Responding to Democratic Threats in an Age of Crisis: A Transatlantic Perspective
2025-05-08 12:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
The American Council on Germany will host the Dr. Richard M. Hunt Memorial Lecture and Luncheon with Dr. Daniel Ziblatt, Director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard University, on “Responding to Democratic Threats in an Age of Crisis: A Transatlantic Perspective”

Dr. Daniel Ziblatt is the Director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University, where he is also Eaton Professor of Government. He leads a research group based in Germany at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. His current research focuses on the comparative study of democracy and authoritarianism with a focus on Europe and the United States.
He is the author of four books, including How Democracies Die (2018), co-authored with Steven Levitsky, a New York Times bestseller and described by The Economist magazine as “the most important book of the Trump era.” In 2023, he published Tyranny of the Minority, an analysis of American democracy in comparative perspective, also with Steve Levitsky and a New York Times bestseller. Prior to this, he authored the prize-winning book Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, a history of democracy in Europe, in addition to a book on European state-building titled Structuring the State.
In 2023, Dr. Ziblatt was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In recent years he has been a Fellow or Visiting Professor at the European University Institute (Florence, Italy), Center for Advanced Study (Stanford), Max Planck Institute (Cologne), University of Munich, and the École Normale Supérieure (Paris).

About This Event:
The Dr. Richard M. Hunt Memorial Lecture Series honors late ACG Vice Chairman Dr. Richard M. Hunt, who was deeply committed to strengthening ties between Germany and the United States and gave exceptional support to the ACG for 50 years. He was the first and longest-serving President in the organization’s history, from 1972 to 1988, and subsequently served as Vice Chairman until his passing on April 10, 2020. During his tenure, Rick Hunt worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help create the American-German Young Leaders Conference, which was launched in 1973, and the McCloy Fellowship program, which was launched in 1976 – both of which remain central to our work today. He also helped shape the German-American Conference. These programs are just a fraction of his many lasting legacies to the Council. His wise counsel, his keen knowledge of German-American relations, his faith in younger generations, and his warm, unassuming manner are sorely missed.

With Special Thanks to the Hunt Family for Supporting This Lecture Series

German-American Conference in Berlin
2025-05-12 08:00 - 17:00
“2025 is Pivotal for Transatlantic Relations: New Security Challenges Require a New Security Architecture”
May 8, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. The end of World War II ushered in a period of relative peace in Europe, global democratization, and economic integration, as well as the establishment of robust international institutions. This was the last time the United States won an armed conflict definitively, and conflict now looks a lot different than it did back then.
Today we face a new security landscape. Land warfare has returned to Europe, faith in longstanding political structures seems to be in retreat, economic protectionism is on the rise, and strong multilateral institutions appear to be relics of the past. Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, China’s coercive economic behavior, and a growing axis of autocratic states raise an essential question for us: What is the meaning of war and peace today? As we see new governments in the United States and Germany and a new European Commission, political leaders will face the task of developing a new strategic identity adapted to the new security environment.
This challenge comes at a pivotal moment for the Western industrialized world: We are confronted both with emerging external threats and struggles within our societies. With the German-American Conference 2025, we provide a platform for strategic discussions about the challenges of a new era in transatlantic relations.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-05-19 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on May 19 at 9:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Malte Lehming, Columnist for Tagesspiegel. Malte Lehming works as a columnist for the Tagesspiegel. From late 2000 to 2005, he was the newspaper’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the Tagesspiegel in 1991 as foreign policy editor — focusing on security policy, transatlantic relations, and the Middle East. From 1989 to 1991, he worked as a personal assistant and speechwriter for former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Mr. Lehming studied philosophy, German literature, and European history in Hamburg.

Discussion on The Geopolitical Challenges Facing the New German Government
2025-05-19 13:00 - 14:30
Join the ACG in London for a discussion with Professor Peter Neumann on, “The Geopolitical Challenges Facing the New German Government” Dr. Peter Neumann is Professor of Security Studies at the Department of War Studies, and founded the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), which he directed between 2008 and 2018.
In 2017, he also served as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Special Representatives on Countering Violent Extremism.
Neumann has authored or co-authored seven books, most recently Bluster: Donald Trump’s War on Terror (Hurst and Oxford University Press, 2020). Previous books include Radicalized: New Jihadists and the Threat to the West (IB Tauris, 2016), Old and New Terrorism (Polity Press, 2009), The Strategy of Terrorism (with MLR Smith) (Routledge, 2008), and Britain’s Long War: British Strategy in the Northern Ireland Conflict, 1969-98 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). He is currently working on a research monograph on the ideas and ideologues of the contemporary Far Right.
Neumann has authored more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles, dealing with different aspects of terrorism and radicalisation, especially ‘homegrown’ radicalisation in Western countries, and serves on the editorial boards of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, The Journal of Strategic Studies, and Democracy and Security. Shorter articles and opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Der Spiegel, The London Review of Books, and the New Scientist.
He established the MA in Terrorism, Security, and Society at the War Studies Department, and served as its Co-Director from 2008 to 2016. He has taught courses on terrorism, counterterrorism, intelligence, radicalisation and counter-radicalisation at King’s College London, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, and Sciences Po (Lyon). Neumann holds an MA in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin, and a PhD in War Studies from King’s College London. Before becoming an academic, he worked as a radio journalist in Germany.

