The spread of COVID-19 and the ensuing global lock-down as governments try to slow the spread of the corona virus has tested individuals and institutions around the world. Since March of 2020, the ACG has stepped up its digital programming by hosting webinars and video discussions which bring together policy makers and thought leaders from both sides of the Atlantic to discuss some of the key issues shaping transatlantic relations in an unprecedented time. In addition to organizing events on its own, the ACG has also partnered with other organizations such as 1014 and Atlantik-Brücke to launch new series designed to reach beyond the ACG community.
On December 16, the ACG held a special edition Kaffeepause with Cameron Adabi, deputy editor at Foreign Policy, and Rüdiger Lentz, senior political advisor for the firm of Rud Pedersen. They discussed the vote of no confidence in the Bundestag and the upcoming elections in Germany.
A few days after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled into exile, on December 12, the ACG and the Center for Middle East and Global Order (CMEG) on December 12, for a virtual discussion with Dr. Bente Scheller, Head of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Middle East and North Africa Division, and Dr. Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Founder and Director of CMEG. They discussed the larger global impact of the end of Assad’s regime and the uncertain future for Syrians.
The no-confidence vote in France has plunged the country into political chaos. On December 11, the ACG hosted a virtual discussion with Jacob Ross, Research Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, who explained the French government collapse, Franco-German relations, and what comes next.
The ACG regularly hosts discussions with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse. On December 9, the ACG held a Kaffeepause with ACG Fellowship alumna Miriam Hollstein, Chief Political Reporter for Stern.
On December 2, the ACG, in partnership with the Goethe Institut, held the final event in the Double Exposure series with Dr. Clara van den Berg, Researcher in the Center for Civil Society Research at Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, and Dr. Leah Gose, Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change Postdoctoral Scholar at USC Dornsife’s Equity Research Institute.