In the kick-off discussion for our series on the new U.S. administration, A.B. Stoddard, Associate Editor and Columnist, RealClearPolitics, and Bob Cusack, Editor in Chief, The Hill, shared their expectations for Biden-Harris and the 117th Congress. The two high-profile journalists discussed the COVID-relief package, the role of the left-wing of the Democratic party, and the migration crisis at the border. Former Representative Barbara Comstock (R-Virginia, 2015-2019) moderated the discussion. The event was held in cooperation with the Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC).

Former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA, 1993-2017), Co-Chair, Mercury, spoke with Marie-Astrid Langer, U.S. Correspondent, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), about the high levels of polarization in the U.S., the future of the Republican Party, and the transatlantic partnership. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a national reckoning for racial justice and the fallout from the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol in early January, there have been repeated calls for Americans to come together across racial and partisan lines. While running for President, Joe Biden pledged to work towards healing a deeply divided nation. However, the question remains how the new president will deliver on his promise in today’s highly polarized political climate. Bryan Lanza and Morris Reed, partners at Mercury and colleagues of Senator Boxer also joined the conversation. David Deißner, Atlantik-Brücke’s Executive Director, moderated the discussion.

Speakers: Ambassador Richard Burt, Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany; McLarty Associates Ambassador Daniel Fried, Former U.S. Ambassador to Poland; Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council Mario Mehren, CEO, Wintershall Dea GmbH Ambassador Janusz Reiter, Former Polish Ambassador to the U.S. and Germany; Founder, Center for International Relations, Warsaw Dr. Kirsten Westphal, Global Issues Senior Associate, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) Moderated by Prof. Dr. Friedbert Pflüger, CASSIS, University of Bonn; Managing Partner, Bingmann Pflüger International GmbH In cooperation with Energiespräch am Reichstag

Gegenstand der Diskussion zum Thema “A New Green Era in Transatlantic Relations” waren unter anderem folgende Fragen: Wie können die EU und die USA neue internationale Maßstäbe für Klimaschutz setzen? Und wie kann gewährleistet werden, dass Innovationskraft sowie Research & Development im Zentrum der neuen transatlantischen grünen Agenda stehen? Unsere Gäste sind: Werner Baumann, Vorstandsvorsitzender, Bayer AG, Lynn Scarlett, Chief External Affairs Officer, The Nature Conservancy; Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, Frans Timmermans, Exekutiv-Vizepräsident, Europäische Kommission, und Sigmar Gabriel, Vizekanzler a.D.; Vorsitzender, Atlantik-Brücke. Die Diskussion wurde moderiert von Lee Beck, CCUS Policy Innovation Director, Clean Air Task Force; Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council, und fand in Kooperation mit der Bayer AG statt.

Bei der Paneldiskussion zwischen Prof. Dr. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Gumbrecht, Publizist; Professor Emeritus, Stanford University, und Professor Dr. Michael Hüther, Direktor und Mitglied des Präsidiums, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft; stellvertretender Vorsitzender, Atlantik-Brücke, ging es um die Krise der Repräsentation, Parallelen zwischen Deutschland und den USA und wie es Biden gelingen könnte, eine Brücke zu den Republikanern zu schlagen. Herr Gumbrecht erklärt außerdem, weshalb Trump-Wähler mit dem 45. Präsidenten zufrieden seien, obwohl er ihnen wenig materielle Vorteile verschafft habe und liefert spannende Anekdoten aus Stanford und dem Leben im Silicon Valley.

Elmar Theveßen, Washington Bureau Chief, ZDF, Susan Glasser, Staff Writer, The New Yorker; Global Affairs Analyst, CNN, and Sigmar Gabriel, Former Federal Minister; Former Vice-Chancellor; Chairman, Atlantik-Brücke, look back at 2020 through a political lens, and give an outlook on transatlantic relations under the incoming US administration. The discussion was moderated by David Deißner, Executive Director, Atlantik-Brücke.

