The American Council on Germany and American Friends of Bucerius, with support from Alston & Bird LLP, jointly launched the Transatlantic Global Agenda series in 2011 to offer members of the transatlantic community in New York an opportunity to hear respected experts discuss major global political and economic issues in the context of the transatlantic partnership. With the rise of China and India and their impact on the world economy, the growing demand for oil and other natural resources, and worldwide political, cultural, and religious tensions, it is crucial that those living and working in the transatlantic community enhance their mutual understanding of both present and future economic, cultural, and political issues. Climate change, financial instability, political upheavals, and civil unrest are universal concerns. These and many other topics are themes for the Transatlantic Global Agenda series.
2017
October 27
“Russia and the West: What’s Next?”
Dr. Angela Stent, Director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies and
Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University
June 9
“Post-Carbon Cities of Tomorrow: Lessons in Urban Sustainability”
Max Gruenig, President of the Ecologic Institute U.S.
2016
December 8
“The Future of Multilateralism: A View from the UN”
Ambassador Heiko Thoms, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations
November 4
“What’s Next in Turkey and Why That Will Matter to the Next American President”
Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, Philip Solondz Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
October 21
“Russia Rising: How to Deal with President Putin and His New Russia”
Katja Gloger, Editor-at-Large at Stern magazine
March 22
“Women’s Issues in Current German Politics: From Equal Pay to the Refugee Crisis”
Ursula Groden-Kranich, Member of the German Bundestag (CDU)
February 17
“Turkish-Israeli Relations: Security, Energy, and Global Implications”
Professor Brenda Shaffer, Visiting Research and Adjunct Professor at the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CERES) at Georgetown University
2015
December 9
“Syrian Refugees, Turkey, and the EU”
Kemal Kirișci, TÜSİAD Senior Fellow and Director at the Center on the United States and Europe’s Turkey Project at The Brookings Institution
November 23
“China’s Global Strategy”
Prof. Dr. Eberhard Sandschneider, Otto Wolff Director of the Research Institute and Head of the China/Asia-Pacific Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
June 10
“Nuremberg Principles and Modern International Law”
Ambassador Dr. Martin Ney, Legal Advisor of the German Federal Foreign Office
May 12
“Germany and the United States: Reliable Allies with Differences”
Bruce Stokes, Director of Global Economic Attitudes for the Pew Research Center
April 14
“Germany and Russia, and the Rise of Geo-Economics”
Dr. Steve Szabo, Executive Director of the Transatlantic Academy
March 31
“Conflicts in Ukraine – The Unwinding of the Post-Cold War Order”
Rajan Menon, Anne and Bernard Spitzer Professor of Political Science at the Powell School of the City College of New York/City University of New York, and Senior Research Scholar at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University
March 12
“Shifting Alliances: The ISIS Crisis & U.S.-Kurdish Cooperation”
David Phillips, Director of the Program on Peace-Building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights
2014
November 3
“Decades of Disorder: A Humanitarian View”
David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee
October 31
“State Accountability: Dealing with Neo-Nazi Extremism”
Dr. Mehmet Daimgüler, Lawyer representing the families of the victims of the NSU, and Alexander Pyka, Founder and Board Member at the Young Initiative on Foreign Affairs and International Relations
October 14
“German Policy on the Middle East”
Brita Wagener, Consul General at the German Consulate in New York
September 9
“Ukraine’s Future: Challenges and Opportunities”
Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center and former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs
May 13
“Germany as Model and Mediator for Northeast Asian Conflicts”
Dr. Lily Gardner Feldman, Harry & Helen Gray Senior Fellow at AICGS
April 8
“Back to the Future: The Ukraine Crisis is Germany’s Biggest Foreign Policy Challenge since the Cold War”
Alexander Privitera, Senior Fellow and Director of the Business and Economics Program at AICGS
March 5
“Current Immigration and Integration Debates in Germany and the United States: What We Can Learn from Each Other”
Spencer Boyer, Visiting Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations and Visiting Scholar at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced Studies
February 25
“Assassins in the Turquoise Palace”
Ambassador J.D. Bindenagel and Roya Hakakian, author
2013
December 3
“Demographics and Economics: The Business Case for Investing in Sub-Saharan Africa”
Suzanne Ehlers, President and CEO of Population Action
November 18
“One Woman to Rule Them All? The German Election and Its Impact on Europe”
Ali Aslan (2010 Young Leader), Journalist and Television Host
November 6
“The Long Goodbye: The United States and the Middle East in an Age of Change”
Steven A. Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations
October 2
“Turkey’s Middle East Policy in the Aftermath of the Arab Spring”
Soner Cagaptay, Beyer Family Fellow and Director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute
September 17
“Are Iran and American Doomed to Be Permanent Enemies?”
Dr. Gary Sick, Senior Research Scholar and Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University
April 3
“What Europe Should Do About Hezbollah”
Matthew Levitt, Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
March 4
“A New Way to Look at Foreign Policy: Complex Crisis Scenarios in the 21st Century”
Dr. Michael Werz, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress
2012
December 14
“American Foreign Policy and the Use of Force: Focus on the Middle East”
Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, Visiting Fellow at the Washington Institute and former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq
September 27
“Demographics vs. Economics in the 2012 Election”
Ruy Teixeira, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress
May 18
“Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan”
Ahmed Rashid, Journalist and Best-Selling Author
May 7
“Germany’s Energy Future: Greening an Exporting Nation”
Andreas Kraemer, Director and CEO of the Ecologic Institute in Berlin
April 12
“Why Brazil Matters: The Country’s Ongoing Transformation and Its Regional and Global Role”
Paulo Sotero, Director of the Brazil Institution at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, and Helga Flores Trejo, Fellow at The Brookings Institution
March 27
“Shifting German Foreign Policy”
Karsten Voigt, former Member of Parliament and Coordinator for German-American Cooperation in the German Federal Foreign Office
January 31
“Iraq, the Arab Spring, and Reform in the Muslim World”
David Phillips, Director of the Program on Peace-Building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights and a Fellow at Harvard University’s Future of Diplomacy Project
2011
December 12
“International Relations and Security Issues”
Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large at DIE ZEIT and Dean of the Bucerius Summer School on Global Governance
November 15
“The Pathology of the Euro Crisis”
Ambassador John Kornblum, Senior Counsel at Nörr LLP, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, and former ACG Board Member
October 17
“Women Are the New Global Growth Engine”
Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council of Foreign Relations and Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative
September 16
“The Transformation of Turkey and Its Political and Economic Role in the Region”
Abdullah Akyuz, President of the U.S. Representative Office of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD-US, Inc.)
June 25
“Ways Out of the Budget Crisis: A European Perspective”
Friedrich Merz, Chairman of Atlantik-Brücke e.V., Partner at Mayer Brown LLP, and former Member of the German Bundestag
June 6
“Is the European Union Unraveling?”
Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University
April 27
“Oil, the Dollar, and the Stability of the International Financial System”
Eckart Woertz, Visiting Fellow at the Environmental Institute at Princeton University
March 25
“Implications of the Earthquake and Future Prospects for Japan”
Robert Dujarric, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan Campus, and Paul Scalise, Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University
February 23
“How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance”
Parag Khanna, Director of the Global Governance Initiative and Senior Research Fellow in the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation