Austin: Populism and Nationalism on the Rise: A German Perspective
2019-10-24 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
The ACG and the World Affairs Council of Austion will host a discussion and dinner with Dr. Stefan Schlüter.
Dr. Schlüter has been engaged with the Jewish community for many years and strongly believes German diplomats have an obligation to reach out to Jewish communities due to the legacy of the Holocaust. After studying political science at the University of Hamburg, Dr. Schlüter went to Israel as a 23-year-old in 1975 and lived on Kibbutz Ramat Rachel near Jerusalem. He joined the German Foreign Office in 1979.
register here

Hilton Head Island: US and German Relations Post 1989
2019-10-25 10:00 - 11:30
The ACG, the World Affairs Council of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and the World Affairs Councils of America will host a discussion with Ambassador Peter Ammon, former German Ambassador to France, the USA, and the UK.
30 years have passed since the heady days of German re-unification. The generation whose world-view was shaped by comradeship in arms between Germany and America in the Cold War is slowly fading away. With the UK leaving the European Union, and populist parties triumphant in the East and the South of the bloc, this historic project, once masterminded and critically supported by the US, is at a dangerous juncture. Further to the East, an opportunistic Russia is filling the space where the West withdraws, and an increasingly authoritarian China is pursuing its long-term plan of taking the pole position in the world.
Today, both the German and the US society are internally divided by new fault lines, some cultural, some economic, some political in nature. The vision of a transatlantic free trade and investment partnership is dead. In the foreign policy debates, short-term gain trumps long-term strategic thinking, thus producing dangerous narratives of neglected self-interest on both sides. The US-German relationship is in crisis and needs fresh thinking.

Biography
Ambassador Peter Ammon served as German Ambassador to the United Kingdom (2014-2018) and to the United States (2011–2014) and as State Secretary (US equivalent: Deputy Foreign Secretary) at the German Foreign Office in Berlin (2008–2011). In 2007 and 2008, Ammon was appointed German Ambassador to Paris, France.
His prior diplomatic career included postings to London (1980-82), Dakar/Senegal, New Delhi, and Washington, D.C. (1999-2001). From 1996 to 1999, he was Head of Policy Planning and speech writer to the then President of Germany, Roman Herzog. A staunch advocate of free trade, Ammon worked as Director General for Economics at the German Foreign Office from 2001 to 2007, helping German “Mittelstand” companies build a global presence. Also from 2001 to 2007, he was tasked to prepare the G7/8 world economic summits for German chancellors Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel. While in London, Ammon’s agenda was shaped by the British Brexit referendum to leave the EU.
Peter Ammon is married to Marliese Heimann-Ammon. They have two grown daughters, Ariane and Christina. His personal interests include music, science and hiking. He studied mathematics and holds a doctorate in economics from Berlin’s Free University.
Honors: Freeman of the City of London; Honorary Ph.D., University of Huntsville/Alabama; Cross Federal Order of Merit (Germany); Officier de la Légion d’honneur (France); Grand Cross Order of Merit (Portugal); Commander Ordre Bernado O’Higgins (Chile).

Dallas: Populism and Nationalism on the Rise: A German Perspective
2019-10-25 12:00 - 13:30
The Dallas Warburg Chapter and the AJC Dallas will host a discussion and lunch with Stefan Schlüter, Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy of the German Foreign Office in Berlin.
There will be a $20 charge to attend this event. Please RSVP here by October 23.
Stefan Schlüter served in the German Foreign Office until the summer of 2017 and is now a Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy in Berlin. After studying political science at the University of Hamburg, Mr. Schlüter joined the German Foreign Office in 1979. His first foreign assignments brought him to Buenos Aires and Algiers. From 1986 to 1990 he served as the spokesman of the German Embassy in Tel Aviv before returning to the Foreign Office in Bonn as desk officer for the Maghreb countries. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Deputy Consul General in Los Angeles before returning to Bonn as Deputy Director for the southern part of Latin America. From 2000 to 2004, he was posted to the United States a second time and served as Deputy Consul General in New York City before moving to Buenos Aires as Deputy Chief of Mission. In 2007 he returned to the Foreign Office in Berlin to assume the position of Director for Conflict Prevention, Peace-Building, Democracy Promotion and State-Building, promoting German projects in this field world-wide. In 2010 he was appointed Ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean Region, residing in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago before moving on to his last assignment as Consul General in San Francisco in 2014.
Mr. Schlüter’s speaking tour is supported by Allianz and the American Council on Germany and is administered under the auspices of the Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/19 – Year of German-American Friendship. This initiative is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and supported by The Federation of German Industries (BDI).

