Ashgate 2010); and The Political and Economic Challenges of Energy in the Middle East and North Africa (Routledge, 2018). Her recent publications on the geopolitics of energy transformation, on energy security reimagined in times of decarbonization and on the operationalization of SDG 7 have appeared in Nature, Global Policy, Energy Strategy Review, European Energy Journal and at SWP among others.

The Challenge of COVID-19: How Is the German Social System Coping?
2020-08-18 11:00 - 12:00
COVID-19 has disproportionally affected low income and minority communities, increased the digital divide, shown weakness in healthcare systems, and changed the nature of everyday life including work and education. Although Germany was able to suppress the infection rate, the pandemic has taken a toll on its social system.

Join us on Tuesday, August 18 at 11:00 am ET for a webinar with Bundestag Member Ekin Deligӧz (Green Party), who serves on the Bundestag’s Budget Committee and as Spokeswoman for the Bavarian Greens in the Bundestag. She will discuss the impact of the pandemic on German society.
This event is being held as part of WunderbarTogetherUSA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the Germany Federal Foreign Office and implemented together with the Goethe-Institut.

In September 1979, Ekin Deligöz came with her family from Turkey to Germany. In 1992, she passed her Abitur in Weißenhorn, Bavaria and then completed a degree in administrative sciences in Constance and Vienna, which she finished in 1998 as a graduate in administrative science.
In 1991, she was one of the co-founders of the Bavarian State Association of Green Youth and at that time was the spokeswoman for the “Grün Bunt Alternative Jugend Bayern”.
Ms. Deligöz has been a member of the German Bundestag since 1998. From 2002 to 2005, she was Parliamentary Managing Director of the parliamentary group of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen. From 1998 to 2009, she was a member of the children’s commission of the German Bundestag. From 2005 to 2009, she was deputy chair of the Bundestag committee for families, seniors and women. Between 2009 and 2013, Ms. Deligöz was one of the deputy group chairwomen of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen in the Bundestag.
Since 2013, she has been a member of the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag and chairwoman of the Greens in the Audit Committee. She is also a deputy member of the Labor and Social Affairs Committee and spokeswoman for the Bavarian Greens in the Bundestag. Since 2018, Ms. Deligöz has served as the Vice president of the German Child Protection Association “Deutscher Kinderschutzbund”.

The 2020 Political Conventions: Reactions from Berlin
2020-08-21 12:00 - 13:00
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time, the Democratic and Republican National Conventions are being held as virtual events on national television. With dozens of speakers each day, this new format is like a highly choreographed Zoom event with viewers tuning in from across the country and around the world.
Join us on Friday, August 21 at 12:00 pm ET (following the Democratic Convention) and Friday, August 28 at 12:00 pm ET (following the Republican Convention), for a conversation with a group of Bundestag members who are following the conventions from Berlin.

The 2020 Political Conventions: Reactions from Berlin
2020-08-28 12:00 - 13:00
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time, the Democratic and Republican National Conventions are being held as virtual events on national television. With dozens of speakers each day, this new format is like a highly choreographed Zoom event with viewers tuning in from across the country and around the world.
Join us on Friday, August 28 at 12:00 pm ET (following the Republican Convention), for a conversation with Bundestag members Franziska Brantner (The Greens), Thomas Erndl (CSU), and Alexander Kulitz (FDP), who are following the conventions from Berlin.

Wir schaffen das: Five Years Later
2020-08-31 11:00 - 12:00
As the conflict in Syria was intensifying, millions of Syrians sought to escape the danger any way possible – mostly on foot. For many, Germany was the ideal destination. After visiting a refugee camp in Dresden, on August 31, 2015, Chancellor Angela Merkel said “Wir schaffen das” – or “We can manage this” – referring to Europe’s ability to cope with mass migration from Syria. By the end of the year, Germany became the destination for over one million refugees.
Now five years later, on August 31 at 11 am, the ACG will host a virtual discussion on the lasting impact of the estimated 1.1 million migrants who settled in Germany in 2015 and the millions more who settled elsewhere in Europe. Join us for a discussion with Adam Hunter, Executive Director of the Refugee Council USA; Jagoda Marinic, writer and columnist for the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Director of the International Welcome Center in Heidelberg; Victoria Rietig, Head of the Migration Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

