The American Council on Germany is committed to addressing important issues in transatlantic and international affairs on all levels of society. Thus, the Council’s programming is aimed at reaching a broad range of individuals with an interest in improving the German-American and U.S-European partnership. This is achieved through a combination of events designed to reach different audiences. Some events have a long history and are conducted on a regular basis. Others are organized on an ad hoc basis and respond to current issues in transatlantic relations. The ACG works closely with a myriad of partner organizations to leverage scarce resources and to maximize – rather than duplicate – efforts.

Among the Council’s established projects are policy conferences involving high-level opinion leaders and policymakers from the fields of government, business, academia, the military, and the media in both countries; the annual American-German Young Leaders Conference for emerging leaders from Germany and the United States; the McCloy Fellowships for young German and American professionals in agriculture, art, environmental affairs, journalism, and urban affairs; and New York and Eric M. Warburg Chapter policy programs with senior representatives from both countries, including the Arthur F. Burns Memorial Lecture Series. The Council continues to expand its activities, initiating additional journalism fellowship programs in recent years, continuing the John J. McCloy Lecture Series for distinguished speakers in New York, and seeking to widen its nationwide outreach program through an increased level of activity at existing Warburg Chapters and the establishment of new ones.

The Council also works to address emerging issues in transatlantic affairs through policy conferences, roundtables, and workshops. These events convene international participants to debate a wide variety of topics, including international security, German and American economic policy, environmental concerns, European integration, and the United States’ and Germany’s relationship with Russia and the Middle East.

While important to improving transatlantic understanding and communication between participants, conferences are by nature limiting because they provide only part of the picture. The ACG staff believes that stand-alone conferences held in the United States or Europe can and should be complemented by study tours, or fact-finding missions, in which small, carefully selected groups travel abroad to meet with senior officials for in-depth exchanges of opinion. The ACG was awarded funding through the German Government’s Transatlantic Program (ERP) to conduct a number of study tours.

The American-German Young Leaders Conference was inaugurated in 1973 to give promising young Americans and Germans the opportunity to gain a better understanding of current policy issues, to exchange ideas, and to forge bonds with their counterparts. The conference provides a forum for bright, informed, and sophisticated young professionals to discuss major issues frankly in an informal setting and creates a lasting network of leaders who are engaged and committed to strengthening the transatlantic partnership. The weeklong conference brings together about 50 Germans and Americans.

In an effort to complement the ACG’s annual bilateral Young Leaders Conference, in November 2003, the American Council on Germany, the Dräger Foundation, and the Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius ZEIT Foundation launched a Young Leaders Study Group on the Future of Europe. Opinion leaders and decision-makers from the successor generation convened at four meetings over a 24-month period to discuss current and pending challenges facing Europe and the transatlantic relationship. The 37 participating future leaders hailed from the United States (10), Poland (8), western Europe (17 – including 10 Germans), and Russia (2), and represented business, government, media, and nongovernmental organizations. The second Study Group on the Future of Europe analyzed the EU’s Neighborhood Policy, and the third focuses on demographic trends, migration, and social cohesion.

These activities are complemented by fellowship programs. Since 1976, the American Council on Germany has offered fellowships to give young American and German professionals an opportunity to broaden their professional experiences and to establish working relationships with their transatlantic counterparts. Under the auspices of the McCloy Fellowship program, more than 700 people from the fields of journalism, agriculture, the arts, environmental policy, and urban affairs have participated in exchanges. Travel programs are arranged with the cooperation of U.S. and German institutions specializing in the fields of interest to the fellows. These institutions include the Columbia University School of Journalism, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the National League of Cities, along with German counterparts such as the Deutscher Bauernverband and Deutscher Städtetag. The fellowships are designed to enable participants to conduct on-site research and interviews on a particular topic, and to provide them with the opportunity for an extensive exchange with their professional counterparts.

In recent years, the American Council on Germany has introduced new fellowships specifically tailored to journalists. Since 1997, the Anna-Maria and Stephen M. Kellen Fellowships have provided Berlin journalists with the chance to investigate timely topics in the United States, from financial systems to immigration to education.

In 2001, the ACG Journalism Fellowship for the Study of German Politics and Society was launched to offer American journalists a close-up view of German politics and society. The program continued through 2008. The ACG Journalism Fellowship program enabled recipients to conduct research in Germany on political, economic, and social issues. Research projects addressed topics with current political or policy significance in Germany’s relations with the United States or within the European Union. The program sought to create a better understanding of transatlantic matters among American journalists and to enable fellows to gain new perspectives on such topics.

In 2003, two fellowships for younger academics were initiated: The Dr. Guido Goldman Fellowship for the Study of German and European Economic and International Affairs and the Dr. Richard M. Hunt Fellowship for the Study of German Politics, Society, and Culture are intended to foster the study of Germany.

The American Council on Germany is prepared to address current international challenges and to fulfill its important role as a forum for international dialogue and exchange. With its diverse programming in cities across the country and in Europe, the ACG is committed to strengthening the German-American and U.S.-European relationships and to promoting international cooperation.