The Illusion of Confidence: Navigating Trust in AI Outputs
2025-05-20 08:00 - 10:00
The American Council on Germany, the German Center for Research and Innovation (DWIH) New York, and the Munich Center for Machine Learning (MCML) are hosting a breakfast briefing with Daniel Cremers, Stefan Feuerriegel, Elonore Fournier-Tombs, Reinhard Heckel, Jeannette M. Wing, and Joann Halpern (Moderator).

Daniel Cremers holds the Chair for Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence at TUM. He conducts research in the fields of image processing, machine learning and robotics. The aim of this research is to teach machines how to analyze and interpret image data. The methodological focus of his research is on convex optimization, statistical learning and neural networks. He was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2016 — Germany’s highest academic honor.
Stefan Feuerriegel holds a dual appointment at the LMU Munich School of Management and the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics, and Statistics. His research focuses on developing AI algorithms to support data-driven decision-making for businesses and public organizations. He is also dedicated to advancing ‘AI for good’, aiming to create positive social impact through responsible and ethical AI applications.
Eleonore Fournier-Tombs is a senior researcher at UNU-CPR and Research Lead for the UN’s High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence. During her career, Eleonore Fournier-Tombs has worked as a data scientist throughout the United Nations system and conducted research at the intersection of technology and gender, migration, democracy and health.
Reinhard Heckel holds the Chair for Machine Learning at TUM. He focuses on developing algorithms and theoretical foundations for deep learning: particularly in medical imaging application and on the utilization of DNA as a digital information technology. He was named to Capital’s “40 under 40” in 2022.
Jeannette M. Wing is Executive Vice President for Research and Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University. Her current research interests are in trustworthy AI. Her areas of research expertise include security and privacy, formal methods, programming languages, and distributed and concurrent systems. She is widely recognized for her intellectual leadership in computer science, and more recently in data science.
Joann Halpern (moderator) is the former Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute, New York (HPI) and an adjunct professor in the Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science, and Humanities at New York University. Prior to joining HPI, she was founding director of the German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI), which was created as a cornerstone of the German government’s initiative to internationalize science and research.

Transactional Foreign Policy Transactional Foreign Policy
2025-05-20 18:30 - 20:00
The American Council on Germany and 1014 are holding a discussion with Heather A. Conley, Former President of the German Marshall Fund and ACG Young Leader Alumn and Dr. Stefan Mair, Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, SWP) on “Transactional Foreign Policy and the End of the Liberal Order?” Dr. Stefan Mair is an expert in foreign and security policy with a particular focus on the challenges facing Germany and the European Union. His work centers on geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics, as well as trade and foreign economic policy. He brings over three decades of experience in both policy research and industry representation. Since October 1, 2020, he has served as Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) and as Executive Chairman of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik. In this capacity, he leads one of Europe’s foremost think tanks dedicated to international relations and security, overseeing its strategic direction, institutional operations, and engagement with national and international decision-makers.
From 2010 to 2020, he was a member of the Executive Board of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), where he was responsible for shaping the organization’s approach to international economic and trade policy. During this time, he played a key role in representing the interests of German industry in both European and global forums. Previously, from 2007 to 2009, he served as Research Director at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), guiding the institute’s analytical work across multiple policy fields. His earlier tenure at SWP, spanning from 1992 to 2007 and again from 2009 to 2010, included roles as head of the Middle East and Africa Research Division (until March 2001) and as a member of the executive board (2001–2007 and 2009–2010).
He earned his doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) in 1992 from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. From 1989 to 1992, he was a PhD scholarship holder at the ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich, where he conducted research in the Developing Countries Department, focusing on economic development and international trade. He is widely recognized for his contributions to foreign and security policy analysis and has authored numerous publications and policy papers throughout his career. His interdisciplinary expertise and leadership experience make him a prominent voice in European policy discourse.