Denver: Populism and Nationalism on the Rise: A German Perspective
2019-10-28 18:00 - 21:00
The Denver Warburg Chapter and the Denver Council on Foreign Relations will host a discussion and dinner with Stefan Schlüter, Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy of the German Foreign Office in Berlin.
Stefan Schlüter served in the German Foreign Office until the summer of 2017 and is now a Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy in Berlin. After studying political science at the University of Hamburg, Mr. Schlüter joined the German Foreign Office in 1979. His first foreign assignments brought him to Buenos Aires and Algiers. From 1986 to 1990 he served as the spokesman of the German Embassy in Tel Aviv before returning to the Foreign Office in Bonn as desk officer for the Maghreb countries. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Deputy Consul General in Los Angeles before returning to Bonn as Deputy Director for the southern part of Latin America. From 2000 to 2004, he was posted to the United States a second time and served as Deputy Consul General in New York City before moving to Buenos Aires as Deputy Chief of Mission. In 2007 he returned to the Foreign Office in Berlin to assume the position of Director for Conflict Prevention, Peace-Building, Democracy Promotion and State-Building, promoting German projects in this field world-wide. In 2010 he was appointed Ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean Region, residing in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago before moving on to his last assignment as Consul General in San Francisco in 2014.
Mr. Schlüter’s speaking tour is supported by Allianz and the American Council on Germany and is administered under the auspices of the Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/19 – Year of German-American Friendship. This initiative is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and supported by The Federation of German Industries (BDI).

Charlotte: Assessing a Century of Women’s Suffrage in Germany and the United States
2019-10-29 08:00 - 09:30
The Charlotte Warburg Chapter will host a discussion and breakfast with Dr. Joyce Mushaben, Professor of Global Studies and Former Director of the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Missouri – St. Louis .
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
8:00 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. – Registration
8:15 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. – Breakfast and Program
Dr. Joyce M. Mushaben is a Curators’ Professor of Comparative Politics and former Director of the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies (2002-2005) at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Fluent in German, her teaching centers on comparative public policy, the European Union, women’s leadership, citizenship, immigration, mega-cities, and sustainability issues. Her research covers new social movements, youth protest, German unification and identities, gender, ethnicity and welfare issues, EU migration and integration studies. A past President of the German Studies Association, she has also served on the Executive Boards of the International Association for the Study of German Politics and the German Studies Association, as well as on selection committees for Fulbright, the German Academic Exchange Service, and the American Council of Learned Societies. She is a current Editorial Board member for German Politics & Society, German Politics, and Femina Politica. Having received a 1999 Trailblazer Award and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research Creativity in 2007, Dr. Mushaben is a three-time Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, a former Ford Foundation Fellow, German Marshall Fund grantee, and DAAD recipient. She has held guest-scholar posts at the Academy for Social Sciences (GDR), the Center for Youth Research (GDR), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Center for Transdisciplinary Gender Research. She was named the first Research Associate in the BMW Center for German & European Studies at Georgetown University, has enjoyed Visiting Professorships at the Ohio State University, Berlin’s Humboldt University, the Missouri-London Program, and the Universities of Erfurt, Stuttgart, and Tübingen, inter alia. Affiliated with the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies and a designated Fulbright Specialist, she is commonly known as “Dr. J.”
A special thanks to The German Studies Association and The Goethe Institute for supporting this Program and Dr. Mushaben’s trip.

NYC: Inclusive Foreign Policy: The Role of Culture in Transatlantic Affairs
2019-10-29 13:00 - 14:30
The American Council on Germany and the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York will host a discussion and luncheon with Michelle Müntefering, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office.
Michelle Müntefering has been Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office since March 2018. Concurrently, she has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2013 and has served as Vice President of the Deutsch-Türkische Gesellschaft e.V. Berlin since June 2015. Prior to her appointment as Minister of State, Ms. Müntefering was the spokesperson of the SPD parliamentary group on cultural relations and education policy from 2015 to 2017. Ms. Müntefering’s political career began in 2002, when she became the Deputy Chair of the SPD in her hometown of Herne. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism with a focus on economics and participated in a traineeship at Vorwärts Verlagsgesellschaft (publishing house) in Berlin from 2008 to 2010.

Phoenix: Populism and Nationalism on the Rise: A German Perspective
2019-10-29 18:00 - 20:00
The Phoenix Warburg Chapter will host a discussion and dinner Stefan Schlüter, Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy of the German Foreign Office in Berlin.
There will be a $25 charge to attend this event. RSVP here by October 28.
Stefan Schlüter served in the German Foreign Office until the summer of 2017 and is now a Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy in Berlin. After studying political science at the University of Hamburg, Mr. Schlüter joined the German Foreign Office in 1979. His first foreign assignments brought him to Buenos Aires and Algiers. From 1986 to 1990 he served as the spokesman of the German Embassy in Tel Aviv before returning to the Foreign Office in Bonn as desk officer for the Maghreb countries. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Deputy Consul General in Los Angeles before returning to Bonn as Deputy Director for the southern part of Latin America. From 2000 to 2004, he was posted to the United States a second time and served as Deputy Consul General in New York City before moving to Buenos Aires as Deputy Chief of Mission. In 2007 he returned to the Foreign Office in Berlin to assume the position of Director for Conflict Prevention, Peace-Building, Democracy Promotion and State-Building, promoting German projects in this field world-wide. In 2010 he was appointed Ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean Region, residing in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago before moving on to his last assignment as Consul General in San Francisco in 2014.
Mr. Schlüter’s speaking tour is supported by Allianz and the American Council on Germany and is administered under the auspices of the Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/19 – Year of German-American Friendship. This initiative is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and supported by The Federation of German Industries (BDI).

