In Part 2 of a two-part series on the Transatlantic Taskforce dialogues in Asia, GMF Senior Transatlantic Fellow Jim Kolbe speaks with Carol Lancaster, Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and professor of Politics at Georgetown University. They analyze the Taskforce’s aid and development discussions held in Beijing, the Chinese model for aid, and the potential areas for cooperation between countries. Transatlantic Taskforce on Development: Dialogues in Asia Part 2 – China
In Part 1 of a two-part series on the Transatlantic Taskforce dialogues in Asia, GMF Senior Transatlantic Fellow Jim Kolbe speaks with Max Lawson, Head of Development Finance and Public Services at Oxfam Great Britain. They analyze the Taskforce’s discussions held in Tokyo and what role the Japanese government may play in helping advance food security and more effective development policies.
The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is pleased to announce that Sarah Wildman, writing for Slate, is the 2010 recipient of the Peter R. Weitz Journalism Prize for excellence and originality in reporting on Europe and the transatlantic relationship.
The city of Kosovska Mitrovica / Mitrovicë, Kosovo hosted the first annual Forum for Cities in Transition on May 24-28, 2010, bringing together ten cities from around the world, which are dealing with divisions from the aftermath of conflict. The event was supported by The Balkan Trust for Democracy.
On May 26, GMF’s Climate & Energy Program hosted a lunch event on Capitol Hill entitled Rising tides in a warming world: Coping with climate change in the United States, the Netherlands, and developing countries. The purpose of the event was to faciliate discussion among thought leaders in U.S. and European climate and development communties on climate adaptation and water policies. Panelists included Annemieke Nijhof, Director General of Water Management at the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works, and Water Management; Stephen Seidel, Vice President for Policy Analysis and General Counsel at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change; and David Waskow, Climate Change Program Director at Oxfam America.
The following panel comes from this year's Brussels Forum, GMF's annual conference to address the transatlantic relationship, held with the major sponsorship of the Federal Authorities of Belgium, the Egmont Institute, and Daimler. This podcast is audio from the March 28th panel, Climate Change: What Will it Take?, a discussion between Club Madrid Member Gro Harlem Brundtland; Thomson Reuters Senior Vice President and Head of Government Affairs Amb. Paula J. Dobriansky; European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard; and Chairman of the Sustainable Development Technology Foundation in Beijing Dr. C.S. Kiang. Founder and Publisher of E!Sharp magazine Paul Adamson moderates.
On May 25, GMF hosted an off-the record luncheon with senior economic officials and financial policy experts to discuss the advancing financial regulatory reforms in the United States and Europe. The event marked the launch of GMF's G-20 in the Global Economy event series and featured opening remarks from Dan Price, Senior Partner at Sidley Austin LLP and former Deputy National Security Advisor; Lewis Alexander, Counselor to U.S. Treasury Secretary; Peter Matheson, Head of the Economic Section at the British Embassy; Peter Kerstens, Counselor at the EU Delegation; and Gabriela Treess, Financial Counselor on Financial Sector Regulation and Anti-Money Laundering Policies at the German Embassy.
The Transatlantic Academy is seeking candidates to serve as resident fellows for ten months for the fellowship year beginning in September 2011. The Academy welcomes applications from scholars working on "The Competition for Natural Resources: The New Geopolitical Great Game?"
This report highlights GMF convening events, networking programs, research, and grantmaking initiatives in 2009. A letter from GMF President Craig Kennedy is included along with financial and partner information. The Annual Report is downloadable as a large PDF file, with interactive links throughout, below:
GMF also releases its second Audio Annual Report, a compilation of highlights from GMF's top podcasts and events in 2009. This audio piece is a supplement the 2009 print annual report and is available for download below:
GMF is now on Twitter! Feel free to subscribe at http://twitter.com/gmfus or @gmfus. GMF will post updates of podcast, publications, and other content to Twitter in addition to here on http://www.gmfus.org.
How to deal with Belarus, along with the question of whether to engage or seek to isolate the regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka has been a bone of contention in policy debates across the Atlantic. In 2008 the European Union concluded that the previous policy of isolation had failed, and it shifted to a policy of engagement. That policy, however, has thus far borne little fruit.
Before the European Union and its allies can effectively promote democracy in other countries, they need to address the internal problems brought on by the global economic crisis, from which they have not yet fully recovered. Democracy assistance needs to be tailored to the specific needs and expectations of each country and handled with tact and with respect for local democracy activists.
The Republican People’s Party of Turkey, the major opposition, has had an unexpected change of leadership triggered by the appearance of compromising pictures of the party’s leader Deniz Baykal on the internet. The resignation of Baykal has opened the way for the election of Kemal Kiliçdaroglu as its new leader. The party’s rank and file hope that their new leader will turn around the electoral fortunes of the party, but success is not assured.
There is no denying the vastly improved tone and rapport between the American and Russian presidents compared to the end of the Bush-Putin days. But before people get too carried away, let's focus on two recent developments that remind us of the challenges we face in dealing with Russia.
Reflecting on the recent discussion within GMF’s Trilateral Strategy Group, GMF Senior Transatlantic Fellow, Dr. Ian Lesser discusses the points of convergence and divergence among Turkey, the United States, and Europe in their approaches to regional flashpoints and strategies. Debate in this multi-year series of meetings reflects some important differences in perceptions of risk and preferred responses. Iran and Russia will continue to be key tests.
The main focus of the January Trilateral Strategy Group meeting was to confront the expectations of participants that “Western” views could be defined on a number of issues, with what seems to be a more complex reality; despite a shared preference for a continued unity of the West in order to solve these problems and, more generally, to provide an anchor of stability to the international system, it is apparent that policymakers and governments tend to think and act less “Western” than ever before.
In November 2008, the Bulgaria Fund supported the project “
