American Council On Germany

Global Financial Stability: What’s at Stake?
2021-05-12 10:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York)
The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a severe global economic crisis. While the current situation in Europe and the United States is different, in an effort to jump-start their economies both the EU and the U.S. are in the process of adopting ambitious stimulus packages. The NextGeneration EU recovery plan is in the process of being ratified by the national parliament of each EU member state. In the U.S., the Biden-Harris administration has proposed major spending programs in. the form of the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan.
Join the ACG and the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung for a discussion about the state of the economy in Europe and the U.S. as we begin to emerge from the pandemic. Can Europe and the U.S. afford this level of spending? Is it sustainable in the short- to mid-term? Should we be concerned about inflation? ACG Chairman Ambassador John B. Emerson and Chairman of the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung Markus Ferber will discuss these questions and more with economist Megan E. Greene. Ambassador 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.
Markus Ferber is a German politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 1994. He is a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), part of the European People’s Party (EPP). He has been the EPP Coordinator of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs since 2018 and also serves as Coordinator of the EU Regulation Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). In addition to his parliamentary work, since 2020 Mr. Ferber has served as Chairman of the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, the leading think-tank in Bavaria and affiliated with the CSU.
Megan E. Greene currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she is working on a book examining the gaps between theory and reality in economics today and how they prevent us from addressing the biggest economic, financial, political, and social issue of our time: inequality. She is also the first Dame DeAnne Julius Senior Fellow in International Economics at Chatham House. She has a biweekly column in the Financial Times on global macroeconomics and appears regularly on TV and radio outlets such as Bloomberg, CNBC, NPR, and BBC.

German-U.S. Relations in 2021: Challenges and Opportunities
2021-05-13 11:00 - 12:00
German foreign policy faces profound challenges in 2021: Strengthening relations with the United States, navigating a complex relationship with China, working to ensure full post-COVID economic recovery in Europe and contributing to strengthening the European Union in the first full year following the UK exit from the Union – all while the 16-year political leadership of Angela Merkel as Chancellor comes to its end in September with a national election already dominating headlines. In conversation with Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship Faculty Chair, Nicholas Burns, and Executive Director, Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Emily Haber, will discuss the future of the transatlantic and the German-American relationship with respect to key geopolitical and geo-economic questions facing her country in a critical election year.
This event is part of the series “Meeting America,” the first of several virtual talks with the German Ambassador and American stakeholders across the United States. 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.
Ambassador 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.
She holds a PhD in history and is married to former diplomat Hansjörg Haber. The couple has two sons.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-05-17 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. These take place on Zoom, providing the opportunity for a more informal and interactive exchange.
The Monday, May 17 at 9:00 am ET, the speaker will be Bloomberg Opinion columnist Andreas Kluth, who was previously Editor-in-Chief of Handelsblatt Global and a writer for The Economist.

Vaccine Nationalism or Vaccine Diplomacy? The Global Quest for Vaccines
2021-05-18 11:00 - 12:00
The coronavirus pandemic has affected nearly every country in the world. It has disrupted the lives of billions of people. The development and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines has been positive. However, while some countries have secured billions of doses others struggle to obtain supplies. We’ve seen cases of “vaccine nationalism” as some countries hoard vaccines and make them available to their citizens and also “vaccine diplomacy” by countries using vaccine distribution to help others while advancing their standing in the international community. In light of these trends, how do we develop a global strategy for dealing with the pandemic? Should vaccines be considered a public good rather than a market commodity? Are there global vaccine distribution programs – and can they be scaled up to meet global demand?
Join the 1014 and the American Council on Germany for a discussion about taking a global approach to vaccine distribution with Thomas J. Bollyky, Director of the Global Health Program and Senior Fellow for Global Health, Economics, and Development at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR); Prof. Dr. Anna Holzscheiter, Chair of Political Science at the Institute of Political Science at the Technical University Dresden, and Head of the Governance for Global Health Research Group at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB); and Dr. Moritz Rudolf, Associate in the Asia Department of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