Impulse Statement: Will Hurd, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (tbc) Discussion: Sigmar Gabriel, former Vice-Chancellor; Chairman, Atlantik-Brücke Günther H. Oettinger, former EU-Commissioner; President, United Europe Dr. Daniela Schwarzer, Director, German Council on Foreign Relations Anna Wieslander, Director for Northern Europe, Atlantic Council Moderator: Natalia Drozdiak, European Technology Reporter, Bloomberg Atlantik-Brücke in cooperation with United Europe

Josh Glancy, Washington bureau chief for The Sunday Times, and Rachel Rizzo, adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), discuss the future of Anglo-European relations. The discussion covers issues such as Trump’s foreign policy legacy, the relationship between Great Britain and the US, and China.

As part of the virtual 2020 German-American Conference, Sigmar Gabriel, Former Federal Minister; Former Vice-Chancellor; Chairman, Atlantik-Bruecke e.V., and Ambassador John Emerson, Chairman, American Council on Germany, look back at 2020 and ahead to see what 2021 might bring for German-American relations. They discuss the European and American strategies on China, the debate around Nord Stream 2, and Germany’s role in the multilateral order. The discussion was moderated by Christiane Meier, Correspondent and Head of New York Office, ARD German Television. This event was held in cooperation with the American Council on Germany.

Jan Pieter Krahnen, wissenschaftlicher Direktor, Mitglied im Vorstand des Leibniz-Instituts für Finanzmarktforschung SAFE e.V.; Professor für Kreditwirtschaft und Finanzierung, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, hält als Teil des digitalen Frankfurt Luncheon einen Vortrag zu dem Thema „Finanzmarktstabilität in Zeiten der Corona-Krise“. Seine aktuelle Forschung befasst sich mit Ursachen und Wirkungen der Finanzkrise, insbesondere mit Fragen strukturierter Finanzierung, systemischen Risikos und einer nachhaltigen Architektur der Finanzmärkte. In diesem Vortrag geht Krahnen auf die Auswirkungen der Pandemie auf den Finanzmarkt ein, erläutert die Unterschiede zwischen der Finanzkrise in 2008 und der jetzigen Krise und zeigt mögliche Lösungsansätze auf. Jürgen H. Conzelmann, Chief Executive Officer, Haus & Grund Frankfurt am Main; Regional Head Atlantik-Brücke Frankfurt a.M. & Rhein/Main, hält das Grußwort.

Im Gespräch mit dem Atlantik-Brücke-Vorsitzenden Sigmar Gabriel spricht Thomas Gottschalk über sein Leben in den USA, darüber, was an Amerika liebenswert ist, was die Präsidentschaft Donald Trumps verändert hat und über die Unterschiede zwischen Deutschen und Amerikanern.

We have had so many amazing speakers this year. Speakers from both sides of the Atlantic, including (but not limited to): Francis Fukuyama, Emily Haber, Nicholas Burns, Clarissa Ward, John Allen, Tom Friedman, Victoria Nuland, Robert Zoellick, John Emerson, Heidi Heitkamp, Jospeh Nye, Garlin Gilchrist, Cathryn Clüver, John Lipski, Imani Perry and many, many more.

What does Joe Biden's election mean for transatlantic relations? What does it mean for American society? Charles Kupchan discusses these issues with Michael Werz. Charles Kupchan is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government. Michael Werz is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and Senior Fellow (2020/2021), Stiftung Mercator, and Member of Atlantik-Brücke's Board of Directors.

The fourth discussion of our “Virtual Battleground Tour” in cooperation with the Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC) dealt with the election results. Former members of Congress Jim Blanchard (D-Michigan), Carlos Curbelo (R-Florida), Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania) and Karan English (D-Arizona) discussed voter turnout, exit polls, and vote counts in their contested home states. They analyzed the outcomes of the presidential election and the Senate races. The discussion was moderated by Lukas Streiff, Diplomat at the German Embassy Beirut and 2016 Young Leader Alumnus.

A debrief of the elections with experts, scholars and politicians, hosted by Atlantik-Brücke, The German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Landesvertretung Nordrhein-Westfalen.

As part of the virtual 2020 German-American Conference, Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany held a joint video discussion titled »Changing Demographics: Diversity in the United States and Germany«. Our speakers were Prof. Dr. Petra Bendel, Professor of Political Science, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, The Honorable Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, United States House of Representatives, Janet Murguia, President and CEO, UNIDOS, and Cem Oezdemir, MdB (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Deutscher Bundestag. The discussion was moderated by Michael Werz, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress. The speakers discussed the demographic shifts taking place in both Germany and the United States and the likely effects of such changes. The United States is likely to become a "majority-minority" country by the early 2040s, and German society is becoming increasingly diverse - with nearly a quarter of the population with a migration background - and also aging quickly. The panelists also considered how can transatlantic relations can become more inclusive and how changing demographics demographic might help - or hinder - transatlantic cooperation.

