Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Named as Chairman of the American Council on Germany Ambassador John B. Emerson, Vice Chairman at Capital Group International and former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, was elected Chairman of the American Council on Germany (ACG) on January 17, 2018. He is the ACG’s sixth Chairman since its founding in 1952, following in the footsteps of John J. McCloy, Senator Charles McC. Mathias, Jr., General John Galvin, Garrick Utley, and Ambassador Robert M. Kimmitt. Ambassador Emerson’s connection with the ACG extends back to 30 years ago: In 1988, he traveled to Germany on an ACG Political Exchange Fellowship, carried out in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. He succeeds Ambassador Kimmitt, Senior International Counsel at WilmerHale LLP and also a former...
On Monday, November 20, ACG President Dr. Steven E. Sokol appeared on CNBC to discuss the breakdown of coalition negotiations in Germany. Watch here
Trump is not America. That is why Germany will remain the current European nation for the USA. A Response to Jörg Lau's and Bernd Ulrich's America Criticism Lesen Sie diesen Text auf Deutsch Although for more than 70 years common values were invoked to keep the transatlantic partnership together, now is the time to assert shared U.S.-German interests. For this reason, we, the signatories, take issue with the recent argument offered by Jorg Lau and Bernd Ulrich in DIE ZEIT("Something New in the West", ZEIT 43/17) which argues in effect for a German led decoupling of the West from the United States. We are not making a sentimental case for transatlanticism; rather we assert that we have shared interests. Read more
Some call today’s German election boring, but it could produce a Brexit/Trump-like surprise. Stakes are high as Germans take to the polls today for the 19th federal election since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. The campaign season has been short and rather uneventful, especially by American standards, and Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to have a lock on the top job. However, some surprises may yet be in store — including the makeup of the coalition government she will lead in her fourth term and the makeup of the German Bundestag (parliament). Read more
The end of one year and the beginning of a new year offers the opportunity to reflect on the past and to consider what might lie ahead. In the context of the transatlantic relationship, there is a great deal of history to draw upon – and much to anticipate as we think about the coming year. Thirty years ago in June, President Ronald Reagan made his famous speech in West Berlin imploring the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to “tear down this wall!” that had divided West and East Berlin since 1961. Next month will mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, which set the stage for greater political integration and launched Europe’s economic and monetary union. And, 15...