How Identity Politics Has Shaped Modern Political Discourse
2020-09-10 11:00 - 12:00
Identity politics has long been thought to help members of disenfranchised communities create a voice for themselves. However, in recent years, identity politics has led to increased polarization between the left and the right, creating a rise of populism in the United States and Europe. Now in 2020, the call for social justice and racial equality have brought identity into the forefront of political debates on both sides of the Atlantic.
As part of the virtual 2020 German-American Conference, the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Brücke invite you to join a virtual discussion with political scientist and Young Leader alumnus Dr. Francis Fukuyama (1985 Young Leader), Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Mosbacher Director of FSI’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), and Director of Stanford’s Master’s in International Policy Program, on September 10 at 11:00 am. In a conversation moderated by German journalist Christiane Hoffmann (1997 Young Leader), Dr. Fukuyama will discuss how identity politics have shaped modern political discourse. He will also share his thoughts on the political implications of the simultaneous public health, economic, and social equity challenges we are facing.

Europe and the United States: An Enduring Partnership?
2020-09-14 11:00 - 12:00
The ACG’s Young Leaders Program and Council on Foreign Relations’ Stephen M. Kellen Term Membership Program will host a discussion on Europe and the United States: An Enduring Partnership? with Manuel Bewarder, Journalist, Welt and Welt am Sonntag and 2018 ACG Young Leader; Tara Hariharan, Director of Global Macro Research, NWI Management LP, CFR Term Member, and 2016 ACG Young Leader; and Seth A. Johnston, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Center for Security Studies, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, CFR Term Member, and 2014 ACG Young Leader.
Please register below.

Resilience and Adaptation: Predicting the Future in Uncertain Times
2020-09-16 11:00 - 12:00
Predicting the future is difficult under any circumstance – but it is especially hard during a period of unprecedented uncertainty. One thing is certain: The coronavirus pandemic has changed the lives of billions of people all over the globe. But, what are the lasting changes? What will our communities look like after the pandemic? Are there any lessons we can learn from this moment in history that can shape the world of tomorrow? Join us on September 16 at 11:00 am ET for a conversation with futurists Maria Bothwell and Gerd Leonhard to learn what a post-COVID world might be like.

USA vs. TikTok – wo steht Europa?
2020-09-22 11:00 - 12:00
Die App “TikTok” des chinesischen Unternehmens Bytedance gehört zu den Onlinediensten mit der schnellsten Verbreitung. Sie ist die erste chinesische App, die weltweit erfolgreich ist. Inzwischen nutzen rund 800 Millionen Menschen TikTok. Mit der TikTok-App können Nutzer kurze Videoclips aufnehmen, bearbeiten und mit anderen Nutzern teilen.
TikTok ist eine Social Media Anwendung, die in erster Linie zur Unterhaltung dient und vor allem bei Teenagern beliebt ist. Gleichwohl hat der amerikanische Präsident TikTok zum Risiko für die nationale Sicherheit der USA erklärt. Die amerikanische Regierung wirft Bytedance, der chinesischen Muttergesellschaft von TikTok vor, Nutzerdaten an die chinesischen Behörden weiterzugeben. Bytedance weist die Vorwürfe zurück. TikTok soll in den USA verboten werden, wenn das Unternehmen nicht verkauft wird. Als mögliche Käufer werden unter anderem Microsoft, Oracle und Walmart gehandelt. Ein Verbot von TikTok in den USA hätte aufgrund der globalen Dominanz der Betriebssysteme von Apple und Google wahrscheinlich weltweite Auswirkungen.
Das Gespräch findet auf Englisch statt. Die Teilnahme ist kostenlos, erfordert aber eine Anmeldung.
John Lee befasst sich mit dem Aufstieg Chinas digitaler Technologien und ihren internationalen Auswirkungen. Dabei verbindet er Aspekte der Volkswirtschaftslehre, der Internationalen Beziehungen und der Sicherheitsstudien. Lee studierte War Studies am King’s College London (MA) und Internationales Recht an der Australian National University (LLM). Vor seinem Wechsel zu MERICS arbeitete er für das australische Ministerium für Internationale Beziehungen und Außenhandel, für das australische Verteidigungsministerium sowie für das Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Von Mai bis Juli 2016 war John Lee Visiting Academic Fellow am MERICS.
Christoph Keese ist geschäftsführender Gesellschafter der Axel Springer hy GmbH und begleitet namhafte Unternehmen, Regierungsinstitutionen und Städte bei Fragen der digitalen Transformation und technologischen Innovation. Der Journalist, Wirtschaftswissenschaftler, Verlagsmanager und Bestsellerautor arbeitet seit Anfang der 1990er Jahre an der Digitalisierung von Geschäftsmodellen. Er gehört zu den Mitgründern der Financial Times Deutschland, leitete als Chefredakteur die WELT am Sonntag und WELT Online und trieb, zuletzt als Executive Vice President, die Digitalisierung bei Axel Springer voran.