San Francisco: Populism and Nationalism on the Rise: A German Perspective
2019-10-31 11:45 - 13:15
The San Francisco Eric M. Warburg Chapter and the World Affairs Council of Northern California will host a discussion and luncheon with Stefan Schlüter, Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy of the German Foreign Office in Berlin.
Please register at World Affairs Council of Northern California. There is a $35 charge for members to attend this event (use discount code ACGmember).
Stefan Schlüter served in the German Foreign Office until the summer of 2017 and is now a Program Director at the Diplomatic Academy in Berlin. After studying political science at the University of Hamburg, Mr. Schlüter joined the German Foreign Office in 1979. His first foreign assignments brought him to Buenos Aires and Algiers. From 1986 to 1990 he served as the spokesman of the German Embassy in Tel Aviv before returning to the Foreign Office in Bonn as desk officer for the Maghreb countries. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Deputy Consul General in Los Angeles before returning to Bonn as Deputy Director for the southern part of Latin America. From 2000 to 2004, he was posted to the United States a second time and served as Deputy Consul General in New York City before moving to Buenos Aires as Deputy Chief of Mission. In 2007 he returned to the Foreign Office in Berlin to assume the position of Director for Conflict Prevention, Peace-Building, Democracy Promotion and State-Building, promoting German projects in this field world-wide. In 2010 he was appointed Ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean Region, residing in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago before moving on to his last assignment as Consul General in San Francisco in 2014.

Mr. Schlueter’s speaking tour is supported by Allianz and through a grant to the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA) and the American Council on Germany to hold a series of public policy discussions with German decision-makers, opinion leaders, and policy experts in 18 communities across the United States as part of the Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/19 – Year of German-American Friendship. This initiative is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and supported by The Federation of German Industries (BDI).

St. Louis: From Defense Spending to Trade: Challenges Shaping the German-American Relationship
2019-11-01 08:00 - 09:30
The St. Louis Warburg Chapter Warburg Chapter and the World Affairs Council of St. Louis will host a breakfast roundtable discussion with Ambassador John B. Emerson, Chairman of the American Council on Germany, Vice Chairman of Capital Group International, and former U.S. Ambassador to Germany.
There is no charge to attend this event. You must RSVP here in order to attend.
Parking is available at the Centene Parking Garage (off Forsyth Boulevard) on floors 1 through 3.
Ambassador John B. Emerson was named Chairman of the American Council on Germany at the Council’s Annual Meeting of the Members on January 17, 2018. He is Vice Chairman at Capital Group International. Previously, he was U.S. Ambassador to Germany, from 2013 to 2017. In 2015, Ambassador Emerson received the State Department’s Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, an award given annually to one non-career Ambassador. In 2017, the Secretary of the Navy and the Director of the CIA awarded him their highest civilian honors for his service. Before going to Berlin, he was the President of Capital Group Private Client Services from 1997 to July 2013. Previously, he served on President Clinton’s senior staff, from 1993 to 1997, as Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel, and subsequently as Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. Ambassador Emerson also coordinated the Economic Conference of the Clinton-Gore transition team and led the Administration’s efforts to obtain congressional approval of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement in 1994, and the extension of China’s Most-Favored-Nation trading status in 1996. In 2010, President Obama appointed Ambassador Emerson to serve on the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Earlier in his career, Ambassador Emerson served as the Los Angeles Chief Deputy City Attorney (1987-1993). In 1988, he traveled to Germany on an ACG Political Exchange Fellowship, carried out in collaboration with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Before that, he was a Partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, specializing in business and entertainment litigation and administrative law.

Indianapolis: Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning
2019-11-04 12:00 - 14:00
The Indianapolis Warburg Chapter, the Indiana Council on World Affairs, and the Foundation for Lutheran Child and Family Services will host a discussion and reception with Tobias David, Chief of Staff to the Lord Mayor of Leipzig on “Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning.”
Tobias David, born in 1973, grew up in Leipzig (in the former GDR/East Germany) and spent most of his school years under the conditions of the GDR dictatorship. Even as a teenager he was involved in opposition groups under the protection of the Catholic Church and became politically active early on. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989, driven by the peace and civil rights movement, had a lasting impact on his life.
After studying political science and communications, he worked for many years as Managing Director of a communications agency. In 2004 he moved to the Saxon State Parliament as Advisor to the Vice-President. Since 2008, he has been the closest strategic advisor to the Mayor of the City of Leipzig. Mr. David was a participant in the ACG’s McCloy Leadership Mission on Urban Affairs and Sustainability in 2016. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989 — which ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany — began in Leipzig. Today Leipzig is not only one of the largest cities in Germany but also the fastest-growing German city.
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – the Year of German-American Friendship, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). For more information on the initiative and the more than 1,000 projects that will take place between October 2018 and November 2019, visit www.wunderbartogether.org.
This event is held in partnership with The International Center, the Max Kade German-American Center, and the World Affairs Councils of America.