Challenges, Opportunities, and the New Realities of Transatlantic Business
2025-05-22 18:00 - 19:30
The ACG is holding a discussion with Andreas Glunz, Managing Partner International Business, KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft on “Challenges, Opportunities, and the New Realities of Transatlantic Business”
Andreas Glunz has been with KPMG since 1991. He holds a German CPA (Wirtschaftsprüfer) and German Tax Advisor (Steuerberater) and audits mainly Japanese, US, UK, and Scandinavian groups since 2000 as an Audit Partner. From 2008 to 2010, he headed the Turkish Desk and from 2009 to 2015 the Global Japanese Practice of KPMG in Germany. Since 2015, he has been in charge as Managing Partner of KPMG Germany´s entire International Business and all country corridors/country practices.
Mr. Glunz advises international groups in all phases of their life cycle from foundation to closure and in all newly developing challenges and chances. He also supports German groups with their international activities in close collaboration with the local KPMG member firms and the seconded employees from KPMG Germany in those countries. Within the global KPMG network, he promotes international collaboration. Mr. Glunz regularly publishes thought leadership and is a speaker at international business-related events with a connection to the business location Germany, often in cooperation with the foreign German chambers and international organizations.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-05-27 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on May 27 at 9:00 am ET for a Tuesday edition of our Kaffeepause with Nette Nöstlinger, Political Reporter for Politico Europe.
Nette Nöstlinger is a Politics Reporter for Politico Europe in Berlin, where she keeps an eye on all things relevant to an international audience interested in the EU’s biggest economy. Her coverage has ranged from the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to Germany’s fiscal and military U-turn in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She was trained at Reuters with stints in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Brussels. She grew up in Antwerp with a Belgian father and an Austrian mother.

“Financial Stability in Unstable Times”
2025-05-28 12:00 - 13:30
The American Council on Germany and the Deutsche Bundesbank are having a discussion with Michael Theurer, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank on “Financial Stability in Unstable Times” Michael Theurer has been a member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank since September 2024. In this role he oversees the Directorates General Banking and Financial Supervision and Financial Stability. ​Prior to joining the Bundesbank, he served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport from 2021 to 2024, focusing on railways, environment, and European affairs. From 2017 to 2024, Mr. Theurer was a member of the German Bundestag, and between 2009 and 2017, he served as a Member of the European Parliament, where he chaired the Committee on Budgetary Control from 2011 to 2014. ​

Mr. Theurer holds a degree in economics from the University of Tübingen. In addition to his role at the Bundesbank, Mr. Theurer is a member of the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism at the European Central Bank, a member of the German Financial Stability Committee, and a member of the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) at the Bank for International Settlements.

What to Expect from the New Government in Berlin
2025-05-28 18:00 - 19:30
The American Council on Germany and Deutsches Haus at NYU are having a discussion and reception with Dr. Constanze Stelzenmueller, Director, Center on the United States and Europe, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe, and Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and Trans-Atlantic Relations (1993 Young Leader Alum) on “What to Expect from the New Government in Berlin.”
Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller is an expert on German, European, and trans-Atlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She is the director of the Center on the United States and Europe and the inaugural holder of the Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and trans-Atlantic Relations at Brookings. She held the Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress from October 2019 to March 2020, and served as the inaugural Robert Bosch Senior Fellow at Brookings from 2014 to 2019.
Prior to working at Brookings, she was a senior transatlantic fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), where she directed the influential Transatlantic Trends survey program. She also managed the “New Power, New Responsibility” project. Her areas of expertise include: trans-Atlantic relations; German foreign policy; NATO; the European Union’s foreign, security, and defense policy; international law; and human rights.
Dr. Stelzenmüller is the former director of GMF’s Berlin office. From 1994 to 2005, she was defense and international security editor in the political section of the German weekly DIE ZEIT; previously, she had covered human rights issues, war crimes tribunals, and humanitarian crises. She has worked in Germany and the United States, and speaks English, French, German, and Spanish. Dr. Stelzenmüller holds a doctorate in law from the University of Bonn (1992), a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1988), and a law degree from the University of Bonn (1985).