Thomas J. Bollyky is the Director of the Global Health Program and Senior Fellow for Global Health, Economics, and Development at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University. He is the author of Plagues and the Paradox of Progress: Why the World Is Getting Healthier in Worrisome Ways.
Mr. Bollyky’s work has appeared in general interest publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Atlantic as well as scholarly journals such as Foreign Affairs, Science, the Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He has testified multiple times before the U.S. Senate and served on three expert committees at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and as the co-chair of its workshop on globalization and international regulatory harmonization. He directed the first two CFR-sponsored Independent Task Forces devoted to global health: Improving Pandemic Preparedness: Lessons from COVID-19 (2020) and The Emerging Global Health Crisis: Noncommunicable Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (2014). Mr. Bollyky has been a consultant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a temporary legal advisor to the World Health Organization.
Prior to coming to CFR, Mr. Bollyky served in a variety of positions in the U.S. government, most recently at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). He was a Fulbright scholar to South Africa, where he worked as a staff attorney at the AIDS Law Project, and an attorney at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where he represented clients before the International Court of Justice and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mr. Bollyky received his BA in biology and history at Columbia University and his JD at Stanford Law School, where he was the president of the Stanford Law & Policy Review. He is a member of the New York and U.S. Supreme Court bars.
Prof. Dr. Anna Holzscheiter is the Chair of Political Science at the Institute of Political Science at the Technical University Dresden and Head of the Governance for Global Health Research Group at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB). She has been researching in the field of global health policy for many years, with a focus on the emergence, impact and change of international organizations as well as the manifold relationships between (inter)governmental and societal actors in international politics.
During the Covid-19 crisis, she has been a sought-after interview partner by Deutschlandfunk Nova, radioeins, Deutsche Welle, and the German newspaper TAZ. She also has written opinion pieces on international health policy and the WHO.
Anna Holzscheiter completed her PhD at Freie Universität Berlin in 2006. Before accepting her appointment as Full Professor at TU Dresden, she worked as an assistant professor for International Relations (2015-2019) and as a research assistant at the Research Unit for Transnational Relations, Foreign and Security Policy at Freie Universität Berlin (2006-2014). During the academic year 2014-15, she was John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University. From 2007 to 2010 she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Dr. Moritz Rudolf is an Associate in the Asia Department of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), where he focuses on China, international law, political systems, and regional cooperation and alliances. Previously, he was a Researcher at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin. He holds a doctorate in International Law from the Humboldt University of Berlin, where he wrote his dissertation on the historical, political, and international legal aspects of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The Future of Jobs: Workforce Trends and Preparedness
2021-05-20 11:00 - 12:00
The American Council on Germany and the Aspen Institute Germany invite you to the next discussion in our virtual event series State-to-State: German-American State Legislator Dialogue bringing together state legislators to discuss how subnational actors have to step up to address common transatlantic challenges.
Our third event will focus on how states in both countries are addressing the challenges posed by long-lasting structural changes in our economies and the workplace. What are the specific issues states are facing related to long-term structural changes in our economies? How can states strengthen the ability of enterprises and workers to adapt to changing labor demands and to benefit from investments in new technologies, clean energy, and the environment? How can we equip the workforce with the skills required for the jobs of today and tomorrow? What specific policies should governments consider in light of increased AI automation and growing demand for technical skills? How can incentives for reskilling be democratized to create broader access to training opportunities?
Join us for a discussion with Juan Fernandez-Barquin (R), Florida House of Representatives, Christina Kampmann MdL (SPD), State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Senator Sandra Williams (D), Ohio State Senate (invited). Juan A. Fernandez-Barquin is serving his second term in the Florida House of Representatives for District 119. He currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Professions and Health Subcommittee and is a member of the Post-Secondary Education & Lifelong Learning Subcommittee. He is an attorney with Genovese Joblove & Battista, P.A. Previously, Mr. Fernandez-Barquin was an assistant public defender for the Office of the Public Defender, 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida for Palm Beach County. He also serves in a number of nonprofit capacities, including as the Chairperson for the Board of Directors for the Hearing and Speech Center of Florida, Miami-Dade County’s largest nonprofit provider of hearing and speech-language therapy services. He previously served as an adjunct professor at Miami-Dade College and is a graduate of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Leadership Miami program. Mr. Fernandez-Barquin has been selected as a 2021 ACG Young Leader.
Christina Kampmann has been a member of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2017, representing the Legislative District of Bielefeld. She serves as the spokesperson for digitization and innovation for the SPD parliamentary group and sits on the Europe and International Affairs Committee and the Parliamentary Investigation Committee III (Kleve). Prior to joining the Legislature, she served as Minister for Family, Children, Youth, Culture, and Sports of the state North Rhine-Westphalia from 2015 to 2017. From 2013 to 2015, she was a member of the German Bundestag where she sat on the Interior Committee and Digital Agenda Committee. Ms. Kampmann holds a degree in administration, a bachelor’s degree in political science, and a master’s degree in European studies. Before becoming a member of parliament, she worked for the city of Bielefeld in the job center and most recently in the registry office. Ms. Kampmann is also a member of the board of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and of the Political Advisory Board of the SPD Economic Forum.
Sandra Williams was elected to the Ohio Senate in 2015 and is serving her second term representing the 21st Senate District comprising a part of Cuyahoga County and Cleveland. She currently serves as Ranking Member on the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee, Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee, and Senate Ways and Means Committee and also is a member of the Small Business & Economic Opportunity Committee. Ms. Williams has made strong efforts to improve access to economic development opportunities; such as improving contracting for women and minority contractors, as well as working to expand job training opportunities for Ohioans entering the workforce or transitioning into new fields. She was the joint sponsor of legislation that renewed the Ohio Third Frontier program, which is dedicated to assisting the growth of diverse startup and early-stage technology companies. Ms. Williams has spent more than three decades in public service – as a corrections officer, probation and parole officer, mediator for the State of Ohio, legislative aide, and State Representative – and also served as a member of the United States Army Reserve and was honorably discharged in 1995. She is a member of the Ohio Democratic Women’s Caucus, NAACP, and Black Women’s Political Action Committee.

“Germany’s Role in Europe”
2021-05-26 11:00 - 12:00
The Atlanta Eric M. Warburg Chapter of the American Council on Germany and the World Affairs Council of Atlanta invite you to a virtual discussion with Ambassador Emily Haber as part of the Embassy’s “Meeting America” series.
In early 2021, the U.S. inaugurated a new President, the United Kingdom left the European Union, and the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out has been lethargic in Europe. Looking to the months ahead, Germany will hold a historic election when Chancellor Angela Merkel will step down after nearly 16 years and a new Chancellor will be selected.
Join us for a discussion with German Ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Emily Haber, moderated by Rickey Bevington, Senior Anchor for Georgia Public Radio. This discussion will touch on the transatlantic relationship as well as Ambassador Haber’s take on issues such as the Iran nuclear deal, Russia, and China. Dr. 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.
Ambassador Haber has many years of experience with Russia and the former Soviet Union. She held various posts at the German Embassy in Moscow, including the Head of the Political Department. At the Foreign Office in Berlin, she served as Head of the OSCE Division and as Deputy Director-General for the Western Balkans, among other positions. She holds a Ph.D. in history and is married to former diplomat Hansjörg Haber. The couple has two sons.
Rickey Bevington is a senior anchor and correspondent for Georgia Public Radio and is the award-winning Atlanta-based host of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.” She has interviewed icons as diverse as filmmaker Ken Burns, singer Dolly Parton, journalist Tom Brokaw, rappers T.I. and Big Boi, and former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young. Ms. Bevington has hosted live audience fireside chats with figures including former US President Jimmy Carter, former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark, and World Cup-winning coach Jill Ellis. She regularly moderates live, televised candidate debates for Congressional, Legislative, and Mayoral elections.
Ms. Bevington’s journalism has garnered honors including the Edward R. Murrow Awards, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Southeast (EMMYS), the Society of Professional Journalists and Public Radio News Directors, Inc. Her 2017 TEDx talk is “The Future of News is in our Hands.”
She holds a degree in Comparative Literature from Barnard College of Columbia University, and she studied literature at the University of Strasbourg in France. Ms. Bevington serves on the board of the Atlanta Press Club and is a Trustee of the Georgia Council for International Visitors.

