News
New Project and Call for Applications: RESET – Reimagining the Transatlantic Future
The Aspen Institute Germany is excited to announce the launch of RESET – Reimagining the Transatlantic Future: Strategic Exchange for Political Youth from the Heartlands to the Hinterlands.
Launch of the second cohort of Future Cities Go Glocal: ‘The Just City’
In November, Future Cities Go Glocal launched the second cohort of The Just City. Twenty actors from Berlin, New Delhi, Nairobi and Mexico City will work towards achieving social justice and encouraging participation in 2025/26.
New project “Secure – Stability, European Cooperation & Unity for Regional Engagement”
In 2026, the Aspen Institute Germany will strengthen its engagement in the Western Balkans through its new project funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
At the Aspen Institute Germany we want to promote values-based leadership, constructive dialogue, and international cooperation to tackle today‘s most pressing global challenges: geopolitical and geoeconomic conflicts, climate change, the health crisis, cyber risks, digitalization.
Events
- Forum Future Ag Virtual Meeting #2 – German/EU Agriculture Policy vs. U.S. Agricultural Policy
- On February 9, 2026, a second virtual meeting on agricultural policy in Germany, the European Union, and the United States will take place for participants in the U.S.-German Forum Future Agriculture. The Aspen Institute Germany and its project partner, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will welcome participants to an interactive transatlantic exchange. The meeting will […]
- Feb 09, 2026
- Common Challenges, Common Ground: Reinvisioning the Global Order
- On the occasion of the Aspen Ministers Forum 2026 in Berlin, this conversation brings together leading voices from around the world to explore the concrete challenges reshaping global governance – and the shared values that can guide collective action. The global order as we know it is under pressure. Rising geopolitical rivalry, fragmented multilateral institutions, economic uncertainty, […]
- Feb 10, 2026
- Future Cities Go Glocal: Sixth Virtual Meeting
- On Wednesday, 11 February 2026, the sixth virtual meeting of the Aspen Institute Germany’s Future Cities Go Glocal project will take place. Participants will continue working on the subtopics identified so far under this year’s focus on social justice and participation, building on the work completed to date. In breakout groups, they will further develop […]
- Feb 11, 2026
Publications
Hybrid Realities: Disinformation, Influencers, and the Defense of Democracies in Central and Eastern Europe
The fifth cohort of state and provincial legislators from the United States, Germany, and Canada, participating in Aspen Germany’s Laboratories of Democracy Initiative, proudly presents their policy recommendations on social cohesion.
Structural Change in the Western Balkans
This publication examines key drivers of transformation in the region: digitalization, labor and migration, energy transition, and trade and economy.
Land Use Planning at the Intersection of Agriculture and Renewable Energy
The third cohort of the project “U.S.-German Forum Future Agriculture” presents recommendations for land use between energy and agricultural production.
Podcasts
EP76: Trump’s first year in office: successes, setbacks, reality
With Jörn Fleck, Senior Director of the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council, and Erik Kirschbaum, author and independent journalist, we look back at the first year of Trump 2.0.: What domestic and foreign policy achievements can Donald Trump point to? Where have his strategies fallen short? How are these developments reflected in approval ratings? And what do they mean for the United States as it heads into 2026?
EP75: MAGA becomes MEGA – The new Transatlantic Alliance
With Annett Meiritz, International Correspondent at Handelsblatt and Juliane Schäuble, U.S. Correspondent at Die ZEIT, we explore how transatlantic right-wing networks function, where they cooperate, the risks they pose to democracy, and what all this means for the future of transatlantic relations.
EP74: One Year Before the 2026 Midterms – Shadows Ahead?
With Dr. Melinda Crane, former chief political correspondent for Deutsche Welle TV, TV producer, and journalist, and Elmar Theveßen, head of the ZDF studio in Washington, we discuss what the results of the recent elections reveal about the political mood—and what they could mean for 2026.
Programs
Digital
The Digital Program deals with the far-reaching social transformation processes of digitalization.
Europe
The Europe programs focuses on the future of Europe with a particular focus on the Western Balkans, EU enlargement, and questions of strategic autonomy.
Leadership
The Aspen Leadership Program facilitates exchange between people in leadership positions to foster values-based leadership.
Public
The Public Program provides a forum for open and constructive dialogue between decision-makers and a broader audience on a wide range of current global challenges.
Transatlantic
The Transatlantic Program facilitates an open, values-based dialogue on key challenges facing the transatlantic partnership.
About
The Aspen Institute Germany is an independent, non-partisan organization committed to promoting values-based leadership and open discourse on society, policy and global challenges.
Our Mission
The Aspen Institute Germany promotes values-based leadership, constructive dialog among conflicting parties, and Euro-Atlantic cooperation to support and enhance a strong open society.
Our history
The Aspen Institute Germany was founded in 1974 by Shepard Stone as the first Aspen Institute outside the United States. Founded in the midst of the Cold War, it promoted U.S.-German dialog with the Eastern Bloc.
Our Team
Director Dr. Stormy-Annika Mildner has led the Aspen team since January 2021. Our Transatlantic, Digital, Public and Europe Programs are being supported by a team of currently 21 staff members.
Aspen international
In addition to the founding institute in the USA, the global Aspen network includes independent institutes in Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia), France (Paris), Germany (Berlin), India (New Delhi), Italy (Rome), Japan (Tokyo), Mexico (Mexico City), New Zealand (Queenstown), Romania (Bucharest), Spain (Madrid), UK (London), and Ukraine (Kyiv).