NYC: Defending Freedom: How to Make Liberal Democracy Great Again
2019-11-05 12:00 - 14:00
The ACG and the Heinrich Boell Foundation will host a discussion and luncheon with Ralf Fücks, Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity and Author of Defending Freedom: How We Can Win the Fight for an Open Society.
Ralf Fücks is Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity, a German think tank that was founded in 2017. He came to this role after more than 20 years with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, the political foundation associated with the Greens. At the center of his work were green economics and ecological innovation, migration, the future of Europe, and international politics. Before that, he was Co-Chair of the Greens (1989/​90) and Senator for Environment and City Development in Bremen.
Mr. Fücks is considered to be a prominent thinker seeking cross-party discourse, publishing in leading newspapers and delivering speeches as part of the public debate. He is an advocate for liberal ecology politics focusing on innovation rather than prohibition. Of special importance to him is a dialogue with the economy, which he considers an invaluable actor in a “green industrial revolution.” He is coordinator of the committee “Ecological Modernization” within the Petersburg Dialogue. Mr. Fücks is a committed European and transatlanticist as well as a proponent of the democratic opposition in Russia, Ukraine, and other eastern European countries.

Dallas: Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning
2019-11-05 18:00 - 20:00
The Dallas Warburg Chapter will host a discussion and reception with Tobias David, Chief of Staff to the Lord Mayor of Leipzig on “Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning.”
Tobias David, born in 1973, grew up in Leipzig (in the former GDR/East Germany) and spent most of his school years under the conditions of the GDR dictatorship. Even as a teenager he was involved in opposition groups under the protection of the Catholic Church and became politically active early on. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989, driven by the peace and civil rights movement, had a lasting impact on his life.
After studying political science and communications, he worked for many years as Managing Director of a communications agency. In 2004 he moved to the Saxon State Parliament as Advisor to the Vice-President. Since 2008, he has been the closest strategic advisor to the Mayor of the City of Leipzig. Mr. David was a participant in the ACG’s McCloy Leadership Mission on Urban Affairs and Sustainability in 2016. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989 — which ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany — began in Leipzig. Today Leipzig is not only one of the largest cities in Germany but also the fastest-growing German city.
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – the Year of German-American Friendship, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). For more information on the initiative and the more than 1,000 projects that will take place between October 2018 and November 2019, visit www.wunderbartogether.org.

HTC: After the Berlin Wall: Memory and the Making of the New Germany
2019-11-06 11:00 - 12:00
The ACG will host a Hot Topics Call with Dr. Hope Harrison, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at The George Washington University.
To register, please fill in the form below.

Philadelphia: Defending Freedom: How to Make Liberal Democracy Great Again
2019-11-06 12:00 - 14:00
The Philadelphia Warburg Chapter of the ACG and the Heinrich Boell Foundation will host a discussion and luncheon with Ralf Fücks, Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity and Author of Defending Freedom: How We Can Win the Fight for an Open Society.
Ralf Fücks is Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity, a German thinktank which was founded in 2017. He came to this role after more than 20 years with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, the political foundation associated with the Greens. At the center of his work were green economics and ecological innovation, migration, the future of Europe and international politics. Before that he was co-chair of the Greens (1989/90) and Senator for Environment and City Development in Bremen.
Mr. Fücks is considered a leading thinker, seeking cross-party discourse. He has published in leading newspapers, gives speeches, and participates in the public debate. Mr. Fücks is an advocate for liberal ecology politics, which focus on innovation rather than prohibition. Of special importance to him is a dialogue with the economy, which he considers an invaluable actor of a “green industrial revolution.”
Ralf Fücks is coordinator of the committee “Ecological Modernization” within the Petersburg Dialogue. Like Marieluise Beck he fights for democratic opposition in Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries. He is a convinced European and transatlanticist.
There is no charge to attend this event; you must register to attend.