Political Persecution and State-Sanctioned Air Piracy in Belarus: How Should the West Respond?
2021-05-27 11:00 - 12:00
On May 23rd Alexander Lukashenko, who has served as the President of Belarus since 1994, ordered the forced landing of a European civilian airliner traveling from Athens to Vilnius in the Belarussian capital, Minsk, due to an alleged security threat in his country’s airspace. The real objective, however, was to detain a Belarusian political journalist, Raman Pratasevich, and his partner, Sofia Sapega.
European leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden have condemned the forceful diversion of the plane, the threat to more than 170 passengers and crew on board, and the detention of Lukashenko’s political opponent. In response, the European Union has called for the blockade of the Belarusian airspace and a boycott of the Belarusian airlines Belavia. It is preparing a fourth round of sanctions against Belarus.
Join the American Council on Germany for a discussion about how the West should respond to this unprecedented event and Lukashenko’s brazen disregard for the rule of law with Dr. Joerg Forbrig, Senior Fellow and Director for Central and Eastern Europe at The German Marshall Fund of the United States, and Katsiaryna Shmatsina, Fellow at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies. Dr. Joerg Forbrig is a Senior Fellow and the Director for Central and Eastern Europe in the German Marshall Fund’s Berlin office. His work focuses on Europe’s East broadly, including the Eastern-most member countries of the European Union and NATO, the EU’s Eastern neighborhood, and Russia. In addition, he leads GMF efforts to assist civil society in Belarus, and he works closely with the Balkan Trust for Democracy and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation to bolster democracy assistance to Central and Eastern Europe at large. Prior to joining GMF in 2002, Dr. Forbrig worked as a Robert Bosch Foundation fellow at the Center for International Relations in Warsaw, Poland.
He has been published widely on democracy, civil society, and Central and Eastern European affairs, including the books Reclaiming Democracy (2007), Prospects for Democracy in Belarus (2006), and Revisiting Youth Political Participation (2005). He is also a regular contributor to major international media. Dr. Forbrig studied political science, sociology, and Eastern European affairs at universities in Germany, Poland, and Hungary. He holds a PhD in social and political sciences from the European University Institute in Florence and a master’s in political science from Central European University in Budapest. He speaks English, Russian, Polish, and Slovak in addition to his native German.
Katsiaryna Shmatsina is a Fellow at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, where she focuses on foreign and security policy, international risk, Russia, Eurasia, and NATO. Previously, she worked for the American Bar Association where she was involved with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), especially in projects on good governance and rule of law in UNDP in-country offices. She also served as a pro bono local expert on Belarus for the World Bank’s Doing Business and Women, Business, and the Law reports.
In the summer of 2019, she was a research fellow at the Polish Institute of International Affairs in Warsaw. In 2018, she was awarded a fellowship at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security, Washington DC. In 2016, she received a Civil Society Leadership Award from the Open Society Foundations. Ms. Shmatsina holds a master’s degree in International Relations from Syracuse University, New York (2016) and a degree in law from Belarusian State University (2013). Apart from mother-tongue Belarusian, she commands Russian, English, German, and French.