The Future of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and Transatlantic Data Flows
2025-06-03 12:00 - 13:30
The American Council on Germany and the American Business Forum on Europe will host a discussion and luncheon with Oliver Süme, Partner at Fieldfisher and Chair of the Board of the Internet Industry Association (eco). Oliver Süme is a Partner at the European law firm Fieldfisher and Chair of the Board of the Internet Industry Association. He advises his international clients on all legal challenges in Technology Law, in particular IT contract law, data protection and legal issues relating to IT security. Mr. Süme is also Chair of the Board of eco – Association of the Internet Industry and heads the data protection working group of EuroISPA, the European umbrella organization of internet service providers.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Washington?
2025-06-06 11:00 - 12:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. This Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will make his first trip to the United States as Chancellor to meet with President Trump. Join us the following morning for a special edition Kaffeepause as we reflect on their meeting with Deutsche Welle’s Washington Bureau Chief Ines Pohl. Ines Pohl is the Washington Bureau Chief for Deutsche Welle. She served as the Editor in Chief of Deutsche Welle from 2017-2020. During her three-year tenure, she focused on increasing DW’s social media presence and the exclusive content of all 30 language services. She joined DW in 2015 as a correspondent in the Washington Bureau. As a journalist, she is particularly interested in questions of democratic legitimacy and transition and is passionate about human rights and the role of democratic structures in developing countries. Ms. Pohl strongly advocates using social media to enhance the connection between audiences and journalists in the digital age.
She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2005, where she spent the year focused on immigration and the impact of religion and leadership. She currently serves on the board of trustees for Reporters without Borders and Youth Against AIDS. From 2009-2015, Ms. Pohl was the editor-in-chief of Die Tageszeitung “taz,” a national daily German newspaper, where she launched a new weekend edition and restructured www.taz.de, now one of Germany’s popular news sites.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-06-09 11:00 - 12:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, June 9 at 11:00 am ET for a Kaffeepause with Paul-Anton Krüger, Editor for Der Spiegel. Paul-Anton Krüger has been an Editor at SPIEGEL’s capital city office since January 2025. He was the Parliamentary Correspondent in the Berlin Bureau of the Süddeutsche Zeitung from September 2021 to December 2024. He previously reported on political affairs and served as Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Department, focusing on the Middle East and international security for three years. Before that, he spent four years in Cairo as a correspondent covering large parts of the Arab world and Iran.
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.

U.S.-EU Trade and Investments are still at Top Levels: What will the Tariffs Do?
2025-06-11 12:00 - 13:30
The American Council on Germany and the American Business Forum on Europe will host a discussion and luncheon with Joseph P. Quinlan Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and Co-Author of The Transatlantic Economy 2025 .
Joseph Quinlan is Managing Director and Head of Market & Thematic Strategy for the Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM) division of Bank of America, which includes Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. He serves as Chief Market Strategist providing economic and market insights and guiding overall investment strategy, both domestically and globally. In this role, Mr. Quinlan leads a team responsible for global market analysis and thematic research in support of asset allocation and portfolio construction among portfolio managers and other investment associates.
Mr. Quinlan began his career with Merrill Lynch and served as a Senior Global Economist/Strategist for Morgan Stanley. He lectures on finance and global economics at Fordham University and regularly lectures at various universities around the world, including Wuhan University in China, where he is a Visiting Professor. In 1998, he was nominated as an Eisenhower Fellow. He is a Senior Fellow at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC, and a Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Brussels, Belgium. In 2006, the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union awarded Mr. Quinlan the 2006 Transatlantic Business Award for his research on U.S.-Europe economic ties. In 2007, he was a recipient of the European-American Business Council Leadership Award for his research on the transatlantic partnership and global economy.
Mr. Quinlan regularly debriefs policymakers and legislators on Capitol Hill on global trade and economic issues. He has testified before the European Parliament. He is the author, co-author, or contributor to over 20 books. He has published more than 125 articles on economics, trade, and finance that have appeared in such venues as Foreign Affairs, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Barron’s. He regularly appears on CNBC, as well as Bloomberg television, PBS, and other media venues. He earned his B.A. in Political Science/International Affairs from Niagara University and M.A. in International Political Economics and Development from Fordham University.

Reflections on Reporting from Germany
2025-06-12 12:00 - 13:30
The American Council on Germany is hosting a Discussion and Reception with Clay Risen, Reporter and Editor at The New York Times (2004 Young Leader) on “Reflections on Reporting from Germany” on Thursday, June 12, 2025.
Clay Risen, reporter and editor at The New York Times, is the author of Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America. He reported for the Times from Berlin for the month of May.
Mr. Risen has been at The New York Times since 2010. Before writing obituaries, he was a senior editor on the 2020 politics team, and before that an editor on the Opinion desk, most recently as the deputy Op-ed editor. Before joining the Times, he worked at The New Republic and Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. He has written eight books, some about U.S. history, some about whiskey. They include “American Rye” and “The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century.”
He holds a degree in international relations from Georgetown University and a master’s in social science from the University of Chicago.