San Francisco: Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning
2019-11-06 18:00 - 21:00
The San Francisco Warburg Chapter will host a discussion and reception with Tobias David, Chief of Staff to the Lord Mayor of Leipzig on “Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning.”
Tobias David, born in 1973, grew up in Leipzig (former GDR/East Germany) and spent most of his school years under the conditions of the GDR dictatorship. Even as a teenager he was involved in opposition groups under the protection of the Catholic Church and became politically active early on. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989, driven by the peace and civil rights movement, had a lasting impact on his life.
After studying political science and communication, he worked for many years as managing director of a communications agency. In 2004 he moved to the Saxon State Parliament as advisor to the Vice-President. Since 2008, he has been the closest strategic advisor to the Mayor of the City of Leipzig. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989 – which ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany – began in Leipzig. Today Leipzig is not only one of the largest cities in Germany but also the fastest growing German city.
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – the Year of German-American Friendship, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). For more information on the initiative and the more than 1,000 projects that will take place between October 2018 and November 2019, visit www.wunderbartogether.org.

Phoenix: From 1989 to Today: Germany Behind the Wall
2019-11-06 18:00 - 21:00
The Phoenix Warburg Chapter of the American Council on Germany will host a discussion and dinner with Anja Goerz, Journalist, Radio Host, and Author.
There is a $15 charge to attend this event.
Anja Goerz is a German journalist, radio host, and author. After studying photography, she began her career in 1989 at Radio Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel, where she worked as a reporter and moderator. Since 1990, she has hosted regular shows on radio stations in Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg and produced pieces for Deutschlandfunk. Since 2014, she has hosted a show on Nordwestradio.
In addition, Anja Goerz writes fiction and non-fiction. She has written several novels, and in April 2014 the Deutschen Taschenbuch Verlag published “Der Osten ist ein Gefühl” (The East is a Feeling), in which she reports on conversations she has had with people from the former GDR. The book has been reprinted several times and was a Spiegel bestseller.
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – the Year of German-American Friendship, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). For more information on the initiative and the more than 1,000 projects that will take place between October 2018 and November 2019, visit www.wunderbartogether.org.

Los Angeles: Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning
2019-11-07 12:00 - 13:30
The Los Angeles Warburg Chapter will host a discussion and luncheon with Tobias David, Chief of Staff to the Lord Mayor of Leipzig on “Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning.”
Tobias David, born in 1973, grew up in Leipzig (former GDR/East Germany) and spent most of his school years under the conditions of the GDR dictatorship. Even as a teenager he was involved in opposition groups under the protection of the Catholic Church and became politically active early on. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989, driven by the peace and civil rights movement, had a lasting impact on his life. After studying political science and communication, he worked for many years as managing director of a communications agency. In 2004 he moved to the Saxon State Parliament as advisor to the Vice-President. Since 2008, he has been the closest strategic advisor to the Mayor of the City of Leipzig. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989 – which ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany – began in Leipzig. Today Leipzig is not only one of the largest cities in Germany but also the fastest growing German city.
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – the Year of German-American Friendship, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). For more information on the initiative and the more than 1,000 projects that will take place between October 2018 and November 2019, visit www.wunderbartogether.org.

Washington, DC: The Future of the Liberal Order: A European Perspective
2019-11-08 11:45 - 13:45
The Washington Warburg Chapter of the ACG, the Center for Social Science Research at George Mason University, and the Heinrich Boell Foundation will host a discussion and luncheon with Ralf Fücks, Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity and Author of Defending Freedom: How We Can Win the Fight for an Open Society.
Ralf Fücks is Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity, a German thinktank which was founded in 2017. He came to this role after more than 20 years with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, the political foundation associated with the Greens. At the center of his work were green economics and ecological innovation, migration, the future of Europe and international politics. Before that he was co-chair of the Greens (1989/90) and Senator for Environment and City Development in Bremen.
Mr. Fücks is considered a leading thinker, seeking cross-party discourse. He has published in leading newspapers, gives speeches, and participates in the public debate. Mr. Fücks is an advocate for liberal ecology politics, which focus on innovation rather than prohibition. Of special importance to him is a dialogue with the economy, which he considers an invaluable actor of a “green industrial revolution.”
Ralf Fücks is coordinator of the committee “Ecological Modernization” within the Petersburg Dialogue. Like Marieluise Beck he fights for democratic opposition in Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries. He is a convinced European and transatlanticist.
There is no charge to attend this event; you must register to attend.

Charlotte: The Future of Liberal Democracy: A European Perspectiv
2019-11-11 11:45 - 13:30
The Charlotte Warburg Chapter of the ACG and the Heinrich Boell Foundation will host a discussion and luncheon with Ralf Fücks, Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity and Author of Defending Freedom: How We Can Win the Fight for an Open Society.
Ralf Fücks is Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity, a German thinktank which was founded in 2017. He came to this role after more than 20 years with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, the political foundation associated with the Greens. At the center of his work were green economics and ecological innovation, migration, the future of Europe and international politics. Before that he was co-chair of the Greens (1989/90) and Senator for Environment and City Development in Bremen.
Mr. Fücks is considered a leading thinker, seeking cross-party discourse. He has published in leading newspapers, gives speeches, and participates in the public debate. Mr. Fücks is an advocate for liberal ecology politics, which focus on innovation rather than prohibition. Of special importance to him is a dialogue with the economy, which he considers an invaluable actor of a “green industrial revolution.”
Ralf Fücks is coordinator of the committee “Ecological Modernization” within the Petersburg Dialogue. Like Marieluise Beck he fights for democratic opposition in Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries. He is a convinced European and transatlanticist.
There will be a charge of $25.00 for members and a charge of $35.00 for nonmembers to attend this event.