European Digital Sovereignty and Transatlantic Relations with the Biden Administration
2021-06-01 12:30 - 14:00
When the new European Commission under the leadership of President Ursula von der Leyen took office, the strengthening of digital capabilities throughout the European Union quickly emerged as a top priority. Even before her confirmation, Dr. von der Leyen called for Europe to achieve “technological sovereignty in some critical technology areas.” The German Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier also spoke about sovereignty in the context of the storage of European data abroad. An opinion shared by French Minister of Economic and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, who declared in 2020 that “European digital sovereignty will need some big projects to be lead, including the future European cloud.”
With a new administration in Washington, officials from Europe and the U.S. are stepping up talks regarding a new pact for transatlantic data transfers. The agreement – whenever it is reached – will replace the so-called Privacy Shield, the mechanism for legally transferring personal data between the U.S. and EU, which was struck down by the European Court of Justice in July 2020.
In the wake of the massive cyberattack that targeted software firm SolarWinds – which affected at least 100 U.S. companies, nine federal agencies, and six EU institutions – the European Union and the United States recognize the need to work together to develop common cybersecurity standards. They are likely to include cybersecurity in transatlantic talks about technology and data.
Join the American Council on Germany and the French and German Consulate Generals in New York for a discussion with Dr. Regine Maria Grienberger, Cyber Ambassador in the German Federal Foreign Office, and Henri Verdier, Ambassador for Digital Affairs in the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
This event is supported by the French-American Foundation, the French-American Chamber of Commerce, and the German-American Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Regine Grienberger is the Director for Cyber Foreign and Security Policy at the German Federal Foreign Office. Her previous professional experience was chiefly in the field of EU foreign policy as well as EU financial and economic policy, with a focus on general agricultural policy.
She served as Deputy Head of the Minister’s Office (under Sigmar Gabriel and Heiko Maas), Deputy Head of Division E04 (European economic and financial policy), and desk officer for general agricultural policy, with responsibility for crisis management in pandemics, among other areas. Her tasks also included EU public relations and the EU’s external relations with countries of the Western Balkans. She was Head of the Political Section at the German Embassy in Rome and culture, press, and protocol attaché at the German Embassy in Ljubljana.
Dr. Grienberger studied Agriculture in Bonn, Munich, Vienna, and at Michigan State University. She obtained her doctorate in Bonn.
Henri Verdier is Ambassador for Digital Affairs for the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Previously, he was the interministerial director for digital information and communications systems (DG Dinsic) of France; and director of Etalab, the French agency for public open data. Mr Verdier is also an entrepreneur: he was the co-founder and CEO of MFG Labs, an internet-based startup involved in social data mining, and chairman of the board of Cap Digital, the French-European Cluster for Digital Content and Services, located in Paris. He is a member of the ARCEP strategic committee, a member of the CNIL strategic committee, and also served as a member of the board of Paris-Sorbonne University.
In addition, Mr. Verdier was the founding director of Edition Odile Jacob Multimedia, a publishing company in the field of e-learning and executive adviser for innovation at Lagardère Group as well as director of foresight at Institut Telecom. In 2012, he co-authored, with Nicolas Colin L’Age de la Multitude, Entreprendre et Gouverner Après la Révolution Numérique (The Age of Multitude, Entrepreneurship and Governance After the Digital Revolution). Mr Verdier is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-06-02 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. Join us on Wednesday, June 2 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion with political journalist Corinna Emundts. Corinna Emundts (2004 ACG Kellen Fellow) is a political journalist in Berlin. From 2008 to 2013, she was head of the Berlin editorial department of tagesschau.de. Since February 2013, she is the coordinator of and correspondent for tagesschau.de in ARD’s Berlin studio. As a freelance political correspondent, she wrote and reported from Berlin between 2004 and 2008 for the Hamburg weekly newspaper Die Zeit and “tagesschau.de” as well as Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio. Before that, the political scientist and winner of the Theodor Wolff Prize in 1995 worked as an editor and reporter for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, and Die Woche.

Revisiting "The City of Man": The Future of Multilateral Politics
2021-06-03 14:00 - 15:00
From the threat of pandemics to climate change, the rule of law, terrorism, and human rights, the world faces existential problems that nation-states cannot solve alone. But the necessary cooperation in a globalized world presupposes that certain principles and values are shared by all people. Multilateralism is as much a prerequisite as an instrument for all states to cooperate with each other and promote common goals, but also to balance and regulate competing interests.
As described in a recent study published by the Brookings Institution, the current malaise of the multilateral order goes deeper than the nationalistic aspirations of individual politicians. A logic of “you’re with us or you’re against us“ threatens to prevail in the international arena. It is time to ask: What is the future of multilateralism? And, what concrete measures can revive it today?
In today’s environment, what lessons can be learned from “The City of Man: A Declaration on World Democracy,” an initiative which Thomas Mann launched in 1940 together with Reinhold Niebuhr, Antonio Giuseppe Borgese, and others to outline their vision of a stable global system in which humanity would be the guiding principle for securing peace and social welfare.
Join the American Council on Germany and the Thomas Mann House for a virtual discussion with Ambassador Nina Hachigian, the first Deputy Mayor for International Affairs of Los Angeles, and 2021 Thomas Mann Fellows Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Marx of the Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg and Prof. Dr. Michael Zürn of the Freie Universität Berlin; and moderated by attorney and civic leader Kimberly Marteau Emerson. Kimberly Marteau Emerson (Moderator) is an attorney and civic leader. She hosts several events each week to maintain the friendship and mutual support between Germany and the United States. Formerly, she worked in the Clinton Administration as the Director of Public Liaison for the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). Currently, she serves on the International Board of Human Rights Watch and continues to be active with HRW in Berlin. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, ACG Chairman John B. Emerson, former U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, and their three children.
Ambassador Nina Hachigian was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to be the first Deputy Mayor of International Affairs in 2017. Her office seeks to expand Los Angeles’ global ties to help bring jobs, culture, and visitors to the city and to share L.A.’s values and experience. Prior to this, Ambassador Hachigian served as the United States Representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”). She was a Senior Fellow and a Senior Vice President at the Center for American Progress focused on Asia policy and U.S.-China relations and the director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy for four years. Ambassador Hachigian served on the staff of the National Security Council in the Clinton White House from 1998-1999. She received her B.S. from Yale University and her J.D. from Stanford Law School
Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Marx studied Linguistics, Literature, and Catholic Theology in Tübingen, Bonn, and at the University of Virginia from 1984 to 1989. In 1994, he received his doctorate in Bonn with a thesis on Goethe and Wieland; in 2000 he habilitated at the University of Wuppertal with a thesis on Christ Figurations in the Work of Thomas Mann. Since 2004, Friedhelm Marx has held the Chair of Modern German Literature at the Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg.
As a Thomas Mann Fellow, he is examining how the European visions of exiled writers of the interwar period have changed in the face of U.S. political reality. In doing so, he wants to explore which European debates took place in California’s exile community.
Prof. Dr. Michael Zürn is a political scientist. His research particularly focuses on the emergence and functioning of international and supranational institutions and their effects on the global political order. Prof. Zürn is Director of the Department of Global Governance at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) and Professor of International Relations at Freie Universität Berlin. He has been a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and of the Academia Europaea since 2014.
Together with Christoph Möllers and Rainer Forst, during his Thomas Mann Fellowship Michael Zürn aims to describe the profound conflicts that characterize current societies and international institutions — including populism, nationalism, and authoritarianism — in an effort to reassess the legitimacy of normative orders in the state or supranational space.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-06-07 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. Join us on Monday, June 7 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion with Sumi Somoskanda, Senior News Anchor at DW News (Deutsche Welle). Sumi Somoskanda is currently a senior news anchor at DW News (Deutsche Welle), Germany’s international broadcaster. Sumi reports on Germany for various international publications, including The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Global Post, Newsweek, PRI, and USA Today. She served as an editor at the Berlin Policy Journal, Germany’s premiere English-language foreign affairs magazine.
She regularly moderates panels and conferences both in Germany and the US and lectures American university students at the CIEE Global Institute in Berlin. Sumi is an alumna of the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship program and part of the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Network. In addition to her native English, she speaks fluent German and Spanish, and conversational Tamil.