Hot Topics / Cold Realities: Sovereign Debt Crisis - U.S. Out, Germany In?
2025-06-18 11:00 - 12:00
In the United States, the Trump administration is moving forward with a sweeping fiscal initiative – the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Introduced as fulfilling a campaign promise to rein in the national debt, critics worry that the bill would instead add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Meanwhile, in Germany, Chancellor Merz has pushed through a landmark €500 billion public lending package in a dramatic departure from Germany’s strict fiscal tradition – even rewriting its constitutional debt rule – to revive its economy and military strength.
Join the American Council on Germany and 1014 for an insightful discussion with ACG Board Member Tara Hariharan, Managing Director of Global Macro Research at NWI Management, and Prof. Dr. Michael Hüther, Director and Member of the Executive Committee of the German Economic Institute, to explore how sovereign debt can serve as a valuable tool for financing government expenditures and necessary investments, while also examining the risks of allowing debt to reach unsustainable levels. Tara Hariharan is Managing Director of Global Macro Research and Head of Macro Research at NWI Management LP, a New York-based global macro hedge fund. She appears on CNBC and Bloomberg Television as an expert on China and emerging markets, and regularly presents her assessments of China’s economy and U.S.-China relations to senior U.S. and international policymakers. She was named one of New York’s “40 Under 40” top business professionals by Crains New York Business in 2024.
Ms. Hariharan is a board member of the American Council on Germany (ACG) and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations She was a 2014 German Marshall Fund Marshall Memorial fellow, a 2016 ACG young leader, 2022 Economic Club of New York fellow and 2023 Millennium Leadership fellow at the Atlantic Council. She is also a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Economists’ Committee. Elected to the Inter-American Dialogue in 2021, she regularly contributes to its publications on trade flows and China’s influence on Latin America. Ms. Hariharan holds a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in anthropology from Princeton University and a graduate certificate in international relations from Harvard Extension School.
Prof. Dr. Michael Hüther has served as Director and Member of the Executive Committee of the German Economic Institute since 2004. He has previously worked in a number of important positions in research, teaching, and banking, including at Stanford University, the German Council of Economic Advisers, and DekaBank. Since 2001 he has held the Honorary Professorship for Economics at the European Business School. He is also a member of the EU Commission‘s Refit Platform, which advises the Commission on the efficient, effective and practical implementation of EU legislation. He has a Ph.D. in Economics and History from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen. He was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the President of the Republic.

Germany’s Growing Semiconductor Ecosystem and Opportunities for Transatlantic Cooperation
2025-07-02 08:00 - 09:30
The American Council on Germany and the German Center for Innovation and Research New York will host a Breakfast Briefing with Frank Bösenberg, Managing Director of Silicon Saxony e.V.

Frank Bösenberg, Managing Director of Silicon Saxony e.V., was born in Cottbus and raised in Dresden, and holds a degree in civil engineering and business administration from the Technical University Dresden. After building an administrative department at the Technical University Dresden which deals with support in EU-funded R&D projects, he spun out a consultancy company in 2009. In 2014, he joined Silicon Saxony as Silicon Europe’s project coordinator and has been leading the 600+ member network organization as Managing Director since 2019, with the goal of expanding and strengthening the state of Saxony as Europe’s leading microelectronics location by connecting manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, colleges/universities, research institutes, public institutions and industry-relevant start-ups. He was appointed as an individual expert of the European Commission with regard to clusters and also supported the report on the EU Chips Act by the Committee of Regions, being appointed by the rapporteur from Saxony, Thomas Schmidt. Mr. Bösenberg recently participated in the ACG’s German-American Semiconductor Cities Network program, bringing together key stakeholders from German and American cities to address the social, economic, and structural impacts of semiconductor investments in their communities.

Transatlantic Relations after the NATO Summit
2025-07-09 12:00 - 13:30
The American Council on Germany is hosting a discussion and luncheon with Ines Pohl, Deutsche Welle’s Washington D.C. Bureau chief.

Ines Pohl is the Washington Bureau Chief for Deutsche Welle. She served as the Editor in Chief of Deutsche Welle from 2017-2020. During her three-year tenure, she focused on increasing DW’s social media presence and the exclusive content of all 30 language services. She joined DW in 2015 as a correspondent in the Washington Bureau. As a journalist, she is particularly interested in questions of democratic legitimacy and transition and is passionate about human rights and the role of democratic structures in developing countries. Ms. Pohl strongly advocates using social media to enhance the connection between audiences and journalists in the digital age.

She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2005, where she spent the year focused on immigration and the impact of religion and leadership. She currently serves on the board of trustees for Reporters without Borders and Youth Against AIDS. From 2009-2015, Ms. Pohl was the editor-in-chief of Die Tageszeitung “taz,” a national daily German newspaper, where she launched a new weekend edition and restructured www.taz.de, now one of Germany’s popular news sites.

Foreign Policy and Trade: Key Priorities for the New German Government
2025-07-17 12:00 - 13:30
The ACG will host a discussion and luncheon with Peter Beyer, Member of the Bundestag (CDU/CSU).
Peter Beyer is a member of the center-right CDU/CSU parliamentary majority group in the Bundestag. He is a central voice in Germany’s foreign politics and regularly appears in media both domestically and internationally. He frequently is invited as speaker and panelist at conferences in the USA, Canada, Latin America as well as in Europe. Most recently, he was the spokesperson of the Study Committee on Afghanistan (2022-2025). Peter held the position as Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation of the Federal Government (2018-2022). He studied law in Germany and in the USA and is admitted to the bar since 2000. He began his legal career in the US-headquartered firm of Mayer, Brown. He was directly elected in his constituency in the general elections in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025. A committed Atlanticist for many years, Beyer stands out among Members of the German Bundestag and his party as one of the most committed advocates of a strong relationship with the United States and Canada. Beyer has been the Foreign Affairs Committee’s main rapporteur on transatlantic relations, the Western Balkans and Latin America. He is an active member of Atlantik-Brücke in addition to numerous organizations in his district.