Madison: From 1989 to Today: Germany Behind the Wall
2019-11-11 16:00 - 17:00
The Madison Warburg Chapter and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for German and European Studies will host a lecture and discussion with Anja Goerz, Journalist, Radio Host, and Author.
This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.
Anja Goerz is a German journalist, radio host, and author. After studying photography, she began her career in 1989 at Radio Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel, where she worked as a reporter and moderator. Since 1990, she has hosted regular shows on radio stations in Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg and produced pieces for Deutschlandfunk. Since 2014, she has hosted a show on Nordwestradio.
In addition, Anja Goerz writes fiction and non-fiction. She has written several novels, and in April 2014 the Deutschen Taschenbuch Verlag published “Der Osten ist ein Gefühl” (The East is a Feeling), in which she reports on conversations she has had with people from the former GDR. The book has been reprinted several times and was a Spiegel bestseller.
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – the Year of German-American Friendship, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). For more information on the initiative and the more than 1,000 projects that will take between October 2018 and November 2019, visit www.wunderbartogether.org.

Boston: Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning
2019-11-12 12:00 - 13:00
The Boston Warburg Chapter will host a discussion with Tobias David, Chief of Staff to the Lord Mayor of Leipzig on “Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: From German Unity to a New Beginning.”
Tobias David, born in 1973, grew up in Leipzig (former GDR/East Germany) and spent most of his school years under the conditions of the GDR dictatorship. Even as a teenager he was involved in opposition groups under the protection of the Catholic Church and became politically active early on. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989, driven by the peace and civil rights movement, had a lasting impact on his life. After studying political science and communication, he worked for many years as managing director of a communications agency. In 2004 he moved to the Saxon State Parliament as advisor to the Vice-President. Since 2008, he has been the closest strategic advisor to the Mayor of the City of Leipzig. The Peaceful Revolution of 1989 – which ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany – began in Leipzig. Today Leipzig is not only one of the largest cities in Germany but also the fastest growing German city.
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – the Year of German-American Friendship, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). For more information on the initiative and the more than 1,000 projects that will take place between October 2018 and November 2019, visit www.wunderbartogether.org.
Please feel free to bring your own lunch to enjoy during the discussion.

Cleveland: The Future of Liberal Democracy: A European Perspective
2019-11-12 12:00 - 14:00
The Cleveland Warburg Chapter of the ACG and the Heinrich Boell Foundation will host a discussion and luncheon with Ralf Fücks, Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity and Author of Defending Freedom: How We Can Win the Fight for an Open Society.
Ralf Fücks is Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity, a German thinktank which was founded in 2017. He came to this role after more than 20 years with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, the political foundation associated with the Greens. At the center of his work were green economics and ecological innovation, migration, the future of Europe and international politics. Before that he was co-chair of the Greens (1989/90) and Senator for Environment and City Development in Bremen.
Mr. Fücks is considered a leading thinker, seeking cross-party discourse. He has published in leading newspapers, gives speeches, and participates in the public debate. Mr. Fücks is an advocate for liberal ecology politics, which focus on innovation rather than prohibition. Of special importance to him is a dialogue with the economy, which he considers an invaluable actor of a “green industrial revolution.”
Ralf Fücks is coordinator of the committee “Ecological Modernization” within the Petersburg Dialogue. Like Marieluise Beck he fights for democratic opposition in Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries. He is a convinced European and transatlanticist.
There is no charge to attend this event; you must register to attend.

Denver: From 1989 to Today: Germany Behind the Wall
2019-11-13 18:00 - 21:00
The Denver Warburg Chapter of the American Council on Germany will host a discussion and dinner with Anja Goerz, Journalist, Radio Host, and Author.
There is a $20 charge for ACG members and a $30 charge for nonmembers to attend this event.
Anja Goerz is a German journalist, radio host, and author. After studying photography, she began her career in 1989 at Radio Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel, where she worked as a reporter and moderator. Since 1990, she has hosted regular shows on radio stations in Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg and produced pieces for Deutschlandfunk. Since 2014, she has hosted a show on Nordwestradio.
In addition, Anja Goerz writes fiction and non-fiction. She has written several novels, and in April 2014 the Deutschen Taschenbuch Verlag published “Der Osten ist ein Gefühl” (The East is a Feeling), in which she reports on conversations she has had with people from the former GDR. The book has been reprinted several times and was a Spiegel bestseller.
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – the Year of German-American Friendship, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). For more information on the initiative and the more than 1,000 projects that will take between October 2018 and November 2019, visit www.wunderbartogether.org.

