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 November 23 the American Council on Germany held a discussion about the crisis on the border with Belarus and how the EU and the transatlantic community can best respond with Dr. Jörg Forbrig, Senior Fellow and Director for Central and Eastern Europe at The German Marshall Fund of the United States, and Katsiaryna Shmatsina, Fellow at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies.
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. On November 22, the ACG hosted a discussion on the latest developments in coalition negotiations, the fight against COVID, and more with Sumi Somoskanda, Senior News Anchor at DW News (Deutsche Welle).
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis developed and operated an elaborate procurement system for art which they had looted from Jews and other victims of persecution during the Third Reich. Works of art were confiscated, and many art collectors were forced to sell below value. In 2000, a report to the U.S. Congress by historian and Holocaust researcher Dr. Jonathan Petropoulos revealed the full extent of the theft: Some 600,000 works of art were taken by the Nazis within the sphere of influence of the Germans – a third in Germany and Austria alone. Many still have not been recovered.
In his latest book, Göring’s Man in Paris: The Story of a Nazi Art Plunderer and His World, Dr. Petropoulos tells the story of Bruno Lohse, one of the key art experts who helped the Nazis loot European Jews. On November 19, the ACG hosted a conversation with Young Leader alumnus Jonathan Petropoulos, and led by Dr. Ronald J. Granieri, Associate Professor of History in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and Templeton Education Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, who is also a Young Leader alumnus.
on November 18 the ACG had a discussion with Bundestag Member Lisa Badum (The Greens), who attended COP26 as part of the German delegation, to discuss what was achieved during the conference and what it means for the future of climate change policy.
Each week, the ACG hosts a discussion with a journalist based in Germany on the topics making the headlines and shaping political discourse in Berlin. On November 15 the ACG hosted a discussion about German politics with opinion writer for Der Tagesspiegel Malte Lehming.