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.
The corona virus crisis disrupted the lives of millions of people in Europe and the United States. Beginning in March, non-essential businesses were closed, workers were furloughed or laid off – or in Germany subject to Kurzarbeit. In the U.S. schools and daycare centers were shuttered. In both countries, families struggle to come to terms with home schooling. In short, COVID-19 has disrupted the labor market and education – and this has had disastrous consequences for working women and their families.
On January 27, the ACG and the Heidelberg University Association hosted a discussion on the economic impact of the COVID crisis on women in the United States and Germany with Prof. Dr. Christiane Schwieren, Professor of Economics at the Alfred Weber Institute at Heidelberg University, and Julie Kashen, Senior Fellow and Director for Women’s Economic Justice at The Century Foundation, with award-winning German television journalist Birte Meier (2009 ACG Kellen Fellow) as the moderator.
As part of the “Inauguration Day in America: Linking Washington and Berlin,” Ambassador John B. Emerson provided his thoughts and insights into the Biden administration.
To conclude our Road to Election Night & Beyond series, 15 experts from the transatlantic community convened (virtually) in Berlin to help you make sense of the inaugural process and its implications on both sides of the Atlantic. In the course of two hybrid panel discussions and three interviews on Inauguration Day, representatives from key transatlantic institutions and political foundations shared their pre-assessment of Joe Biden’s inaugural address as well as their expectations towards the Biden-Harris administration and the future of the Euro-American bond. The #R2EN series is organized in cooperation with several Berlin-based transatlantic institutions and political foundations. More information can be found here: https://landing.berlin-election-night.de.
On January 19, 2021, the ACG hosted a webinar with Dr. Thomas de Maizière, Member of the Bundestag (CDU) and former Defense Minister, and Dr. A. Wess Mitchell, Vice Chairman of CEPA and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, who discussed the findings of the independent Reflection Group on the future strategic concept for NATO 2030, established by Secretary General Stoltenberg, which they chaired over the course of nine months in 2020.
The recent attack on the U.S. Capitol and incidents in other Western democracies – such as the attempt to storm the Reichstag building in Berlin in August 2020 – demonstrate how fragile our democracies are. On January 15, the ACG and 1014 hosted a discussion with Pam Campos-Palma, Political Strategist and Consultant, and Alexander Sängerlaub, Director of futur eins; and moderated by ACG Fellowship alum Dr. Nicholas Boston, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Lehman College of the City University of New York, and Visiting Professor of Communications at John Cabot University in Rome, Italy.