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.
As COVID-19 cases surge again in Europe and the United States, public health officials, healthcare workers, and hospital administrators are grappling with the challenges of providing care to patients. At the same time, the experiences battling the pandemic this year have started to shape mid- and long-term preparedness and emergency plans. On November 24, the ACG and 1014 hosted a discussion with Dr. David L. Reich, President and COO of The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and President of Mount Sinai Queens (both part of the Mount Sinai Heath System), and Prof. Dr. Eckhard Nagel who serves as Managing Director of the Institute for Health Care Management and Economics at the University of Bayreuth and practices medicine at the Erdhof Rehabilitation Center in Iselsberg-Stronach, Austria. Since 2018, he has been the German President of the Chinese-German Friendship Hospital of the Tongji Clinic Wuhan.
Deadlines for completing a Brexit deal have come and gone, and time is running out for negotiators to reach an agreement regarding the terms of the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. Although the U.K. formally left the EU on January 31, it has continued to follow the bloc’s rules until the end of this year.
On November 23, the ACG hosted a discussion with Dr. Peter Wittig recently retired from the German Diplomatic Service. He is now working as Senior Advisor for Global Affairs at the Schaeffler Group. He is also a Fisher Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
On November 18, 2020, the seventh #R2EN session “Safeguarding Transatlantic Security: A “New Deal” in Euro-American Relations?” featured Heather A. Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic & Director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), and Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Defence and Member of Bundestag (CSU). Andrea Rotter, Head of Division Foreign and Security Policy at the Hanns Seidel Foundation, moderated the discussion. This event is part of the virtual Road to Election Night & Beyond, which the Aspen Institute Germany organizes in cooperation with several Berlin-based transatlantic institutions and political foundations. More information on the event series can be found here: https://landing.berlin-election-night.de.
In 2017, San Antonio and Darmstadt established a sister city partnership to promote economic collaboration and to strengthen cooperation on a host of issues including innovative urban development, sustainable and renewable energy, and start-ups and entrepreneurial development.
On November 18, the ACG hosted a conversation between Ron Nirenberg, Mayor of San Antonio, and Jochen Partsch, Lord Mayor of Darmstadt. The two discussed the vibrant relationship which has developed between their cities and how they are collaborating on issues such as cybersecurity, urban development, and smart cities.
This event is part of a series of [virtual] Transatlantic Town Halls: German-American Mayors Forum, which is held under the auspices of Wunderbar Together USA 2020, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Goethe-Institut.
Ten days after Election Day, members of international press came together in Berlin to discuss the aftermath of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. On November 13, the ACG and several other transatlantic organizations hosted a hybrid discussion with Melissa Eddy, Berlin Correspondent for The New York Times; Tina Hassel, Head and TV Editor-in-Chief of ARD-Hauptstadtstudio in Berlin; Tonia Mastrobuoni, Berlin Correspondent for La Repubblica; Wojciech Szymański, Berlin Correspondent for the Polish Section of Deutsche Welle; and moderated by Terry Martin, Senior Anchor for Deutsche Welle News. A welcome was delivered by Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller. This discussion was part of the Road to the Election Night and Beyond series.