A Crisis for the Governing Coalition? The Case of Prof. Brosius-Gersdorf and Her Judicial Appointment
2025-07-21 11:00 - 12:00
Late last week the German Parliament (Bundestag) postponed a vote that would have decided on the empanelment of three new justices at the country’s powerful Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht). The delay – likely lasting the duration of the government’s summer holiday – was triggered when members of the Union Parties signaled their late-emerging opposition to University of Potsdam Professor Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, who had been nominated to the Court by the SPD. Brosius-Gersdorf’s chances looked imperiled because the Union-SPD coalition would have to vote together – and count on support from other parties – to secure the two-thirds majority needed to confirm a justice at the Constitutional Court. These judicial machinations matter for the traditions of collegiality, consensus, and neutrality that have long legitimized the work of the Constitutional Court. But they also have political ramifications because they suggest a lack of unity, compromise, and commitment in Chancellor Fredrich Merz’s freshly-minted governing coalition. What caused this judicial appointments crisis? And what does it mean for the broader political picture in Germany?
Join the ACG for a virtual discussion with German law experts Prof. Russell Miller, J.B. Stombock Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University, and Prof. Dr. Alexander Thiele, Associate Dean for Research and Interdisciplinarity and Chair for State Theory and Public Law at BSP Law School in Berlin. Prof. Russell Miller is the J.B. Stombock Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University. He is a leading scholar of German law and legal culture from a comparative perspective. He is the author of a number of books on the subject, including “An Introduction to German Law and Legal Culture” (Cambridge University Press 2024).
Prof. Dr. Alexander Thiele is Associate Dean for Research and Interdisciplinarity and Chair for State Theory and Public Law at BSP Law School in Berlin. He is a widely respected scholar, commentator, and advocate on constitutional law issues in Germany. He is the author of a number of books on the subject, including “Machtfaktor Karlsruhe: Das Bundesverfassungsgericht im System des Grundgesetzes” (Campus Verlag 2025).

Schnitzel Lunch with the German Consul General in LA
2025-07-28 12:00 - 14:00
The ACG’s Los Angeles Warburg Chapter will be hosting a lunch and discussion with Consul General Andrea Sasse. Consul General Andrea Sasse has served as the German Consul General in Los Angeles since 2023. In this role, she leads the Consulate’s efforts to strengthen German-American relations across Southern California and the broader southwestern United States. Prior to her posting in Los Angeles, Consul General Sasse was based at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin, where she served from 2020 to 2023 as Deputy Spokesperson and Head of Social Media in the Spokesperson’s Office. From 2019 to 2020, she was Deputy Head of the Middle Eastern Affairs Division in the Ministry’s Political Department.
From 2016 to 2019, she was posted to the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., where she worked in the Political Department as the officer responsible for Near and Middle Eastern Affairs. Earlier, from 2013 to 2016, she had served as the Spokesperson for Africa, UN, Cultural Affairs, Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance, and Crisis Management. Her earlier overseas assignment was at the German Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, where she headed the Press and Cultural Section from 2010 to 2013.
Before joining the Foreign Service, Consul General Sasse practiced law in Germany. She completed her legal training at the Court of Appeal in Düsseldorf from 2003 to 2005.

AI and the Law: A View from the Free State of Bavaria
2025-08-05 18:00 - 19:30
The ACG will host a discussion and reception with H.E. Georg Eisenreich, Minister of Justice of the Free State of Bavaria.
Minister Georg Eisenreich is a German politician (CSU) and lawyer. He has been a member of the Bavarian State Parliament since 2003. From October 2013 to March 2018, he was State Secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Culture, Science, and the Arts, and from March 2018 to November 2018, he was Bavarian State Minister for Digital, Media, and Europe.
In November 2018, he was appointed Bavarian State Minister of Justice. Minister Eisenreich is one of his state’s representatives at the Bundesrat, where he serves on the Committee on European Affairs. Before entering politics, Mr. Eisenreich worked as a lawyer in Munich.
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Germany’s New Government: National Priorities and Transatlantic Relations
2025-08-07 12:00 - 14:00
The American Council on Germany, the Hanns Seidel Foundation, and WorldBoston will host a discussion and luncheon in Boston with Ilse Aigner, President of the Landtag of the Federal State of Bavaria. Ilse Aigner was born on December 7, 1964, in Feldkirchen-Westerham and obtained her intermediate school-leaving certificate (Mittlere Reife) in 1981 at the Wilhelm-Leibl-Realschule in Bad Aibling. After training as a radio and television technician and gaining several years of professional experience in her family’s medium-sized electrical craft business, she completed advanced training to become a certified electrical engineer. From 1990 to 1994, she worked in the development of system electronics for helicopters at Eurocopter. Ilse Aigner began her political career as a municipal councilor in Feldkirchen-Westerham and a district councilor in the Rosenheim district council. She took on leadership roles within the CSU at an early stage. In 1994, she was elected to the Bavarian State Parliament for the first time, serving one legislative term before becoming a member of the German Bundestag from 1998 to 2013. During this time, she was actively involved in various commissions, working groups, and committees, and took on numerous leadership roles. From 2008 to 2013, Ilse Aigner served as Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. Since 2013, she has again been a member of the Bavarian State Parliament. For five years, Ilse Aigner held the position of Deputy Minister President and Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology, before heading the Bavarian Ministry of Housing, Building and Transport as State Minister for six months starting in March 2018. Since October 2018, Ilse Aigner has been President of the Bavarian State Parliament, making her the highest representative of the Bavarian Parliament. In addition to her extensive political work, she is also actively involved in a variety of volunteer activities.

