The transatlantic partnership is currently in a state of uncertainty. Not only the transition from President Obama to President Trump but the populist eruption in many European countries likewise reflects a conservative wave moving across U.S. and European politics. The societal divide phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic challenges the transatlantic relationship more than ever since the inception of the West itself, with its values questioned from within as well as from without. Recent polls confirm that German population trust in the U.S. is at its lowest level ever. Even if the policy alignments might be promising in some parts, and the elites are less affected by this crisis of transatlantic partnership, it is the lack of trust and understanding within the public of both sides that needs to be addressed and overcome.
In order to integrate the different policy areas within a broader transatlantic partnership, a universal narrative must be created – a narrative supported and self-reinforced on both sides of the transatlantic dialogue.
That narrative would focus on a transatlantic partnership as a democratic community of values which faces and resolves challenges together, i.e., cooperating as an engaged neighborhood. Given that assumption, this brief essay focuses on the communication and agenda-setting that would most likely make this process both possible and effective. Critical to that success is ensuring the narrative is created and developed through public discussion, debate and broad societal engagement.
The narrative must be constantly revised, enhanced and underpinned with ongoing relevant examples in order to reflect broad public opinion in both the U.S. and Germany. Only then will the narrative likely be embraced by more than just the elites and be not a temporary fix, but a narrative sustained for the long haul.
It is essential that the narrative and its implementation are not managed and directed by the elites. Aiming for broad engagement, reaching out to as many people as possible, the process of creating, forming and spreading the new narrative should be the result of an authentic grassroots movement, e.g., not an artificial Astroturf creation of the elites.
A grassroots movement is generally characterized by a bottom-up process. The movement is typically self-organized and often triggered by a controversial event or pattern of events. It encourages people to contribute to its goals by taking responsibility for one or more concrete actions toward one or more specified outcomes. One such example of the impact and purpose of such a movement is the current pro-Europe movement “Pulse of Europe”. Started in the living-room of a couple in Frankfurt, this movement successfully brings people of all ages and backgrounds together on a regular basis to demonstrate their support for Europe, make their voices heard, and express their feelings in a way that touches upon different segments of society. If the originators manage to inspire and gather others to organize around a certain idea or value, then it is more likely that such new political power, ideas and dynamics will develop within the group toward achievement of its grassroots potential.
Before citing a few key elements concerning the communication strategy needed, one should be aware of an advantage that modern technology and advanced education now provide. Both traditional and newly developed media are amply consumed within the U.S. as well as in Germany. Also, English language proficiency in Germany has been rising in recent decades, now at its highest level. This allows a greater number to convey and share common values in the same language. The following are steps those seeking to create and sustain an effective grassroots movement should consider:
- Create a joint interactive media platform, especially for young people. It should feature everyday life stories from both the U.S. and Germany. Young people could share their point of view on issues and specific relevant stories about politics, culture, and civil society and so on. This would provide an opportunity to develop a better understanding of each other´s differences. At the same time it would highlight shared values, perspectives and grievances. The platform should feature all modern broadcast formats.
- Organize through different organizations. Tailor messages and approaches from different platforms to effectively address different audiences. Networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even Snapchat are routinely used by large numbers of young people willing to share their stories and provide new ways of thinking. To attract them requires adapting their methods and styles of communication.
- Use language that everyone understands. This might vary depending on the communication platform from which people are addressed, but it is a proven fact that the style of language makes a demonstrable difference. Think Tanks should test language by using focus groups and then utilize the most effective rhetoric, one that seeks not only to attract the elites, but ordinary citizens especially young citizens.
- Testimonials for the transatlantic partnership. This is an old but still successful method in PR and marketing worlds. So why shouldn’t we have widely recognizable faces standing up for US-German relations, i.e., serving as a type of Ambassadors for the transatlantic partnership, e.g., perhaps cultural icons from the worlds of sports, entertainment, the arts, etc.? Testimonials could be a key in attracting certain audiences including some typically more challenging to reach through traditional channels.
- Encourage friendships and circumstances that allow people from both worlds to meet. Target groups of current exchange programs are often not the populations within which there is a significant lack of understanding as to the importance of a transatlantic partnership. It is indispensable to reach out more broadly to other economic segments of society such as those with rural or blue collar backgrounds. That requires both an aggressive new recruitment mentality, process, and funding to ease the often financial burden not typically experienced by the elites.
- It is important to leave it to the Americans and Germans themselves to create and develop their narrative of transatlantic partnership in the 21st century.
What can and has to be done, is providing practices and conditions which simplify this process and make it possible to happen.
I think your communication strategy is very interesting, Simon! I especially like the idea that it combines more traditional with modern elements. I was wondering how you imagined this grassroots movement in favour of transatlantic relations to start? How could it be triggered as you emphasised that it should be a bottom-up movement? Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Thanks for your feedback Sarah! I can totally understand your question of how to start this movement. Triggering it means mostly providing practices and conditions which simplify this beginning of the process. First we have to raise awareness for the transatlantic partnership, then provide knowledge and with that basis of a general understanding (young) people will conclude that something needs to be done about this important partnership. I know this answer might not be satisfying but as soon as we plan more about how to start the movement, it loses its authenticity and with that it might also lose its power.
