In this week's At Issue, Executive Director Dr. Jackson Janes discusses the results of the recent summit meeting between the European Union and the U.S., pointing out the key role played by Chancellor Merkel, who will need to help keep the momentum going despite important political leadership changes in Washington and Europe in the near future.

To read this essay, please click here.
 

On April 30, AICGS, in cooperation with the American Council on Germany (ACG) and the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), held a one-day meeting on "The United States, Germany, and Europe: Toward a New Global Partnership," featuring high-level speakers from the U.S. and German governments. This event was timed to coincide with Chancellor Merkel's visit to Washington for the EU-U.S. Summit and focused on two key areas on the transatlantic agenda, energy security and climate change as well as the transatlantic marketplace. Please visit the links below for more information about the conference and for the remarks of several speakers.

To read a summary of the event, please click here (PDF).

To read Chancellor Merkel's remarks, please click here (PDF).

To read Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Volker's remarks, please click here.

To read Tom Daschle's speech, please click here (PDF).

To read Senator Richard Lugar's speech, please click here (PDF).

To hear Senator Chuck Hagel's speech, please click here.

On April 30, 2007, representatives of the European Union, headed by Germany, and the United States met in Washington to discuss the pressing issues of transatlantic relations, including climate change, missile defense, and others. In light of this meeting, AICGS has compiled a page of information surrounding the press coverage of the summit and links to official documents.

To access this page of links, please click here.
 

As part of AICGS's coverage of the EU-U.S. summit, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Director of the Europe program at the Nature Conservancy and a frequent contributor to AICGS, provides some critical commentary on the substance of the summit.  Müller-Kraenner argues that summit's statement on energy security and climate change was a wasted opportunity for progress and that the summit declaration contains few concrete policy initiatives.

Julianne Smith, Director and Senior Fellow of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, takes a look at the current standing of the EU in the United States and argues that many Americans now fear a weaker EU.  In spite of this attitude, Smith writes, the U.S. and the world are ready for the EU to take a big step onto the global stage and do more as a foreign policy actor. This essay originally appeared in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

To read this essay, please click here.

On Friday, May 18, 2007, AICGS will hold a workshop titled "Locusts, Cowboy Capitalism, and Culture Wars: Framing 'American Conditions' in German-American Relations." The workshop seeks to explore the cultural influences that help to "frame" German and American media reporting on important topics, and the implications of these different frames for U.S.-German and transatlantic relations.

To RSVP and for more information, please click here.

On May 13-15, 2007, the Dräger Foundation, in cooperation with AICGS, will hold its third annual Transatlantic Market Conference in Washington, D.C., on 'Growth & Security: Energy and Energy Transportation.'  The conference will convene high-ranking speakers from the German, European, and U.S. industry and political spheres to discuss this increasingly prominent global security issue.

For more information about this event, please click here.

AICGS is seeking an Assistant to the Executive Director to support the Executive Director in his daily activities and with the organization of all Public Affairs program events. Candidates must be bilingual in spoken and written English and German and must have excellent administrative, organizational, and writing skills.

For application instructions and more information, please click here.

AICGS is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for the DAAD/AICGS Fellowship program, sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).  The deadline for the Fall 2007 session of the program is May 31, 2007.

For more information and application instructions, please click here.