NYC: The Fall of the Wall 30 Years On: Lessons from One of History’s Most Unexpected Inevitable Events
2019-11-14 08:00 - 09:30
The ACG will host a breakfast briefing with Ambassador John C. Kornblum Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany.
Ambassador John C. Kornblum has a long record of service in the United States and Europe both as a diplomat and as a businessman. He is recognized as an eminent expert on U.S.-European political and economic relations, in particular in central and eastern Europe. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001. Before that, he occupied a number of high-level diplomatic posts, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, special envoy for the Dayton Peace Process, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Process), Deputy U.S. Ambassador to NATO, and U.S. Minister and Deputy Commandant of Forces in divided Berlin. From 2001 to 2009, he was Chairman of Lazard Freres Germany. He currently serves as Senior Counsellor to the international law firm Noerr LLP and as a senior advisor to the worldwide consultancy Accenture. Ambassador Kornblum has also served on a number of Supervisory and Advisory Boards, including those of ThyssenKrupp Technologies AG, Bayer AG, Russell Reynolds, and Motorola Europe. He is a member of the Boards of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, the American Academy in Berlin, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, and of numerous nonprofit organizations on both sides of the Atlantic, and he is a former ACG Board member. He received a B.A. from Michigan State University in 1964, and he has been the recipient of many awards, including a Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit from Germany and an Order of Merit from Austria.

Chicago: The Future of the Liberal Order
2019-11-14 12:00 - 14:00
The Chicago Warburg Chapter of the ACG and the Heinrich Boell Foundation will host a discussion and luncheon with Ralf Fücks, Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity and Author of Defending Freedom: How We Can Win the Fight for an Open Society.
Ralf Fücks is Managing Director of the Center for Liberal Modernity, a German thinktank which was founded in 2017. He came to this role after more than 20 years with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, the political foundation associated with the Greens. At the center of his work were green economics and ecological innovation, migration, the future of Europe and international politics. Before that he was co-chair of the Greens (1989/90) and Senator for Environment and City Development in Bremen.
Mr. Fücks is considered a leading thinker, seeking cross-party discourse. He has published in leading newspapers, gives speeches, and participates in the public debate. Mr. Fücks is an advocate for liberal ecology politics, which focus on innovation rather than prohibition. Of special importance to him is a dialogue with the economy, which he considers an invaluable actor of a “green industrial revolution.”
Ralf Fücks is coordinator of the committee “Ecological Modernization” within the Petersburg Dialogue. Like Marieluise Beck he fights for democratic opposition in Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries. He is a convinced European and transatlanticist.
There is no charge to attend this event; you must register to attend.

NYC: European (Dis)Integration: Brexit and the Future of the EU
2019-11-15 08:00 - 09:30
The ACG will host a breakfast briefing with Ambassador Peter Wittig, German Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Ambassador Peter Wittig has served as German Ambassador to the United Kingdom since July 2018. He served as Ambassador to the United States from 2014 to 2018. Prior to this, he was German Ambassador to the United Nations in New York from 2009 to 2014 representing Germany during its tenure as a member of the UN Security Council in 2011 and 2012. Ambassador Wittig joined the German Foreign Service in 1982. He has served at the Embassy in Madrid; as private secretary to the Foreign Minister at the headquarters, then located in Bonn; and as Ambassador in Lebanon and in Cyprus. He was the German Government Special Envoy on the “Cyprus question” (the division of Cyprus). He has acquired extensive knowledge of the Middle East. Before starting his career in the German Foreign Service, Ambassador Wittig studied history, political science, and law at Bonn, Freiburg, Canterbury, and Oxford universities and taught as an Assistant Professor at the University of Freiburg.

Los Angeles: From 1989 to Today: Germany Behind the Wall
2019-11-15 12:00 - 13:30
The Los Angeles Warburg Chapter of the American Council on Germany will host a discussion and lunch with Anja Goerz, Journalist, Radio Host, and Author.
There is a $25 charge for ACG members and a $35 charge for nonmembers to attend this event.
Anja Goerz is a German journalist, radio host, and author. After studying photography, she began her career in 1989 at Radio Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel, where she worked as a reporter and moderator. Since 1990, she has hosted regular shows on radio stations in Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg and produced pieces for Deutschlandfunk. Since 2014, she has hosted a show on Nordwestradio.
In addition, Anja Goerz writes fiction and non-fiction. She has written several novels, and in April 2014 the Deutschen Taschenbuch Verlag published “Der Osten ist ein Gefühl” (The East is a Feeling), in which she reports on conversations she has had with people from the former GDR. The book has been reprinted several times and was a Spiegel bestseller.
This event is being held under the auspices of Deutschlandjahr USA 2018/2019 – the Year of German-American Friendship, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI). For more information on the initiative and the more than 1,000 projects that will take place between October 2018 and November 2019, visit www.wunderbartogether.org.
This event is held in partnership with the Wende Museum of the Cold War.