Knowing Each Other? Mutual Perceptions Across the Atlantic
2020-09-23 11:00 - 12:00
As part of the Road to the Election and Beyond Virtual Series, the ACG will host a webinar with Ambassador Dr. Emily Haber, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States; and Ambassador John B. Emerson, Vice Chairman at Capital Group International, Chairman of the American Council on Germany, and former Ambassador of the United States to the Federal Republic of Germany; and moderated by Dr. David Deißner, Executive Director of Atlantik-Brücke e.V.
The two Ambassadors, both renowned experts in the realms of foreign policy and transatlantic relations, will share with us their assessment of how Americans currently perceive their German partners across the Atlantic –and vice versa. What larger trends can we deduce from the current state of transatlantic relations? Are we, in fact, still “wunderbar together”? The moderated discussion will last about 35 minutes, followed by 25 minutes of Q&A.
This is the second session of the transatlantic virtual event series Road to Election Night & Beyond #R2EN, which is organized and hosted by several transatlantic institutions and political foundations. More information on the virtual series can be found at www.landing.berlin-election-night.de.
Please register below.

E-Mobility Today: Challenges and Opportunities on both Sides of the Atlantic
2020-09-25 11:00 - 12:30
The ACG and the Chicago International Trade Commissioners’ Association will host a webinar with Michael D’Orazio, President at Sportiva; Stefan Knupfer, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company; James Schulte, Director at Exelon; Eric Tanenblatt, Global Chair, Public Policy & Regulation at Dentons; and moderated by Elke Rehbock, Partner at Dentons and ACG Board Member.
Michael D’Orazio is the President of Sportiva, LLC. Sportiva, LLC is a professional Engineering Consulting Firm focused on mobility and autonomous vehicle technologies through our technology partners. Michael is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Stefan Knupfer leads McKinsey’s Sustainability Practice in the Americas and has global responsibility for helping the firm’s consultants develop sustainability expertise. He works with clients globally, including multiple recent projects in Brazil, China, Germany, and North America. As a former leader of the Automotive & Assembly Practice and lead partner in the firm’s Detroit office, Stefan’s client work centers on the automotive, aerospace, and advanced-electronics sectors. With his sustainability focus, he leads McKinsey’s cross-industry mobility discussions with more than 50 cities around the world, charging-infrastructure providers, ridesharing companies, and car and truck OEMs.
Elke Rehbock (Moderator) is a partner at Dentons US LLP and heads the German desk. She focuses on U.S. and foreign corporate and financial institution clients representing them in domestic and international corporate, finance and commercial matters. Mrs. Rehbock serves on the Board of the ACG and the Lyric Opera in Chicago, and is actively involved with Legacy Charter School in Chicago’s North Lawndale’s neighborhood. She earned her JD from Cornell Law School in 2004. Before that she graduated from Sciences Po Paris – Ecofi (Institut d’Études Politiques) in 2001. Mrs. Rehbock studied law in both France (Université Panthéon-Assas, 2000, Maîtrise en Droit) and Germany (Universität des Saarlandes, 1998, DEUG, Mention Droit).
James Schulte leads Exelon’s Growth initiative across its regulated and competitive footprint – employing a lean startup approach to build new businesses that solve customer problems and help transform the utility business model. As part of the Innovation team, James also works on changing the company’s culture and deploying technology to boost efficiency. James is passionate about the Utility of the Future and making our electric power system more sustainable.
Eric Tanenblatt is the Global Chair of Public Policy and Regulation of Dentons. He also leads the firm’s US Public Policy Practice, leveraging his three decades of experience at the very highest levels of the federal and state governments. Mr. Tanenblatt, a renowned lecturer and political counselor who’s widely regarded as one of the nation’s preeminent public policy thought leaders, has served in the administrations of three US presidents and as a senior advisor to a US senator and governor, and held a US Senate-confirmable post governing a federal agency. He has a passion for shepherding disruptive companies and industries through the complicated web of law and regulation, and often writes and speaks about the innovation economy. He leads Dentons’ global Autonomous Vehicles group and developed the group’s Driverless Commute blog, a popular digest tracking regulatory, political and technical developments in the world of automotive autonomy.

