TikTok is a social media application that is primarily intended for entertainment and is especially popular among teenagers. Nevertheless, the U.S. President has declared TikTok a risk to U.S. national security. The American government accuses Bytedance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, of passing on user data to the Chinese authorities. Bytedance rejects the accusations. TikTok is to be banned in the USA if the company is not sold. Potential buyers include Microsoft, Oracle and Walmart. Due to the global dominance of Apple and Google operating systems, a ban of TikTok in the U.S. would probably have worldwide implications.
On September 22, the Freunde des ACG hosted a virtual discussion with Christoph Keese, CEO of Axel Springer hy GmbH, and John Lee, Senior Analyst at Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS).
Predicting the future is difficult under any circumstance – but it is especially hard during a period of unprecedented uncertainty. One thing is certain: The coronavirus pandemic has changed the lives of billions of people all over the globe. But, what are the lasting changes? What will our communities look like after the pandemic? Are there any lessons we can learn from this moment in history that can shape the world of tomorrow?
On September 16, the ACG and 1014 hosted a conversation with futurists Maria Bothwell, CEO of Toffler Associates, a future-focused strategic advisory firm based in Washington DC, and Gerd Leonhard, CEO of The Futures Agency in Zürich and a European speaker, film-maker and author who focuses on the nexus of humanity and technology, to learn what a post-COVID world might be like.
Identity politics has long been thought to help members of disenfranchised communities create a voice for themselves. However, in recent years, identity politics has led to increased polarization between the left and the right, creating a rise of populism in the United States and Europe. Now in 2020, the call for social justice and racial equality have brought identity into the forefront of political debates on both sides of the Atlantic.
As part of the virtual 2020 German-American Conference, on September 10, the American Council on Germany and Atlantik-Brücke hosted a virtual discussion with political scientist and Young Leader alumnus Dr. Francis Fukuyama (1985 Young Leader), Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Mosbacher Director of FSI’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), and Director of Stanford’s Master’s in International Policy Program; and moderated by German journalist Christiane Hoffmann (1997 Young Leader).
As the conflict in Syria was intensifying, millions of Syrians sought to escape the danger any way possible – mostly on foot. For many, Germany was the ideal destination. After visiting a refugee camp in Dresden, on August 31, 2015, Chancellor Angela Merkel said “Wir schaffen das” – or “We can manage this” – referring to Europe’s ability to cope with mass migration from Syria. By the end of the year, Germany became the destination for over one million refugees. Five years later to the day, on August 31, the ACG hosted a virtual discussion on the lasting impact of the estimated 1.1 million migrants who settled in Germany in 2015 and the millions more who settled elsewhere in Europe with Jagoda Marinic, writer and columnist for the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Director of the International Welcome Center in Heidelberg, and Victoria Rietig, Head of the Migration Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP); and moderated by Adam Hunter, Executive Director of the Refugee Council USA.
Following the RNC, on August 28, the ACG hosted a webinar with members of the Bundestag to gauge their thoughts on the four nights political speeches and videos. Speakers included Franziska Brantner (The Greens), Thomas Erndl (CSU), Alexander Kulitz (FPD), and Nils Schmid (SPD).