Nashville: The Path to Freedom and German Unity: The Peaceful Revolution and the Fall of the Berlin Wall 30 Years On
2019-11-18 18:00 - 20:00
The Nashville Warburg Chapter and the Sister Cities of Nashville will host a discussion and reception with David Gill, German Consul General in New York on “The Path to Freedom and German Unity: The Peaceful Revolution and the Fall of the Berlin Wall 30 Years On.”
David Gill was born in 1966 in Herrnhut, Saxony, in former East Germany. He was denied a higher education by the Communist regime for political reasons. Instead, he trained and worked as a plumber before joining a preparatory protestant school and later the theological seminary of the Protestant Church in Berlin-Brandenburg. In 1990, he was the chairman of Normannenstrasse Citizens’ Committee which initially oversaw the dissolution of the Ministry of State Security at the Stasi headquarters and then served as the secretary of the Special Committee for the dissolution of the Stasi of the East German Parliament.
After Germany’s unification, Mr. Gill became spokesman and head of the research division of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi-Files before studying law in Berlin and Philadelphia. After holding positions in the Federal Ministry of the Interior and at the Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in Berlin, he served as the Deputy Representative of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany to the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union. During Federal President Joachim Gauck’s term from 2012-2017, he was state secretary and chief of staff to the President. Since August 2017, he has been the German Consul General in New York.
On Mr. Gill’s first visit to the United States in 1992, Mr. Gill participated in the American Council on Germany’s American-German Young Leaders Conference in Nashville.

NYC: Transatlantic Stammtisch for Young Professionals
2019-11-21 18:30 - 20:30
The American Council on Germany will hold a Transatlantic Stammtisch on Thursday, November 21.
$10 to attend includes first drink. Snacks provided.
Transatlantic Stammtisch brings together young professionals for informal networking opportunities with individuals interested in transatlantic relations, Germany, and the German language. Conversations are conducted in both English and German.

NYC: Citizens, Cities, and Cooperation
2019-11-26 18:00 - 20:00
Providing mobility, health, education, job opportunities, and a safe and clean living environment in times of structural as well as climate change are common challenges for municipalities around the globe. A lot can be achieved at the local level. Through international city2city cooperation, these achievements can be shared, spreading best practices and impact beyond city limits and national borders.
Following a workshop, the public panel discussion will address the benefits of city2city cooperation, including corporate and civil society initiatives, and brings together experts and practitioners to answer the following questions: When does city2city cooperation work well? What are the challenges to international city cooperation? What role does the corporate and civil society sector play?
Panel discussion with Miriam Roure, Christian Herzog, and Andrés Ramirez.
Miriam Roure is passionate about improving cities through technology and design. She is the Program Director at URBAN-X, an accelerator built by MINI and Urban Us, dedicated to investing in and supporting entrepreneurs developing urban solutions. Previously, Miriam worked at MIT Senseable City Lab, a research laboratory dedicated to exploring the future of cities from a data and sensor-based technology perspective. Trained as an architect and urban planner, she also worked at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam. Miriam holds degrees from Harvard University (MArchII) and Cornell University (BArch). She co-organized the first Harvard xDesign Conference in 2013.
Urban X
Christian Herzog is the first point of contact at Berlin Partner for startups, investors, to be digitized SMEs and upscaling companies being interested in Berlin. Over the last 4 years, he has grown the capital into a “Start Alliance” aiming to strengthen the cooperation between Berlin and other international startup hubs, such as NYC, Tel Aviv, Shanghai and Paris. Christian holds the position of Head of Division Digital Business and drives the development of Berlin as an internationally known place to be for startups and as a breeding ground for innovations in the area of Smart Cities, ICT, Media, Creative Industries and Digital Transformation.
Berlin Partner for Business and Technology
Start Alliance
Andrés Felipe Ramirez is a Colombian writer, curator and cultural producer, working in the realm of architecture, urban planning and media. He is the co-founder and Managing Director of PLANE–SITE, an agency devoted to the production and dissemination of original content about the built environment. At PLANE–SITE, Andrés leads a wide-range of projects – from exhibitions and publications, to design competitions and international conferences. Andrés co-founded and directs Aerial Futures, a nonprofit research platform that convenes timely conversations surrounding the architecture of flight. Andrés conceived the traveling exhibition Denise Scott Brown: Wayward Eye (2018); curated Garden City Mega City, Urban Ecosystems of WOHA, at the Museum of the City of Mexico (2017); curated of the first contribution of the Seychelles to the XV Venice Architecture Biennale Between Two Waters, Searching for Expression in the Seychelles (2016), and co-curated Medellín, Topography of Knowledge at the Aedes Architecture Forum (2015).
PLANE-SITE
In cooperation with Berlin Partner, TOA, the German Consulate General New York , the American Council on Germany, and TEP.
Please register here to join us for the panel discussion.