Creating a Global Framework for Containing the Coronavirus
2020-09-28 11:00 - 12:00
2020 has been overshadowed by the novel coronavirus pandemic. National governments, societies, health care systems, and multinational corporations have raced to contain a constantly evolving public health crisis. As we enter the fall, the COVID-19 pandemic shows little signs of abating – but this is not the time to give up. Join us on September 28 at 11:00 am ET for a conversation with ACG Board Member Dr. Franklin W. Maddux, Global Chief Medical Officer and Member of the Management Board of Fresenius Medical Care, who will talk about how agility, ingenuity, and innovation have helped come to terms with the pandemic. Franklin W. Maddux is Global Chief Medical Officer and Member of the Management Board for Fresenius Medical Care, overseeing the delivery of high-quality, value-based care for the world’s most expansive kidney care organization. His distinguished career encompasses more than three decades of experience as a physician, expert nephrologist, technology entrepreneur, and health care executive. Dr. Maddux joined Fresenius Medical Care in 2009 after the company acquired Health IT Services Group, a leading electronic health record (EHR) software company, which he founded. He developed one of the first laboratory electronic data interchange programs for the US dialysis industry and later created one of the first web-based EHR solutions, now marketed under Acumen Physician Solutions.
He previously served as chief medical officer and senior vice president for Specialty Care Services Group and is the former president of Virginia’s Danville Urologic Clinic, where he was a practicing nephrologist for nearly two decades. An alumnus and former Trustee of Vanderbilt University, Dr. Maddux earned his medical degree from the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he holds a faculty appointment as clinical associate professor. His writings have appeared in leading medical journals around the world, and his pioneering health care information technology innovations are part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

Media(R)evolution Talk: Newsroom Culture and 'Culture Wars': Journalism, Diversity, and Changing Societies
2020-09-30 11:00 - 12:00
The economic basis of journalism is eroding, journalistic structures are breaking away, and at the same time media are under increased social scrutiny: literally. In many places, journalistic offerings are achieving record coverage and audience figures. But they have long lost their role as (largely) unquestioned brokers of information and knowledge. While conspiracy theories are gaining ground among sections of the population even in times of pandemics, controversies over diversity in editorial and reporting are gaining momentum on both sides of the Atlantic.
Much remains to be done in terms of what socio-cultural and ethnic backgrounds, experiences, and views are expressed and represented in newsrooms. In both Europe and the United states controversies over opinion-pieces after the killing of George Floyd have sparked a debate about representation and responsiveness in journalism – often with an identity and generational dimension. At the same time, various initiatives both in the USA and in Europe demonstrate how diversity can strengthen journalism.
Speakers:

Paulina Fröhlich, Head of Programme Future of Democracy, Das Progressive Zentrum
Martina Guzmán, Damon J. Keith Race and Justice Journalism Fellow at the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights, Wayne State University Law School
Nil Idil Cakmak, Neue Deutsche Medienmacher
Aleksandra Tulej, Head of Service, biber Verlagsgesellschaft, Vienna

Moderated by Leonard Novy (ACG Multilateral Young Leader alumnus), Director of Institute for Media and Communications Policy