Simon, I think your article adds greatly to the various narrative strategies already proposed. I especially like your idea to create testimonials for transatlantic relations. This is such a fresh and young approach and could be used in various forms of media, e.g. television, youtube, magazines… to reach every demographic sector. You distinguished between grassroot and astroturf, but I wonder how one could make sure that grassroot movements are not slowly underminded by elites who ‘buy’ into the movement. The 2009 Tea Party movement in the States would be a prime example here.
Thanks a lot for you feedback Christin. What you are saying is very true and I think there is always some kind of possibility that the movement is being influenced by elites. I think if we make the whole process of organizing and establishing the movement very transparent is a first step in order to keep it a grassroots movement. When it comes to building and creating structures, processes and financial patterns, we need to make sure, that this movement stays neutral, that is to say independent and impartially. Neither parties nor big corporations should be able to buy into the movement and influence it according to their agenda. This also means we need to find alternative ways of financing the movement. I think it is possible to keep It a grassroots movement if precautions are taken and if we keep people enthusiastic about the project.
Thanks for your reply, Simon. I agree, transparency is definitely the way to go. And who knows, maybe crowdfunding might be one solution to implementing an alternative source of financing?
I also believe that crowdfunding could be one important source of financing. To what extent our governments would support the idea needs to be figured out as well. I think the project also needs a lot of voluntary commitment.
Hi Simon, Thanks for this great piece. I like your focus on grassroots movements and the point you made about questioning the language we use in our outreach activities. I have a few follow-up questions: Who exactly do you mean when you’re talking about elites (political elites, educational elites, … ? I’m playing devil’s advocate here, but isn’t Pulse of Europe also somewhat of an elite project that was founded by two lawyers?)? What are the common values you’d like to highlight and how do you envision an “aggressive new recruitment mentality” to engage new demographics in transatlantic debates? Sorry for the list, but your article made me curious. 🙂 All the best, Carolin
Thanks a lot for the interest in my ideas and all the great questions Carolin. So talking about the elites without defining what I meant by elites was my mistake, sorry. I especially meant political elites, to some extent also the economic elite. I am not sure about the educational elite, because I have experienced a lot of negative feelings towards the US among young German students – so when it comes to the educational elite I would say we have more a divided group. Pulse of Europe might have been founded by two lawyers, but the movement itself is not an elite movement. I have been to many of their events and you can really meet all kinds of people with all kinds of backgrounds which makes the atmosphere very special. I think this is the main reason why this movement is so successful and still growing. There is also no party or business behind it that influences the movement in a certain direction. I think the common values are the liberal values that our societies are based on. I believe that we share the same problems and worry about the same things on both sided of the Atlantic – and that alone can already connect people. Especially in a world where the liberal order is questioned, we need to stand together and support these values. The recruitment mentality is kind of described in my communication agenda. We need to reach out to new channels and speak the language of the audiences we are targeting. We cannot limit our engagement to people in universities and governments – we need to reach a reflection of our societies and our countries. Because only then we can build a new narrative that speaks to our societies as a whole and that has the power to bring us closer together again.
Hi Simon,
Thanks for your article. I would adress the same points as Carolin because in my opinion Pulse of Europe isn’t really a bottom-up movement as one would understand it at first. However it’s been nice to witness that people would gather for a topic such as the European spirit.
My question would be: what kind of interactive media platform would you design and how would that reach more people than the already existing social media channels?
cheers
Amélie
Thanks for your feedback Amélie. When it comes to Pulse of Europe I do not share your point of view – just because the founders and initiators are lawyers does not make it an elite movement. The organization and how it has been created does totally comply the characteristics of a grassroots movement.
The media platform should be something that like an interactive media channel, including podcasts, videos, chats etc. Promoting it is the first challenge. We need to adapt the ways of communication young people use today. Creating a Snapchat channel that features personal and individual transatlantic stories would be one idea. All social media, like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook should trigger some curiosity that leads the users to the platform. There should be a lot of easy ways to get in contact with someone from the other side of the Atlantic. Once we have the attention for the platform we should have regularly events, competitions get togethers etc.
Hi Simon, Thanks for getting back to me. I figured you meant political elites, but I just wanted to clarify. To be honest, I don’t like the word that much because -to me – it has a strong negative connotation and is often used by populists for an “us against them-narrative”. Don’t get me wrong: I wholeheartedly agree with almost everything you’re saying, in the end it’s just semantics. 🙂 Pulse of Europe is an impressive and important project and it would be wonderful to have a similar initiative for the transatlantic partnership – on both sides of the Atlantic. I’d certainly attend. I also agree that it’s a grassroots movement – but one where already committed Europeans take it to the streets. A movement based on “liberal values” would exclude those parts of the population that don’t believe in these values or don’t see the point of multilateral cooperation. I think your other suggestions (language, interest-based, specific examples) offer the perfect solution though. Bottom line: I’d love to get a chance to work on these ideas with you. All the best, Carolin
Thanks for your food for thoughts Carolin. I can understand why you do not like the word elites – even though I do not think of it at all in a us against them narrative. I just wanted to point out that we have to broaden our scope concerning target audiences and target groups. Well even if it is committed Europeans – it triggered a lot of media coverage and every week people post about it on social media – I know that people who have never been to any demonstrations have gone to Pulse of Europe.
