During the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of science and knowledge has brought scientists even closer to policymakers than ever before – as they collectively try to meet the common public health challenge. This has been true in both domestic policy-making and also in global cooperation.
On July 22, the American Council on Germany, 1014, and the German Center for Research and Innovation New York (DWIH) hosted a conversation with Dr. Esther Brimmer, Executive Director & CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators and former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, and Dr. Georg Schütte, Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation and former State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The transatlantic economy remains the most important in the world comprising one-third of the world’s GDP, $6.2 trillion in commercial sales, 61 percent of inward FDI and 64 percent of outward FDI, as well as 27 percent of global exports and 32 percent of world imports. Currently, the U.S. economy is running on all cylinders with a forecast of 6-7 percent real GDP growth this year, while the Eurozone is still suffering. Greater cooperation could help the transatlantic community together recover better and faster.
On July 21, the ACG and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung hosted a discussion on transatlantic trade with Dr. Laura von Daniels, Head of the Research Division, The Americas, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP); and Dr. Daniel S. Hamilton, Director of the Global Europe Program and Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Distinguished Fellow, Wilson Center; and moderated by Julia Friedlander, Deputy Director of the GeoEconomics Center and C. Boyden Gray Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council.
President Biden has proposed a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that he states will upgrade roads, bridges, and water systems, expand digital access and broadband, hasten a shift to clean energy, and create millions of jobs. The EU’s $800 billion Recovery Fund also focuses on addressing climate change and the digital transformation as part of its economic recovery plan.
On July 21, the ACG and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung hosted a discussion on infrastructure with Greg Lindsay, Director of Applied Research, NewCities, and Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council’s Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative; Brandie Lockett (2018 ACG Sustainable Urban Development), City Designer, Houston Public Works, City of Houston; and Thomas Puls, Senior Economist for Transportation and Infrastructure, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft; and moderated by Dr. Steven E. Sokol, President, American Council on Germany.
A number of recent surveys in Europe and the United States have shown growing discontent with the way democracy is working, distrust in democratic institutions, and the ability of democracies to confront the many complex challenges facing our societies.
On July 21, the American Council on Germany and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung hosted a discussion on climate change with Dr. Camilla Bausch, Scientific and Executive Director, Ecologic Institute; Samantha Gross, Director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative, Brookings Institution; and moderated by Dr. Michael Mehling (2007 ACG McCloy Environmental Fellow), Deputy Director, MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR).
Geopolitical challenges continue to confront the transatlantic alliance ranging from Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine to China’s military build-up and pressure on Taiwan to President Biden’s decision to remove American troops from Afghanistan by September of this year to cyber threats from adversaries around the world.
On July 20, the ACG and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung USA hosted a discussion on transatlantic security and defense with Dr. Jana Puglierin, Head of the Berlin Office and Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR); Dr. Torrey Taussig, Research Director for the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center; Nonresident Fellow, Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe; and moderated by Lauren M. Speranza, Director of Transatlantic Defense and Security, Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).