Reading the Tea Leaves: What Will Saxony-Anhalt’s Election Mean for Germany’s Federal Election?
2021-06-07 11:00 - 12:00
Germany is in the midst of a Superwahljahr – with elections in six German states and a federal election which will mark the end of Angela Merkel’s time as Chancellor. In March, voters took to the polls in Baden-Würtemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. This Sunday, the last election in the run up to September 26 will take place in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Although it is a relatively small state, the looming question is whether the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany will beat out the CDU as the strongest party in the state? How will other parties fare?
Join the American Council on Germany for a discussion with political scientist Prof. Dr. Christian Stecker about Sunday’s election results – and what they might mean for German election campaigning in the coming months. Originally from Halle an der Saale, since the summer of 2020, Prof. Dr. Christian Stecker has been a Visiting Professor at the Chair for Comparative Politics and German Government. He is currently on leave from the University of Mannheim’s Center for European Social Science Research. His research focuses on the design of democracies, federal systems, minority governance, and populist parties in parliaments.

Under Duress: Multilateralism, Partnerships, and Strategic Alliances
2021-06-09 13:00 - 14:30
If anything, the Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the common global challenges facing Europe and the United States that know no national or geographic boundaries. Global health concerns, climate change, arms control, an increasingly aggressive Russia, and domestic and international concerns regarding China are among the common challenges that require a joint approach. There is more urgency than ever to prevent a fracturing of the multilateral system.
Join the American Council on Germany and the New York office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung for a discussion between Ambassador John B. Emerson, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany and Chair of the ACG, and Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, German Ambassador to the United Nations, about the pressures on the multilateral system. Ambassador 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.
Ambassador Christoph Heusgen has been the Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations since July 2017 and has been Germany’s representative on the Security Council 2019-2020. Before coming to New York, Ambassador Heusgen served for 12 years as Foreign and Security Policy Advisor to the Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. His career in the Foreign Service also included terms as Deputy Head in charge of European Affairs in the private office of Foreign Minister Kinkel (1993-1997) and Director of the Policy Unit of the High Representative Javier Solana in the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels (1999-2005).

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Brussels?
2021-06-14 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. However, with President Biden in Europe this week, the ACG will shift focus from Germany to the European Union as a whole and the state of transatlantic relations.
Join us on Monday, June 14 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion with Handelsblatt’s Brussels Bureau Chief, Moritz Koch, who will reflect on the NATO and G7 meetings in Europe. Moritz Koch studied politics and economics at the University of Hamburg and Johns Hopkins University. During his studies, he freelanced for Stern magazine and worked for the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. After a traineeship at Süddeutsche Zeitung, he reported first from New York on the financial crisis and then from Washington on President Barack Obama’s second term and Donald Trump’s election victory. In 2017, he moved to Berlin. Since March 2021, he has headed the Handelsblatt bureau in Brussels.

Resilience and Adaptation: The Use of Space and the Future of Architectural Design
2021-06-15 11:00 - 12:00
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended nearly everything we considered to be normal—and that includes how architects and planners think about interior and outdoor spaces. We have changed how we live, work, and travel, how we navigate space, and what we expect regarding safety and sanitation. In the field of design and architecture, the pandemic has upended workflows and standards. Although there is still some uncertainty about the future, as we emerge from the pandemic the time is ripe for rethinking how we will use space moving forward. What will smart, safe, and beautiful design look like in a post-vaccine, post-pandemic world? How can architects meet changing expectations and demands in an altered environment – from corporate, residential, industrial, K–12 education, health care, and cultural spaces?
Join the 1014 and the American Council on Germany for a discussion with architects Jürgen Mayer and Gideon Shapiro. Jürgen Mayer H. is an architect and owner of J.MAYER. und Partner. After studying architecture at the University of Stuttgart, The Cooper Union New York, and Princeton University, Jürgen Mayer H. founded his Berlin office in 1996. He has realized a wide range of different projects worldwide since its foundation. Recent notable projects include the parking garage in Miami Design-District, the FOM university building in Dusseldorf, Germany, a court building in Hasselt, Belgium, and various public and infrastructural buildings in Georgia, such as the airport in Mestia and the border crossing in Sarpi. The most prominent project is the internationally renowned Metropol Parasol, the re-design of the Plaza de la Encarnacion in Seville, Spain with its expansive sculptural wooden construction. Small-scale residential buildings have also gained international recognition, such as the Villa n.n.in Moscow, Dupli.Casa and Casa Morgana. A large number of projects are currently being realized, such as RKM 740 Tower: a high-rise residential building in Dusseldorf with medical practices and surgeries on the lower levels, the revitalization and expansion of an IT campus in Berlin Potsdam and Voltair, a hybrid building in downtown Berlin.
Gideon Fink Shapiro, Ph.D., is a New York-based critic and curator of architecture, landscape and urbanism. Bridging the worlds of history and contemporary design, his writing has been published in journals such as Architect, Domus, Next City, Places, The Architects Newspaper, The Avery Review, Yale Constructs, and Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. He collaborated with Robert A.M. Stern to write The New Residential Colleges at Yale: A Conversation Across Time (Monacelli, 2018) and he co-authored, with Aaron Betsky, 50 Lessons to Learn from Frank Lloyd Wright (Rizzoli, 2021). He also edited Re-Living the City (Actar, 2016) and the Domus Architecture Guide New York mobile app. He is currently working with 1014 to develop an exhibition on the past and future of 1014 Fifth Avenue as a hub for transatlantic cultural exchange.

