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 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.
Increasingly, government investment in “emerging technologies” aims to harness dual-use, private-sector innovation to achieve national goals. Dual-use technologies are increasingly critical to national economies, labor forces, and security. For major powers and innovators, governments and their private sectors both contribute to investment in technology development. On November 12, the ACG hosted with Dr. Amy J. Nelson, Research Associate at the Center for International and Security Studies (CISSM), University of Maryland and Dr. Bastian Giegerich, Director, Defense and Military Analysis, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, UK, on the advancements being made within the military.
Following the election in the United States, on November 11 the ACG and the Denver Council on Foreign Relations held an evening discussion with Dr. Constanze Stelzenmueller, Senior Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe of Brookings Institution. Dr. Stelzenmueller reflected on what the election means for transatlantic relations.