Illuminating the Arts-Policy Nexus 

Transatlantic Relations after the U.S. Elections:

Germany, Europe and the United States

A discussion with Karsten D. Voigt

In his recent trip to Europe, President Barack Obama echoed themes of the message he gave two hundred thousand people in Berlin last July: "Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more -- not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security." Germany is pivotal to the transatlantic relationship and to larger geo-strategic concerns including Iraq and Afghanistan. What are the key challenges for transatlantic relations in a changed geostrategic framework? Roughly three months into the Obama presidency, are Europe and the United States reconciling disagreements on how to handle the global economic crisis and combat climate change? Are common policies on energy, security, and international financial challenges possible? How do Germans rate Obama's performance during his early-April European visit? In this World Policy Institute discussion, Karsten Voigt, a key player in German-US relations, will examine ways in which the transatlantic partnership can be intensified and areas where Europe and the United States will have to agree to disagree.

When:

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

4 - 5:30 PM

Where:

Demos

220 Fifth Avenue (between 26th and 27th streets)

Fifth Floor conference room

New York, New York

RSVP: This event is free and open to the public but advance registration is strongly recommended to reserve your seat. Please RSVP to events@worldpolicy.org or call the World Policy Events line at 212.481.5005, option 2.

About the Speaker

Karsten Voigt is Germany's leading expert on transatlantic relations, focusing in particular on foreign policy and security. In his diplomatic position as Coordinator of German-North American Cooperation of the German Federal Foreign Office, he has worked since 1999 to strengthen cooperation between Germany and the US. From 1976-98, he served as a Member of the German Parliament (Bundestag) for the Social Democrats (SPD). He was a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly for two decades and held its presidency in 1994 and 1996. He is also a member of several international organizations and institutions. Mr. Voigt is currently in New York as a visiting scholar at NYU's Deutsches Haus.

Moderators

Belinda Cooper is a senior fellow and co-founder of the Citizenship and Security Program at the World Policy Institute and an adjunct professor at New York University's Center for Global Affairs, where she teaches and lectures on human rights and international law, especially as related to the current "war on terror." She is the editor of War Crimes: The Legacy of Nuremberg, which explores the interconnections between the Nuremberg tribunal and today's international criminal tribunals. Ms. Cooper's expertise in historical memory and transitional justice frames her work on the Turkish society's difficulty in coming to terms with the Armenian genocide and Poland's complex relationship with its former Jewish minority. She has lived and worked in Berlin for several years, notably in 2002 as a Berlin Prize Fellow at the American Academy. Ms. Cooper has contributed to German and US print media, radio and TV and has participated in many scholarly panels. She is also a translator of German scholarly books and articles, including texts on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust and, most recently, a textbook on international criminal law.

World Policy Institute Senior Fellow Claudia Dreifus writes about the lives of international scientists in her popular interview column in the Science Times section of The New York Times, "A Conversation with..." When the scientific honor society Sigma Xi made her an honorary member in 2006, they described her as "a pioneering and original force in making science accessible." Ms. Dreifus' interviews with leading figures in world politics, particularly with emerging women leaders, have appeared in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Ms., The Nation, Playboy, The Progressive, Mother Jones, Town and Country, AARP's The Magazine, and many others. Two collections of her interviews, Scientific Conversations: Interviews on Science from the New York Times, and Interview, are used as texts in journalism classes throughout the world. Ms. Dreifus has reported from Chile, Nicaragua, Burma and Pakistan. In 2006, the American Society of Journalists and Authors awarded her its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. She teaches "Magazine Writing With An International Dateline" at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and is currently co-authoring a book, Higher Education?, with the political scientist Andrew Hacker, to be published in 2009 by Holt/Times Books.