The Global Semiconductor Shortage: A Challenge and an Opportunity
2021-06-16 11:00 - 12:00
We are experiencing a global shortage in the supply of semiconductors – the microchips at the heart of countless products in today’s economy. From personal computers and cars to washing machines and even toasters, microchips are in great demand. As companies prepare to take on their suppliers in Asia, governments in the United States and Europe explore ways to incentivize semiconductor production at home. Join the American Council on Germany for a discussion with Dr. Reinhard Ploss, the CEO of Infineon Technologies AG, about the challenges – and opportunities – of the current shortage for companies, manufacturers, and governments. Dr. Reinhard Ploss has been a member of the Management Board of Infineon Technologies AG since 2007. He has been CEO since October 2012 (mandated until December 31, 2022).
He began his career at Infineon (Siemens AG until 1999) in 1986 as a process engineer for chip manufacturing in Munich. A decade later, he was the Head of the Power Semiconductor Business Unit, focusing on development and manufacturing. In 2000, he became the President of the Automotive, Industrial & Multimarket Business Group and in 2005 the Head of Development and Manufacturing as well as Operational Management in the Automotive, Industrial & Multimarket Segment
Dr. Ploss was born in 1955 in Bamberg. He studied process engineering at the Technical University of Munich and received his doctorate in 1990.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-06-21 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. Join us on Monday, June 21 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion with Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, Special Correspondent for NPR. Special correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is based in Berlin. Her reports can be heard on NPR’s award-winning programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and read at NPR.org. From 2012 until 2018. Ms. Nelson was NPR’s bureau chief in Berlin. She won the ICFJ 2017 Excellence in International Reporting Award for her work in Central and Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Afghanistan.
Ms. Nelson was also based in Cairo for NPR and covered the Arab World from the Middle East to North Africa during the Arab Spring. In 2006, she opened NPR’s first bureau in Kabul, from where she provided listeners with an in-depth sense of life inside Afghanistan, from the increase in suicide among women in a country that treats them as second-class citizens to the growing interference of Iran and Pakistan in Afghan affairs. For her coverage of Afghanistan, she won a Peabody Award, Overseas Press Club Award, and the Gracie in 2010. She received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award from Colby College in 2011 for her coverage in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
She spent 20 years as a newspaper reporter, including as Knight Ridder’s Middle East Bureau Chief. While at the Los Angeles Times, she was sent on extended assignment to Iran and Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She spent three years as an editor and reporter for Newsday and was part of the team that won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for covering the crash of TWA Flight 800.
A graduate of the University of Maryland, Nelson speaks Farsi, Dari, and German.

Assessing the Rural-Urban Divide and Infrastructure
2021-06-23 11:00 - 12:00
While many metropolitan cities surge forward, rural areas and many low-income urban areas continue to be hurt by demographic decline, loss of manufacturing jobs, rising poverty and lack of investment, and poor infrastructure – both in terms of traditional infrastructure related to buildings, water systems and transportation as well as broadband internet connectivity. Failing to address these issues will deepen the chasm between rural and urban areas, with negative implications for national cohesion. Urgent infrastructure needs are deepening the rural-urban divide and also the gap in urban centers themselves. These communities need school renovations, investments in health care, upgrades to water and sewage treatment systems, improved transportation, and greater access to broadband. Such investments can help to reduce out-migration of younger people and the loss of business opportunities, to increase job growth and economic productivity, and to enable these regions to better face the forces of globalization, digitization, and automation.
To discuss these issues and to explore collaboration at the state-level, the Aspen Institute Germany and the American Council on Germany invite you to the next discussion in our virtual event series State-to-State: German-American State Legislator Dialogue with German and American state legislators including Ellen Demuth (CDU), Member of the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate, Philipp da Cunha (SPD), Member of State Parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Senator M. Teresa Ruiz (D), New Jersey State Senate (invited), and Senator Jerry Sonnenberg (R), Colorado Senate. Philipp da Cunha has been a member of the State Parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania since 2016, representing the legislative districts of Bützow-Land, Güstrow-Land, and the town of Güstrow. He serves as the spokesperson for energy and consumer protection policy as well as for digitization and network policy for the SPD parliamentary group. He also currently serves as the Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee and is a member of the Energy Committee. Born in Hamburg in 1987, he studied electrical engineering at the University of Rostock, specializing in microelectronics and data technology. He graduated with a Master of Engineering (Diplom-Ingenieur) in 2014.
Ellen Demuth was first elected to the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2011 and is serving her third term representing the legislative district of Linz am Rhein-Rengsdorf. After her re-election in 2021, she was elected deputy leader of the CDU parliamentary group and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Committee for Digital Affairs, Digital Infrastructure, and Media. In her previous term, she served as Chair of the Enquete Commission for Tourism Development and was a member of the Committee for Media, Digital Infrastructure and Network Policy and the Committee for Society, Integration, and Consumer Protection. When she was first elected in the 2011 state election, she was one of the youngest members of parliament and the youngest member of her parliamentary group. She is also an elected member of the city council of her hometown Linz and the district council of her region Neuwied.
M. Teresa Ruiz was elected to the New Jersey State Senate in 2007 to represent the 29th Legislative District, which includes Belleville Township and parts of the City of Newark in Essex County. A first-generation Puerto Rican American, she is the first Latina to serve in the State Senate. Senator Ruiz serves as Senate President Pro Tempore. She is Chair of the Senate Education Committee and is a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee and Senate Higher Education Committee. She recently sponsored a bill to address the digital divide which would create the “Broadband Assistance Office” in the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. A lifelong resident of Newark’s North Ward, Senator Ruiz is an advocate for the people and issues in which she believes to promote the ideas of justice, inclusion, and equality.
Jerry Sonnenberg is a Colorado native who has been farming and ranching in northeastern Colorado his entire life. He continues to live and work on the same family farm that both his father and he were raised. He grew up in Sterling, Colorado, graduated from Sterling High School, and attended Northeastern Junior College. Senator Sonnenberg was first elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2006 and immediately became a strong voice for agriculture and rural Colorado. After serving 8 years he was elected to serve from District 1 in the Colorado Senate where he represents the counties of Cheyenne, Elbert, Lincoln, Logan, Kit Carson, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Yuma, Washington, and Weld.

