Inaugurated in 2014 on the occasion of Aspen Germany’s 40th anniversary, the Berlin Transatlantic Forum addressed the most pressing challenges jointly facing Europe and the United States. The conference brought together renowned experts and decision-makers from both sides of the Atlantic to exchange ideas and seek answers to important questions in the fields of security, energy, technology, democracy, and trade, and also to discuss issues pertaining to our shared foundation of Western values. The annual conference was preceded by a workshop, during which experts from Germany, Europe, and the U.S. gather for an in-depth discussion of key topics of transatlantic concern.
The 2019 conference – entitled “Fit for Purpose? The Transatlantic Relationship and the World of Tomorrow” – looked at the future of the partnership thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It examined the transatlantic relationship, how it has evolved and where its greatest operational strengths can lie in a world of rising technological, political and democratic disruption. As part of the Berlin Transatlantic Forum 2019, the Aspen Institute Germany held an Aspen NEXT seminar aimed at engaging the coming generation of Atlanticists and facilitating an exchange of ideas for the future of the transatlantic relationship. Previous conferences focused on the impact of technology on politics within and between states, Germany’s role in the world and the future of the liberal order.
The Berlin Transatlantic Forum marked a continuation of the Institute’s close ties to the city of Berlin. In 1974, in the midst of the Cold War, the Institute was founded as a symbol of transatlantic solidarity. Since then, Aspen Germany has attracted high-level guests to Berlin to strengthen Euro-Atlantic cooperation.
The project was made possible by a generous grant of the foundation “Lotto Stiftung Berlin,” as well as our partners Volkswagen AG, Lockheed Martin and the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Senate Chancellery.
