About the Transatlantic Forum

On the suggestion of the Chairman of the Free Democratic Party and former Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the FDP, Dr. Guido Westerwelle, and his predecessor, Dr. Wolfgang Gerhardt, the Transatlantic Forum has been initiated in the beginning of 2005. The FDP National Executive Committee appointed Prof. Dr. Margarita Mathiopoulos, Professor of US Foreign Policy at the University of Potsdam, as Chairwoman of the Transatlantic Forum, who was also in charge of the "National Committee on Foreign and Security Policy" of the FDP from 2002-2005.

Aim of the Transatlantic Forum is to foster the dialogue between Europe and the United States and to explore new common areas, which are relevant in an age of global challenges. The world of today with new threats to international security, a cultural and economic globalization, climate change and growing energy and water scarcity can only succeed with a strong transatlantic partnership, as no strategic challenge can be solved without cooperation.

Upcoming speakers will include a.o.: The Honorable Bob Zoellick, President of The World Bank; Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, Head of the Policy Planning Dept., US State Department; H.R.H. Prince Majlis El Hassan, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Director of the IMF and former Finance Minister of France; Senator Jon Kyl (R); Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank; Governor Bill Richardson from New Mexico (D); General (ret.) Wesley Clark; Dr. John J. Hamre, President CSIS and Mark Hurd, CEO Hewlett Packard.

Former speakers were:

Dr. Kim Holmes, former Assistant Secretary for International Organizations, US State Department; Bill Drozdiak, President of the American Council on Germany, New York; Dr. Dennis Bark, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution on War (Stanford University); Ambassador John R. Bolton, former US-Ambassador to the United Nations; Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, former US-Ambassador to the United Nations, President of The American Academy Berlin and today Special US-Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan; Ambassador William R. Timken, former Ambassador of the United States of America in the Federal Republic Germany; Ambassador Frank Lavin, former Undersecretary for International Trade/US Department of Commerce; Ambassador Vladimir V. Kotenev, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Federal Republic Germany; Prof. Dr. Christian Hacke, former Director of the Seminar for Politic Science, University of Bonn, Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Senior Director of Policy Programs, The German Marshall Fund of the United States and Serge Schmemann, op-ed-page-editor, International Herald Tribune.

They spoke about the following topics:

Dr. Kim Holmes :	"The Reform Process of the United Nations from an American Perspective" (CV, Press Release)
Bill Drozdiak:	"Red States- Blue States: The Polarization of American Politics" (CV)
Dr. Dennis L. Bark:	"Europe and America: Are we dancing in the Dark?" (CV page one, CV page two)
Ambassador John Bolton:	"The United States and United Nations - The Way ahead" (CV, Press Release, Greetings from Dr. Guido Westerwelle, Photo Documentation)
Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke:	"Europe's and America's Role in a New World Order" (CV, Press Release, Photo Documentation)
Ambassador William R. Timken:	"The new German-American Agenda" (CV, Press Release, Photo Documentation)
Ambassador Frank Lavin:	"The Importance of US-German Economic Relations in a Global Context" (CV, Press Release, Photo Documentation, Article in Wirtschaftswoche)
Botschafter Vladimir V. Kotenev:	"US-Ballistic Missile Defense from a Russian perspective" (CV, Press Release)
Panel-Discussion: Serge Schmemann, Prof. Dr. Christian Hacke, Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff	"What are our expectations about the transatlantic agenda of the next president of the United States of America?" Press Release)

The Transatlantic Forum of the FDP is sponsored by corporate donations.