Strengthening Democracies in the Digital Age
2021-06-24 15:00 - 16:30
Technological cooperation is one of the key topics of the transatlantic agenda. The capacity of nations to innovate and regulate will impact their future relevancy. Beyond setting incentives to enhance innovation, regulation and setting standards are at the forefront of the geopolitical dimension of tech policy.
On June 24 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm Pacific Time, Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Emily Haber will join in a discussion with Joel Kaplan, Vice President of Global Public Policy at Facebook; Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center; and Chris Riley, Senior Fellow for Internet Governance at the R Street Institute, to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the digital transformation for the US and the EU with respect to strategies to strengthen democratic public spheres, restore digital trust and promote liberal liberal-democratic values through a global digital order. Nate Persily, co-director of the Stanford Cyber Policy Center, will introduce and moderate the event.
This event is part of the series “Meeting America,” virtual talks with the German Ambassador and American stakeholders across the United States.
This event is co-sponsored by the German Consulate General San Francisco and the Stanford Cyber Policy Center. Dr. 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.
Dr. 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.
Joel Kaplan is Vice President, Global Public Policy at Facebook. In this role, he manages the company’s global public policy strategy, working with governments and non-governmental organizations to foster understanding and support for Facebook’s innovative technology. He originally joined Facebook in 2011 as Vice President of US Public Policy, overseeing the company’s relationships with policymakers at the federal and state levels.
Prior to joining Facebook, Mr. Kaplan was the Executive Vice President for Public Policy and External Affairs for Energy Future Holdings Corp. (EFH). In that position, Kaplan oversaw enterprise-wide public affairs and led EFH’s efforts to publicly demonstrate and communicate its role in the energy industry.
Mr. Kaplan joined EFH from the White House, where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy under President George W. Bush from 2006-2009. He was responsible for the development and implementation of the Administration’s policy agenda. He framed strategic decisions on a full range of policy matters and integrated the execution of legislative, communications, and external outreach and policy strategies on behalf of the President and Chief of Staff.
From 2003-2006, he served as the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget. From 2001-2003 he was Special Assistant to the President for Policy within the White House Chief of Staff’s office. He began his professional career as a law clerk for Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig and then for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Prof. Nathaniel Persily is the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, with appointments in the departments of Political Science, Communication, and FSI. Prior to joining Stanford, Professor Persily taught at Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and as a visiting professor at Harvard, NYU, Princeton, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Melbourne. Professor Persily’s scholarship and legal practice focus on American election law or what is sometimes called the “law of democracy,” which addresses issues such as voting rights, political parties, campaign finance, redistricting, and election administration. He has served as a special master or court-appointed expert to craft congressional or legislative districting plans for Georgia, Maryland, Connecticut, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. He also served as the Senior Research Director for the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. His current work, for which he has been honored as a Guggenheim Fellow, Andrew Carnegie Fellow, and a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, examines the impact of changing technology on political communication, campaigns, and election administration. He is co-director of the Stanford Cyber Policy Center, Stanford Program on Democracy and the Internet, and the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project, which supported local election officials in taking the necessary steps during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide safe voting options for the 2020 election. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a commissioner on the Kofi Annan Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age.
Marietje Schaake is the International Policy Director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center and an International Policy Fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. She was named President of the Cyber Peace Institute.
Between 2009 and 2019, she served as a Member of the European Parliament for the Dutch liberal democratic party where she focused on trade, foreign affairs, and technology policies. Ms. Schaake is affiliated with a number of non-profits including the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Observer Research Foundation in India and writes a monthly column for the Financial Times and a bi-monthly column for the Dutch NRC newspaper.
Dr. Chris Riley is R Street’s senior fellow of Internet Governance. He will be leading the Knight Foundationfunded project on content moderation, running convenings of a broad range of stakeholders to develop a framework for platforms managing user-generated content. Chris will also be doing policy analysis around content regulatory issues related to that project, including work on Section 230 in the United States and the Digital Services Act in the European Union.
Prior to joining R Street, Dr. Riley led global public policy work for the Mozilla Corporation, managing their work on the ground in Washington, D.C., Brussels, Delhi, and Nairobi from Mozilla’s San Francisco office, and worked with government policymakers, stakeholders in industry and civil society, and internal teams at Mozilla to advance their mission. Prior to that, he worked in the U.S. Department of State to help manage the Internet Freedom grants portfolio designated by Congress to support technology development, digital safety training, research, and related work as a part of advancing the expression of human rights online in internet-repressive countries.
He received his bachelor’s in computer science from Wheeling Jesuit University, his PhD in computer science from Johns Hopkins University, and his JD from Yale Law School.