You pointed out that focusing on liberal values does exclude certain parts of the population. That is why for those who are more concerned about security issues we should focus on the advantages of cooperation in that domain. That is what I meant with tailored messages for different audiences – but of course without losing the big picture of transatlantic friendship.
I really like your input and I could go on forever so I really hope we can work on these ideas together and develop solutions.
Hello Simon,
interesting read! What I like best, is that you leave it to the people in North America and Europe to find/form their own narrative and not to spread the narrative top-down. Do you think there will be a buttom-up, grassroot narrative which will spread? I’m not that certain, as “the people” are quite divided.
Greetings,
Hendrik
I am glad you enjoyed reading my article Hendrik. Leaving it to the people is one of the most important aspects. You are totally right saying that our societies are divided – this is why we need to find the values that connect us or the problems we share. Finding solutions in a common process in one way to bring us together. Concepts that work in a neighborhood in the US might also work in a neighborhood in Germany. I also believe that we share much more than we might imagine these days – we might just not voice it as loud as some populist groups that try to split our societies for their purposes. All in all, we need to create the conditions that enable a grassroots movement to start and then support a process, in which as many segments of the societies as possible are represented, to build a new narrative.
I guess the problem is mobilization. Populist groups are (normally) better in mobilization. I really like the idea about the grassroot movements, but I still find it difficult to identifiy a cause to really rally people.
Well as you said – maybe they (normally) are – that is what we need to change. Communication is a tool that we all can use – and sometimes being pro something – like Pulse of Europe shows – can bring people together too. I have the feelings that sometimes populists only appear so strong because they have a really loud voice – it is time that we speak up against them and I am convinced we can find a lot of causes that unify us and that we can use to mobilize people.
Hi Simon, I really liked your strategy! The part about using language that everybody understands especially facinated me. It also depends on which target group you want to focus on. Think tanks or research centres could help to identify these target groups. Do you have any further suggestions how language can be used to convince people of your strategy?
I look forward to hear your ideas, greetings Nina
Thanks for your feedback Katharina.
I think language is the key to access certain target groups. When it comes to suggestions, it really depends on which target group we are talking about – and on what channel we try to reach them
A good example for good target group messaging is the Instagram account of the German chancellor Angela Merkel. Instagram is about photos and short descriptions. Her account is managed extremely well and posts well-chosen photos with a short and pinpoint message. On Snapchat again it would be very important to speak the language of young generations and pick up current trends within the net. Once we established a contact and triggered attention and interest messages can become more sophisticated. But before we would confront our target groups with more content, we have to find out which field of transatlantic relations matter to them the most and guide them towards topics that might be of interest for them. All of this is possible if we use the possibilities of Social Media and have an innovative young team that picks up trends and current hot topics. Some best way practices will be found by testing out different methods – that can also be done easily on Social Media.
Hi Simon,
thanks for your interesting and inspiring article. You describe a vision which is supported by so many multilateral organizations or what is the reason why new transatlantic movements rise up. Maybe you’ve heard from the Young Transatlantic Initiative. I’m part of this organisation, where young people committed to foster German-American and European-American friendship in all kinds of issues: politic, culture, science or sport. Some of the requirements you have pointed out have already been implemented but some of them remain in abeyance. So I think your article is an important suggestion which I am quite happy to take up.
Greetings
Tim
Hello Tim and thanks for your feedback,
I have heard of your initiative and I am very happy if any of my ideas can help you somehow. Keep me updated.
Simon, this is fantastic article with a variety of concrete suggestions that I believe have a real chance at being successful. I think the testimonial idea is a great one (and as you state, a proven winner). I am most interested in how this could be a good way of connecting miners in Kentucky with factory workers in Manchester, England – in providing concrete examples of how the relationship has worked for blue collar workers (and show other workers that it could work for them as well). Really a great idea. One thing to watch with the emphasis on social media – great idea to connect with young people and rally support but don’t want to focus too specifically on social media. Young people tend to be more pro-globalization, pro-transatlantic relationship (ex. 75% of people under 24 voted to stay in EU: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/06/how-did-different-demographic-groups-vote-eu-referendum). Therefore, I think we should focus on best way to communicate to older audiences that are more skeptical on these issues. To tie it back to the beginning of my comment, I think the testimonial idea is one good way to do this, but we should look for others!
Thomas, thank you so much for your feedback and your input. Nice to hear that you like the idea of testimonials – maybe we can soon work on this idea together and look for concrete possibilities to get it started. The good thing about testimonials is that you can find them in so many different segments and like that approach so many different target groups that would identify with the testimonial. A chance that has to be taken.
When it comes to the focus on Social Media, of course this emphasizes the ideas for the next transatlantic generations. It is always an add on and should not replace any ongoing public and press activities with other generations.