On February 14, the ACG and KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft will host a breakfast briefing with Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, Senior Advisor at Human Rights First and Retired Commanding General of United States Army Europe, and Dr. Jana Puglierin, Senior Policy Fellow and Head of European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) Berlin. The discussion will be moderated by Ambassador John B. Emerson, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Vice Chairman at Capital Group International, and Chairman of the American Council on Germany.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges served as Commanding General of United States Army Europe from 2014 to 2017 before his retirement from the Army in early 2018. Based in Frankfurt, he is currently a Senior Advisor to Human Rights First. General Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions, including Tactics Instructor; Chief of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division, in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; Director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff; Chief of Legislative Liaison for the United States Army; and Commander of NATO Allied Land Command (İzmir, Turkey). After his first assignment as an Infantry Lieutenant in Garlstedt, Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels in the 101st Airborne Division, including Command of the First Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” of the 101st Airborne Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2004). His other operational assignments include Chief of Operations for Multi-National Corps – Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2005-2006) and Director of Operations, Regional Command South, in Kandahar, Afghanistan (2009-2010).
Dr. Jana Puglierin is a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and has been the head of its Berlin office since January 2020. She headed the Alfred von Oppenheim Centre for European Policy Studies at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) from December 2015 to December 2019, and was a research fellow with its Berlin Future Forum from September 2013 to November 2015. Before joining DGAP, she worked as an adviser for a member of the Bundestag on disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation, as well as German and European foreign and security policy.
Ambassador John B. Emerson (moderator) was named Chairman of the American Council on Germany at the Council’s Annual Members Meeting on January 17, 2018. He is Vice Chairman at Capital Group International. Previously, he was the 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.