Strengthening European Strategic Autonomy in Challenging Times
2025-08-14 08:30 - 10:00
The ACG will host a breakfast briefing with Burkhard Balz, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
Burkhard Balz has been a member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank since September 2018. He is responsible for the Directorates General Payments and Settlement Systems, Cash Management, Digital Euro and International Central Bank Dialogue. Since January 2024, he is an alternate member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements. Prior to this, he was a member of the European Parliament (CDU) and served as the EPP Group’s Coordinator on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs starting in 2014. Before his time in the European Parliament, Mr. Balz was the Head of the Department for Institutional Clients at Commerzbank AG from 2004 to 2009. He has also held the positions of Corporate Customer Advisor at Commerzbank AG (2002-2004) and Desk Officer at the Commerzbank AG Liaison Office to the European Union in Brussels (2001-2002).
Mr. Balz studied Law and Political Science at the University of Göttingen.

The Trump-Putin Meeting and the Future of Ukraine
2025-08-21 11:00 - 12:00
The world is watching as Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump meet in Alaska — a momentous summit on American soil to discuss the war in Ukraine. Trump, who had pledged during his 2024 campaign to bring a swift end to the conflict, entered the talks under intense global scrutiny. The historic meeting marked the first time the two leaders have sat down face-to-face since Trump’s return to the White House, with stakes running high for U.S. foreign policy, NATO unity, and the future of Ukraine’s sovereignty. For Germany — a key NATO ally and one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters — the implications of these talks for its security posture and role in transatlantic relations remain to be seen.
Join us on August 21 for an online conversation with renowned Russia expert Dr. Angela Stent as we unpack the negotiations, explore the future paths for both Russia and Ukraine, and assess what this summit means for the international order. Dr. Angela Stent (1982 ACG Young Leader) is Senior Adviser to the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University where she is also Professor Emerita of Government and Foreign Service. She is also a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-chairs its Hewett Forum on Post-Soviet Affairs. From 2004-06 she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council. From 1999 to 2001, she served in the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State.
Dr. Stent’s publications include: “From Embargo to Ostpolitik: The Political Economy of West German-Soviet Relations, 1955-1980” (Cambridge University Press, 1981); “Russia and Germany Reborn: Unification, The Soviet Collapse and The New Europe” (Princeton University Pres, 1999); “The Limits of Partnership: US-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century” (Princeton University Press, 2014), for which she won the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Douglas Dillon prize for the best book on the practice of American Diplomacy. Her most recent book is “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest” (Twelve Books, 2019) for which she won the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy’s prize for the best book on U.S-Russian Relations.
She was a member of the senior advisory panel for NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe for Admiral James Stavridis and General Philip Breedlove. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a contributing editor to Survival and is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Cold War Studies, World Policy Journal, Internationale Politik and Mirovaia Ekonomika i Mezhdunarodnie Otnosheniie. She has served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Russia and Central Asia. She was a trustee of the Eurasia Foundation. Dr. Stent received her bachelor’s from Cambridge University, her Master of Science with distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and her master’s and doctorate from Harvard University.