Marking 30 Years of German Unification: What Lies Ahead?
2020-10-01 11:00 - 12:00
Marking 30 Years of German Unification: What Lies Ahead?
A Conversation with Robert B. Zoellick
Lead U.S. Official for the Two-Plus-Four Negotiations on German Unification
and Former President of the World Bank,
U.S. Trade Representative, and Deputy Secretary of StateThursday, October 1, 2020
11:00 am to noon Eastern Time
Saturday, October 3, marks the 30th anniversary of German Unification. Join the American Council on Germany and the German Consulate General in New York for a discussion with Robert B. Zoellick, the Lead U.S. Official for the Two-Plus-Four Negotiations which ultimately led to German Unification. He will reflect on the historic developments 30 years ago, talk about lessons learned, and share his thoughts on current and future challenges for the transatlantic alliance.
Robert B. Zoellick’s government experience spans six U.S. Presidencies – during the Cold War, in its closing chapter, and into the first decades of the 21st century. He has served as Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary, and Counselor of the State Department; Ambassador and U.S. Trade Representative; Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury; Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House; and President of the World Bank. Under Secretary of State James A. Baker III, Mr. Zoellick was the lead U.S. negotiator in the Two-Plus-Four process for Germany’s unification. The German Government awarded him the Knight Commanders Cross for his work.
Mr. Zoellick currently serves as Senior Counselor at Brunswick Geopolitical, an advisory service of Brunswick Group, and a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. In addition, Mr. Zoellick serves on the boards of Temasek, Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, and Twitter, Inc., chairs the International Advisory Council of Standard Chartered Bank, and is on the Advisory Board of Swiss Re. He is a member of the boards of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Carnegie Endowment, chairs the Global Tiger Initiative, and is a member of the Global Leadership Council of Mercy Corps, a global humanitarian agency. His most recent book, America in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, was published in August.

Marking 30 Years of German Unification: What Lies Ahead? [virtual] Transatlantic Townhall with Young Bundestag Members
2020-10-05 12:00 - 13:00
Marking 30 Years of German Unification: What Lies Ahead?
[virtual] Transatlantic Townhall with Young Bundestag Members
Bela Bach (SPD), Gyde Jensen (FDP), and Elisabeth Kaiser (SPD)
Monday, October 5, 2020
12:00 – 1:00 pm ET
Join the American Council on Germany and the German Consulate in New York for a discussion with young Bundestag members as they reflect on the 30th anniversary of German Unification – and what it means for them, given that they were young children when this historic event occurred. How do they view the development of unified Germany over the last three decades? How important is this milestone today and as Germany looks to the future? This event is part of a series of [virtual] Transatlantic Town Halls: German Bundestag Member Dialogues, which is being organized by the American Council on Germany under the auspices of WunderbarTogether USA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Goethe-Institut. Bela Bach is a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving in the Bundestag representing the Free State of Bavaria since 2020. Born in Magdeburg, in the eastern State of Saxony-Anhalt, she completed her Abitur in 2010 and subsequently studied law at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich until 2018. She has been a member of the SPD since 2007. She became a member of the Bundestag in February of this year and serves on the Committee on Transportation and Digital Infrastructure and the Committee on Petitions. In addition to these committee assignments, Ms. Bach has been a substitute member of the German delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) since 2020, where she serves on the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
Gyde Jensen (ACG Young Leader alumna) became a member of the Bundestag in 2018, making her the youngest female member of parliament in the 19th German Bundestag at that time. On 31 January 2018, she assumed the chairmanship of the Bundestag Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, making her the youngest committee chairwoman in the history of the Bundestag.
In addition to her role in parliament, Ms. Jensen has been serving as member of the German delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2018. As member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), she is part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group. She currently serves on the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, and the Sub-Committee on Human Right.
Elisabeth Kaiser has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the Free State of Thuringia since 2017. She is a member of the Committee for Home Affairs and the Committee for Construction, Housing, Urban Development, and Communities. In addition to her committee assignments, Ms. Kaiser has been a member of the German delegation to the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly since 2019. From 2014 until 2017, she worked as press spokesperson of the SPD parliamentary group in the State Parliament of Thuringia.