Just ahead of the 2020 election, Mark Pocan, Member of Congress (D-Wisconsin), U.S. House of Representatives, and moderator Scott Klug, former Member of Congress (R-Wisconsin), U.S. House of Representatives, debate which voter groups might play a decisive role in Wisconsin and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on voting behavior in the contested battleground state. This video is part of the “Virtual Battleground Tour”, a cooperation between Atlantik-Brücke and the Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC).

Ambassador Anthony Luzzato Gardner presented insights from his latest book “Stars with Stripes: The Essential Partnership between the European Union and the United States.” He and Sigmar Gabriel, Former Federal Minister; Former Vice-Chancellor; Chairman, Atlantik-Bruecke e.V., then discussed the current and future state of the relationship between the U.S. and the EU. The discussion was moderated by Sarah Kelly, Anchor-at-Large, DW News (Deutsche-Welle). This event was a cooperation between Atlantik-Brücke and ESMT Berlin.

The second stop of our Battleground Tour was the state of Michigan. Garlin Gilchrist, Lieutenant Governor of Michigan, analyzed the impact of COVID-19 on the elections, as well as the impact of ethnic differences on voting behavior, in conversation with James J. Blanchard, former Governor of Michigan and former U.S. Ambassador in Canada. They also discussed whether the presidential election might have an impact on Senate and other down-the-ballot races.

As part of an energy roundtable hosted by Atlantik-Brücke, Dirk Nowak of SDI Management Consulting and Dr. Emre Gencer of the MIT Energy Initiative Cambridge discuss the changes that need to be made in the energy sector in order to combat climate change. They also examine the recent developments in hydrogen research and innovation and touch upon the main challenges when it comes to the production, transportation, and storage of hydrogen. Dr Gencer advocates for a global hydrogen strategy that brings together regional efforts.

Thomas L. Friedman, Op-Ed-columnist at The New York Times, discusses the US’s and Europe’s relationship with China at the invitation of Atlantik-Brücke. Friedman advocates for a transatlantic strategy. According to Friedman, until recently, American companies turned a blind eye to Chinese misbehavior because both sides were benefitting. However, this has changed. Friedman argues that negotiating successfully with a country of China’s scale and economic power is only possible by using leverage, something Trump failed to do. Instead of building a united front with Europe, Trump made negotiations with China a bilateral affair. While China and especially the renminbi might be considered stable today, this could change, since China is more closed off than it was in recent years, which is unlikely to make them thrive in an ever-more connected world.

Professor Daniel Ziblatt, political scientist at Harvard and co-author of the bestseller “How Democracies Die” and Donald Wise, former CEO of Metzler North America, discussed the state of democracy in the US. Wise and Ziblatt explored whether American democracy is merely facing a temporary crisis or a fundamental threat. Wise emphasized that the American public is not as deeply divided as politics may make it seem. The existing cultural divisions, he stated, can be overcome – starting at the local level. Ziblatt on the other hand warned of the deep level of polarization and argued that the damage to the unwritten rules of democracy could only be surmounted by institutional reforms. The speakers also touched upon current debates such as the nomination of Supreme Court Justices and answered questions from the audience, for example on Trump’s long-term legacy and how he has changed foreign policy.

Four leading American pollsters give us their take on the upcoming election. Glen Bolger, Public Opinion Strategies, Celinda Lake, Lake Research Partners, Fred Yang, Hart Research and Amy Walter, Cook Political Report speak about how the pandemic is affecting the election, which groups of voters the presidential candidates can each win, and how the Senate election differs from the presidential election. In addition, the four experts talk about why pollsters did not predict the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Atlantik-Brücke's five-part "Virtual Battleground Tour" is being held in cooperation with the Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC).

Clarissa Ward is one of the most renowned foreign correspondents in the USA. In a conversation with Simgar Gabriel and members of Atlantik-Brücke, the award-winning journalist discusses whether, after significant Russian meddling in the last US presidential election, foreign interference will once again be a factor this November. Other foreign policy dimensions of the election are also topics in this conversation.