Assessing the First 100 Days of the Merz Government
2025-08-26 11:00 - 12:00
In early May, Conservative politician Friedrich Merz won a vote in the Bundestag to become Germany’s new chancellor, after falling short of the absolute majority in the first ballot. This was a significant blow to his prestige and an unprecedented failure in post-war German history. Having just rounded the first 100 days in office, how are Chancellor Merz and his “Grand Coalition” of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats faring?
Join us for a discussion with political scientist Hans Kundnani on how Chancellor Merz has navigated the challenges of governing amid global uncertainty, domestic pressures, and shifting alliances. We will also examine the government’s key policy initiatives – from economic reform and energy security to defense commitments and European cooperation. Hans Kundnani is an Open Society Ideas Workshop Fellow and a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics. He was previously the Director of the Europe Program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), a Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and Research Director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Remarque Institute at New York University, the New School, and Göttingen University. He has taught at Boston University, New York University and the Collège d’Europe.
Mr. Kundnani is the author of three books: Eurowhiteness. Culture, Empire and Race in the European Project (London: Hurst, 2023); The Paradox of German Power (London/New York: Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2014), which has been translated into German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish; and Utopia or Auschwitz. Germany’s 1968 Generation and the Holocaust (London/New York: Hurst/Columbia University Press, 2009). He is a columnist for the New Statesman and also writes for other publications such as Dissent, the Times Literary Supplement, Foreign Affairs and Internationale Politik. Mr. Kundnani studied German and philosophy at Oxford University and journalism at Columbia University in New York, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

Transformation through AI: Challenges and Opportunities for Germany
2025-08-27 18:00 - 19:30
The ACG will host a discussion and reception with Stephan Albani, Member of the German Bundestag (CDU/CSU) and Deputy Chair of the Research, Space, and Technology Assessment Committee in the German Federal Parliament.
Stephan Albani has been a Member of the German Bundestag representing the Oldenburg-Ammerland constituency in Lower Saxony since 2013. He currently serves as the Deputy Chair of the Research, Space, and Technology Assessment Committee in the Bundestag, as well as a Member of the Committee for Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. He has previously chaired Parliamentary Friendship Groups for Relations with South-Eastern Europe, Ireland, and Egypt. Since 2018, he also served as a board member at the federal level of the Small Business and Economic Union (MIT – Mittelstands und Wirtschaftsunion) associated with the CDU/CSU. Before being elected to the Bundestag, Mr. Albani served as the Managing Director of several organizations related to hearing research.
Mr. Albani studied Physics at the University of Göttingen.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-09-02 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Tuesday, September 2, at 9:00 am for a Kaffeepause with ACG Fellowship alumna Miriam Hollstein, Chief Political Reporter for Stern. Miriam Hollstein serves as the Chief Political Reporter for Stern. Before this, she was the Chief Report from January 2022 to September 23 at T-Online in Berlin. Before this position, she served as the Chief Political Reporter for FUNKE Zentralredaktion from November 2020 to December 2021. She wrote for the Berliner Zeitung while still a student and worked as an editor for Internationale Politik. She worked as a foreign reporter for Welt am Sonntag and, from 2006 to 2014, was the domestic policy editor and reporter for the WELT-Gruppe. From 2015 to 2020, she worked for the Bild am Sonntag, first as a domestic policy reporter and then from 2018 as the chief reporter of politics. Her reporting brought her into regular contact with the office of the German Chancellor. Since March 2020, she has worked as a freelance writer and moderator.
In 2009, she published the first graphic biography of Angela Merkel, titled “Miss Tschörmanie,” in collaboration with illustrator Heiko Sakurai. She appears regularly on the German news program “Phoenix,” where she speaks on political and societal issues. She regularly travels internationally for reporting assignments. In addition, she was a 2005 Marshall Memorial Fellow and a 2008 ACG McCloy Fellow. She was recognized in 2015 by the DEFA Stiftung (German Film Corporation Foundation) for her contributions to preserving German film heritage.

The Future of Transatlantic Relations: A View from Germany
2025-09-02 11:45 - 13:15
The ACG’s Atlanta Warburg Chapter will host a discussion and luncheon with Metin Hakverdi, Member of the German Bundestag (SPD), and Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation in the Federal Foreign Office.
Metin Hakverdi serves as the Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation for the German Government. He has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2013 and currently serves on the Bundestag’s Committee on European Union Affairs. He is the Deputy Chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Friendship Group, Chairman of the USA Discussion Group of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, and a member of the Board of Atlantik-Brücke. Mr. Hakverdi was a John F. Kennedy Memorial Policy Fellow at Harvard University and a Distinguished Visitor at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Before being elected to the Bundestag, Mr. Hakverdi was a member of the Parliament of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg from 2008 to 2013. He attended high school in Simi Valley, California, in 1985/86 and studied law at the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel and Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law.
With thanks to Arnall Golden Gregory LLP for supporting this event.

Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?
2025-09-08 09:00 - 10:00
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Berlin on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. Join us on Monday, September 8, at 9:00 am for a Kaffeepause with Nette Nöstlinger, Political Reporter for Politico Europe. Nette Nöstlinger is a Politics Reporter for Politico Europe in Berlin, where she keeps an eye on all things relevant to an international audience interested in the EU’s biggest economy. Her coverage has ranged from the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to Germany’s fiscal and military U-turn in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She was trained at Reuters with stints in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Brussels. She grew up in Antwerp with a Belgian father and an Austrian mother.