Resilience and Adaptation: Is This a Tipping Point for Higher Education?
2020-10-06 11:00 - 12:00
This fall, as students go back to school – in-person and online – colleges and universities are facing a new set of challenges. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, what is the future of higher education in Germany and the United States? Join 1014 and ACG for a discussion with German and American educators and students to learn about how colleges and universities adapt – with possibly long-lasting changes that will shape higher education for years to come.
Speakers:
Dr. Diana Canay (invited), research assistant and deputy of the Diversity Officer, Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel
Carson Crochet, a Davidson College Junior, who works on the College Crisis Initiative
Dr. Chris Marsicano, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Educational Studies, Davidson College
Dr. Uta G. Ploiger, Dean, College of Social Sciences and Humanities; Professor of History, Northeastern University Dr. Diana Canay is a Research Assistant for the German Department and Deputy of the Diversity Officer at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel. She completed her studies in German and Philosophy CAU Kiel in 2019. In 2020, she was awarded Aenne Liebreich Prize for outstanding theses on issues of social diversity and/or social justice.
Carson Crochet is a student at Davidson College in North Carolina. She is a member of the College Crisis Initiative, Born out of the COVID-19 global pandemic, The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) seeks to learn how colleges and universities innovate in a crisis mindset.
Dr. Christopher R. Marsicano is an Assistant Professor of the Practice in Educational Studies at Davidson College. He completed his Ph.D. in higher education policy in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University. His research includes higher education policy and finance, politics and public opinion as related to equity in higher education, and civic engagement. His work has been published or featured in peer-reviewed academic journals like Educational Researcher and popular print outlets like the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.
Dr. Uta G. Poiger is Dean of the College of Social Science and Humanities and Professor of History at Northeastern University. With the college’s faculty, staff and students, she works to enhance the college’s and the university’s leadership in Experiential Liberal Arts. As the organization philosophy and integrative educational model of the college, the Experiential Liberal Arts is intertwined with Northeastern’s mission in Humanics. Under her leadership, the college has developed three areas of strategic focus: the intersections of resilience and sustainability; cultural transformations, governance and globalization; and network science, digital humanities and information ethics. Together with Richard Daynard, she led the committee that formulated Northeastern’s new general education curriculum NUpath, implemented in 2016. Dr. Poiger holds a Ph.D. in History from Brown University and an MA in History from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She began her studies at Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, Germany. Before coming to Northeastern as chair of the History Department in 2011, she taught for sixteen years at the University of Washington, Seattle, where she was the Giovanni and Amne Costigan Endowed Professor of History and Adjunct Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Media(R)evolution Talk: Reporting the 'Significant Other': Transatlantic Perspectives on Foreign News
2020-10-07 11:00 - 12:00
Just under four weeks before the US presidential election and one year before the German federal election, we are dealing with one of the most dazzling forms of journalistic work: the foreign correspondent. What often seems glamorous and exciting to the reader, can be many things in reality: lonely, adventurous, boring or risky. And what is considered newsworthy does not always find buyers in the domestic editorial department, let alone the public. This is proven by a multitude of biographical reports. But what is the current state of the job description and practice? What role do “our woman” and “our man in xyz” play in the face of globalization and information overload? What political significance is still attached to foreign reporting? And if everyone only pays attention to the G8 and trouble spots, what does this mean for the “periphery” and our reported experience of the world?
Speakers:

Daniel Friedrich Sturm, US Correspondent for Die WELT/Welt am Sonntag, Washington, DC
Melissa Eddy, Germany Correspondent for The New York Times, Berlin

Moderated by Leonard Novy (ACG Multilateral Young Leader alumnus), Director of the Institute for Media and Communications.

