- May 18, 2026
- ; 10:00 a.m.
- -
- May 18, 2026
- ; 2:00 p.m.
Geopolitics and geoeconomics are increasingly shaping the global trading environment. Together with the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) the Aspen Institute Germany is happy to host an Expert Conference of the Study Group on Globalization and the World Economy:
This conference will explore two key dimensions of this transformation. The first panel, “The End of an Era? The Future of the Transatlantic Relationship,” including Bernd Lange, MEP, Chair of the Committee on International Trade, European Parliament; Payne Griffin, Senior Director and Lead for International Trade and Regulatory Affairs, FTI Consulting, Former Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the United States Trade Representative (2017–2018); and Sarah Bäumchen, Member of the Executive Board, ZVEI: German Electro and Digital Industry Association, will examine how shifts in global power, trade tensions, and differing industrial and technology policies are affecting economic cooperation between Europe and the United States. Participants will discuss whether a new era of strategic competition and economic nationalism is emerging.
The second panel, “Geoeconomics, Multilateralism, and EU Trade with the Global South,” with H.E. Yadir Salazar Mejía, Ambassador of Colombia in Germany; H.E. Mzukisi Qobo, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of South Africa to the WTO; and Hiddo Houben, Senior Trade Advisor Asia, DG Trade, European Commission will focus on the European Union’s evolving trade relationships with emerging economies. As countries across Africa, Latin America, and Asia gain geopolitical and economic influence, this panel will assess how the changing geopolitical and geoeconomic environment is reshaping trade relations between the European Union and the Global South, and what this means for the future of the multilateral trading system.
This event is by invitation only.