Fireside Chat with Victoria Nuland Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, U.S. Department of State
2021-06-25 10:00 - 11:00
Although strained at times, the transatlantic alliance has remained indispensable. President Biden’s recent trip to Europe for G7, NATO, and U.S.-EU Summits has served as an opportunity for the United States to reengage with its allies. As we reflect on these meetings and think about the common challenges ahead, what are the priorities for U.S. foreign policy? How will these priorities impact the transatlantic partnership?
Join the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Brücke for a fireside chat with Ambassador Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. The conversation will be led by ACG Chairman Ambassador John B. Emerson. Ambassador Victoria Nuland was sworn in as Under Secretary for Political Affairs in April 2021.
Prior to that, she was Senior Counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategic advisory and commercial diplomacy firm based in Washington, DC. She was also a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Distinguished Practitioner in Grand Strategy at Yale University, and a Member of the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy.
A U.S. diplomat for 32 years, Ambassador Nuland served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from September 2013 until January 2017 under President Obama and Secretary Kerry. She was State Department Spokesperson during Secretary Hillary Clinton’s tenure, and U.S. Ambassador to NATO during President George W. Bush’s second term, 2005-2008. Nuland served as Special Envoy and chief negotiator on the Treaty on Conventional Arms Control in Europe from 2010-2011, and as Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice President Cheney from 2003-2005. In addition to two tours at NATO in Brussels, she has served overseas in Russia, China, and Mongolia, and in various assignments at the State Department in Washington.
Ambassador Nuland has a B.A. in history from Brown University.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2021-07-12 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin.
Join us on Monday, July 12 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion with Luisa Beck, European Reporter for the Washington Post’s Berlin Bureau. Luisa Beck is a reporter covering Europe from The Washington Post’s Berlin Bureau where she covers elections, migration, history, art, and the environment. Before joining The Post, she made audio stories for NPR, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and podcasts such as “99% Invisible” and “Rough Translation.” When she wasn’t “cutting” tape, she could be found roaming the streets of San Francisco making location-based audio walks for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the media start-up Detour. She has guest lectured and taught multimedia storytelling to students at the University of California at Berkeley, Stanford, California College of the Arts, and the Berlin Journalism School. In 2020, she was the sole individual to be awarded an ACG McCloy Fellowship in Global Trends, which she will undertake in July and August of 2021.

Saving Democracy: Reinventing Institutions and Practices for the 21st Century
2021-07-12 14:00 - 15:00
Democracy is under attack. Rising populism, waning trust in democratic institutions and practices, and a period of unprecedented uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have strained democratic institutions. What can be done to reinvigorate the intermediary institutions that have been considered essential for democracy’s success since the nineteenth century: political parties and free media?
with Dr. Jan-Werner Müller, Professor of Politics at Princeton University, and Author of Democracy Rules

Democracies in Distress: Europe and the United States
2021-07-13 11:00 - 12:00
On both sides of the Atlantic, popular confidence in political institutions has fallen and voters are increasingly disenchanted with mainstream political parties. In the United States, political polarization is at an all-time high and in Europe political splintering is weakening long-established parties. Additionally, citizens are unable to determine which news sources are trustworthy and increasingly influenced by fake news and conspiracy theories promulgated by both domestic and foreign actors (namely China and Russia). What are some of the causes of these trends and what can be done to address them?
Anne Applebaum, Staff Writer, The Atlantic
Moderated by:
Dr. David Deissner, Executive Director, Atlantik-Brücke

Understanding the Rise of lliberal Politics in Europe and the U.S. - And What to Do About It
2021-07-13 14:00 - 15:00
The decline of established political parties, media, and interest groups has opened the door to anti-democratic forces, posing new challenges for our democracies. This event will examine how Europe’s establishment parties are faltering and how the rise of social media poses new challenges on both sides of the Atlantic. What can be done to rebuild confidence and to increase citizen engagement to improve the effectiveness of our democracies?
Dr. Daniel Ziblatt, Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard University and Director of the Transformations of Democracy Group at the WZB Social Science Center Berlin
Moderated by:
Paulina Fröhlich, Head of Future Democracy Programme, Das Progressive Zentrum

Defending Democracy from Misinformation and Fake News
2021-07-14 11:00 - 12:00
In order for democracies to function effectively, citizens need transparent access to accurate information based on facts. Democratic institutions are being undermined by a proliferation of disinformation which creates chaos, division, and distrust. In many cases, citizens seem to live in parallel universes in which people believe in a completely different set of facts and live in different realities. What can be done to combat misinformation and help guarantee access to truthful, fact-based information?
Nina Jankowicz, Global Fellow at the Wilson Center and Author of How to Lose the Information War
Prof. Dr. Hanna Klimpe, Professor of Social Media and Commissioner for Equity, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
Andrea Shalal, Senior Correspondent with Reuters

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in DC?
2021-07-19 09:00 - 10:00
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. With Chancellor Angela Merkel in the United States to meet with President Joseph Biden, the ACG will shift the discussion from Berlin to Washington, DC
Join us on Monday, July 19 at 9:00 am ET for a discussion about Merkel’s visit and what it means for transatlantic relations with Majid Sattar, U.S. Correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Majid Sattar is the U.S. Correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. After graduating from high school and an exchange year in the United States, he studied political science and history in Saarbrücken and Freiburg. He received his doctorate in 2000 from the University of Freiburg with a dissertation on the American Congress.
He began his journalism career at Heilbronner Stimme, where he worked in the political department. In 2000, he moved to the online editorial department of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In 2004, he joined the political editorial team, and later, he joined the parliamentary editorial department in Berlin. After eight years in Berlin, he moved to Washington to serve as the U.S. Correspondent.

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

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

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

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