Making Germany More Welcoming and Economically Stronger: The Role of Refugees and Migration Policy
2020-10-08 11:00 - 12:00
In 2015, more than a million migrants sought asylum in Europe. In 2016 and 2017, hundreds of thousands more crossed the Mediterranean to find a better life. Germany adopted an open border policy, welcomed refugees, and implemented strategies to integrate them into society by providing access to healthcare, education, and jobs. Migration continues to challenge governments and communities around the world. Learning about how Germany – and Europe – managed the influx of migrants can provide lessons for communities in the United States.
Regina Omlor, Senior Program Officer for Africa at Relief International, will moderate a conversation with Dr. Petra Bendel, who chairs the Advisory Council of the German Federal Office of Migration and Refugees, and David Lubell, Founding Director of the Welcoming International.
This event is hosted by the American Council on Germany, World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, and the World Affairs Councils of America as part of WunderbarTogether USA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Goethe-Institut Petra Bendel is Professor of Political Science and Academic Director of the Centre for Area Studies at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. Her fields of expertise include the European and German refugee and asylum system as well as integration policy at various political levels. Dr. Bendel is Chair of the Advisory Council of the Federal Office of Migration and Refugees (BAMF), a Member of the Federal Government’s Expert Commission on the Framework Conditions for Integration and an advisor for various expert committees.
David Lubell is the Founder of Welcoming America, and recently shifted his full-time focus to the organization’s international efforts as the Founding Director of the Welcoming International program. An accomplished social entrepreneur, Mr. Lubell inspires people to build a different kind of world — one that embraces immigrants and refugees, and fosters opportunity for all. Welcoming America, established in 2009, works with over 200 cities and towns across the U.S., supporting NGO’s and local governments to transform their communities into inclusive places where everyone thrives.
Regina Omlor (moderator) is the Senior Program Officer for Africa at Relief International, a global nonprofit that provides humanitarian and development assistance to vulnerable communities in fragile contexts across Africa, Middle East, and Asia. Since joining Relief International in 2017 in Washington DC, she has completed short-term assignments in Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Jordan, and the Philippines. Prior to Relief International, Ms. Omlor worked with Partner4Work, the workforce development organization for the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County and volunteered in the Office of Mayor Peduto. She has gained experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in Europe and the United States. Originally from Kenya, Ms. Omlor grew up in Germany and has lived in France, Belgium, and the United States.

A “Law and Order” Election: The Criminal Justice System and Political Discourse
2020-10-08 13:00 - 14:00
In current polls, the criminal justice system is one of the top three issues Americans are concerned about in the upcoming elections. The American Council on Germany and Heidelberg University Association are proud to feature Staten Island NY District Attorney, former U. S. Congressman, and Heidelberg alumnus Michael McMahon in conversation with Annett Meiritz, a U.S. Correspondent for the Handelsblatt Media Group based in Washington DC. Please join us for a discussion on the unprecedented way in which decisions being made by local police and prosecutors are taking on a national dimension. Upon taking office in 2016, District Attorney Michael McMahon made it a priority to transform the Richmond County DA’s Office (RCDA) into a modern prosecutor’s office focused on precision prosecution, problem-solving crime prevention, and bridge building between law enforcement and the communities it protects.
Mr. McMahon has utilized his broad and deep experience in law and public service to implement and pursue the issues he promised Staten Islanders to address. He has successfully attacked the Island’s criminal justice issues: From the opioid epidemic to traditional street crime and gun violence; from domestic violence to economic crime; from crimes against our children to assaults on women and seniors, and even creating a new unit to protect animals. He continues to work with partners in law enforcement, especially our police officers and detectives, to drive down crime numbers and keep Staten Islanders safer.
Prior to serving as District Attorney, Mr. McMahon was extremely active in a career serving the people of Staten Island on the local, city, state, and federal levels. In 2001, he successfully ran for the North Shore City Council seat where he served for three terms. In November 2008, he was elected to represent Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn in the U.S. House of Representatives.
DA McMahon studied at Universität Heidelberg from 1980-1982 and was at the the Institut für Deutsch als Fremdsprache Philologie.
Annett Meiritz is the U.S. Correspondent for Germany‘s leading business, trade and finance daily Handelsblatt. She covers the US-Administration and Congress, usually with an economic angle. Previously she worked as Parliamentary Correspondent for Germany‘s leading news portal Spiegel Online, based in Berlin. She holds a B.A. degree in Modern History and Media Science and was educated to be a Journalist at Berlin Journalism School.

Beyond the Campaign Trail: The Future of the American Presidency
2020-10-09 09:00 - 10:00
Roughly four weeks ahead of Election Day, the world is again focused on the U.S. electoral map. No day passes without pollsters offering their latest take on the most recent numbers and data. But, looking beyond the election on November 3, invites a larger question: No matter whether the next President is named Biden or Trump, what will the future of the American presidency look like? And what role will Democrats and Republicans play in shaping the presidency for the years to come?
Join us for a discussion with veteran journalists Peter Baker (co-author of “The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III”) and David Frum (“Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy”), who will take a look beyond the campaign trail, during the final stretch of a contested race for the White House. The moderated discussion will last about 35 minutes, followed by 25 minutes of Q&A.
This is the third session of the transatlantic virtual event series Road to Election Night & Beyond #R2EN, which is organized and hosted by several transatlantic institutions and political foundations. More information on the virtual series can be found at www.landing.berlin-election-night.de.
Please note: Registered participants will receive the dial-in details via e-mail one day ahead of the event. This discussion will be on the record and will be posted afterward in its entirety on Youtube.
Registration has ended for this event.

The “Tech Gap”: Race, Income Equality, and the Digital Divide
2020-10-12 11:00 - 12:00
When the pandemic struck, millions of people across the United States and in Germany were forced to work from home and attend school remotely. While for many, this was an easy transition; others were left without access to high-speed internet and computers or tablets. The digital divide broke down along economic and racial lines – showing that structural racism runs deeper than many previously thought.

Join us on Monday, October 12, at 11 am ET for a conversation with two experts on how the digital divide results from racial and income inequality.
Janina Kugel is a former Siemens AG senior executive who has extensive experience in the fields of human resources and diversity.
Apjit Walia is Managing Director and the Global Head of Technology Investment Strategy at Deutsche Bank. He recently published a report on race and the digital divide.

Janina Kugel is a Non-Executive Board Member, Senior Advisor, and Speaker. Prior to this, she was Chief Human Resources Officer and a member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG with global responsibility for Human Resources, including the areas of Diversity, Learning and Education, Social Innovation, and Environmental Protection, Health Management and Safety (EHS).
Janina started her career as a management consultant at Accenture. During this period, she worked for international companies throughout Europe and the United States, mainly focusing on process reengineering, restructuring and organizational design.
After moving into industrial organizations, she held several management and leadership positions at Siemens in the areas of Business Strategy and Human Resources. At Osram Lighting Janina served as Chief Human Resources Officer, where she had global responsibility for Human Resources, Executive Development and Diversity.
Janina is a non-executive board member of Konecranes Oyj, Finland and the German Pension Benefit Guaranty Association. She is an active supporter of various national and international diversity initiatives. She is also a member of the international Advisory Board of Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, Germany and IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. She is serving as board member of several government initiatives such as the Innovation Council (Federal Ministry of Digitization) and the “Council of future of work” (Federal Ministry for Labor and Social Affairs).
Janina holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Mainz, Germany, and the University of Verona, Italy.
Apjit Walia is a Global Technology and Macro Investor. He is currently the Managing Director & Global Head of Technology Investment Strategy at Deutsche Bank.
Apjit spent a decade as a Senior Portfolio Manager running Technology focused Macro funds at some of the world’s largest hedge funds including Caxton Associates and Moore Capital with Capital Allocation in excess of $1 Billion. Prior to being a hedge fund manager, he was the Managing Director and Lead Technology analyst at RBC Capital where he was ranked Number 1 globally in each year of coverage and cited as the bank’s most impactful analyst on Wall Street.
Apjit has won several awards including the Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street”. He has been widely featured in print and visual media including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, Forbes, CNBC, Bloomberg, BBC and cited as “Walia is the Ax on Intel’, “Apjit Walia is usually the first to call the Semiconductor and Tech cycle’, “Apjit is uncanny with his calls on Tech”, “Walia connects Tech to the Economy better than anyone on Wall Street”. Apjit grew up in three continents and is fluent in four languages.
He majored in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of London with focus on Aircraft Propulsion. Apjit is Vice-chairman of the Mehar Trust that focuses on girl empowerment in rural parts of the world.
