In order to create a brace for the liberal world order, stopgap for democracy, and a dam to stop the swell of left and right wing extremism and populism, transatlantic partnerships must focus on creating ties between the civil societies of the United States and Germany. While it is important to modernize the relationship and get endorsement from decision-makers, I think the most important component of doing so is thinking creatively what modernization means and who are decision-makers. For many in both nations, the national government is the face of the nation. Today, in the United States, we have an executive branch that is not willing to provide traditional support to U.S. allies and partners in Europe. In order to ensure long-standing relationships are not lost and stability not foregone due to insecure and self-serving leaders, we must focus our attention on developing relationships between people.
I lived in Germany for two years as a U.S. Army officer. I worked closely with the German military as well as other militaries throughout Europe. We were working towards the same aim with the same principles. We developed and maintained a close relationship that was based on more than just our professional ties – friendships were developed at all levels of the commands. The future stability of transatlantic partnership is dependent on developing these types of friendships in different sectors and levels of society. While this is certainly more different and likely more challenging to foster in environment where groups are not working together, there are ways to develop ties among similar sectors in a way that ensures that even if the senior levels of our governments are unable to maintain strong ties, our populations can. This could be done through regularly scheduled webinars, a civil-society leadership summit to bring together future leaders in different sectors, or policy development contests that encourage creative thinking from young entrepreneurs passionate about different subjects.
In addition to the development of cross-sector personal ties, the transatlantic partnership must also be based on promoting a shared sense of values and ideals. Ties between civil-society groups developed around, for example, the importance of democracy, civil liberties, and renewable energy, will engender a greater depth of understanding and shared sense of mission. A more modern relationship will embrace the global challenges we face today, embrace the nuance of the civic discussions around those complex problems, and look for grassroots mechanisms and engagement opportunities to ensure our societal touch points are not vulnerable to the whims of individuals leaders. A modern relationship will recognize and adjust in the face of concerted efforts to sway popular opinion with propaganda and undermine general concepts of truth. By giving more individuals greater opportunity to interact across the ocean in different ways and around subjects they are passionate about, we will change the standard understanding of who is able to influence the transatlantic partnership.
Decision-makers and leaders are important and they will be needed for financial and public support, but by decentralizing relationship-building efforts the transatlantic partnership will take on a malleable and nature that is strong because it is diverse, distributed and dependent on the shared values and purpose of many as opposed to a variable few.
Hi Margaret,
thanks for your input. I guess we all agree that fostering personal relations is essential for strengthening transatlantic relations on the long-term. There were several articles on the topic. Most focused on exchange programs for students. If I understand you correctly, you propose to foster exchange also in a professional environment (for example between government agencies). I think this is a great idea. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Justus,
Thank you for your comment! Yes, I think there is opportunity and need to develop ties between not only students, though that is certainly important as well, but also between professional sectors of nations. I think given young professionals the opportunity (similar to the mission of Atlantic Expedition itself) to connect more broadly across the Atlantic and develop personal relationships will give people a point of reference beyond the news and diversify all groups’ images of one another. Exchange is one option, as are sustained and structured dialogues around topics like immigration, climate change, wealth inequality, etc.
Hi Margaret! Thank you for sharing this article and your personal experiences!
Establishing more opportunities to form personal ties among citizens of both countries is a very important way to strengthen the transatlantic relationship. The second point you mentioned, shared ideals and values, could even be more important as it will be the guiding principles for activities such as the proposed civil society leadership summit. How can we best define a coherent set of values that all these initiatives can find orientation from? How can we develop a good communication strategy to actually “spread the love”? 🙂 A stronger branding communication strategy could be a solution, but it is certainly not an easy task. Do you have ideas for that? Looking forward to hear your ideas. Best wishes, Felicitas
Hi Felicitas, Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. I think the defining a set of shared values should actually be a component of the program. I think that rather than have an external group craft an overview of such intimate themes and then hope that the group of young professionals connecting develop a sense of association with them, we would incorporate this task into the program itself. One of the first and overarching themes of discussion could be to define these values and discuss (though not finalize) their prioritization.
Hi Margaret – thank you for your service. I agree completely that increased contact, especially between business and government leaders, will enhance the transatlantic relationship. Do you have any thoughts on how we might facilitate that contact for those in rural populations and other groups who may not have the opportunity to get a college degree and work in the public sector or multinational business? These are often the people who are most skeptical about international engagement. -Mike
Margaret,
I second Michael’s question regarding unprivileged populace, and their involvement in your proposed ‘relationship between people’. How do you propose that the spectrum of cultural input from both parties is diversified and all voices are accounted and heard?
Could you also elaborate more on your proposed idea of “regularly scheduled webinars, a civil-society leadership summit to bring together future leaders in different sectors, or policy development contests that encourage creative thinking from young entrepreneurs passionate about different subjects”. What platform do you see this happening on, and do you envision a particular outcome stemming from it (e.g. agenda of how to place pressure on gov. decision makers) or do you just see it as a great way in diversifying critical thinking that these young entrepreneurs would be able to utilize in their future careers? Thanks.
Hi Margaret,
like Petra, I am also curious about possible “policy development contests that encourage creative thinking.” Did you imagine something along the lines of our Atlantic Initiative? Or a science-fair-type idea that focuses on politics instead? Looking forward to hearing your ideas!
Hi @all,
interesting discussion! Margaret, would you see a formal or a more informal approach to these relationship-building? And how would you include more and smaller private sector actors?
Regarding the unprivileged: an education offensive / supporting the local education by a transatlantic fund could be interesting to pursue?
Greetings,
Hendrik
Hi Hendrik, thank you for your comment! I would advocate for more informal and allow participants to drive the discussion and output. I would look at connecting rural community centers and businesses outside of population hubs or that employ a higher percentage of individuals without a college degree.
Yes, I think an education initiative would be very interesting!
Hi Christin, thank you for your comment! I was thinking sort of a combination of both — AE style dialogue that online, framed around a topic, but that allows for individuals to address whatever topic their group deems most relevant to them and/or important for international dialogue. Ie. One group could look at the impact of automation in their small community, an issue with broad ramifications but that is deeply local in its effects; or climate change and methods for framing global action, something less local but with effects on all.
Hi Petra, Thank you for your comment. I agree that this is a very important question. I have a few ideas that likely need some development but could act as a starting place: (1) pair technical or community colleges (2) reach out to rural community centers (hunting clubs, VFW, unions) or (3) get buy in from companies/firms that employ a high % of individuals without college degrees and spread information through these entities rather than through 4-yr colleges or international business program or listservs that reach similar groups of people. My vision for the program would be a set up similar to Atlantic Expedition, actually — where there is an online forum and a monthly video call. Questions and topics would be recommended but the intent would be for eventually the group to decide the flow of discussion. The output for be a summary paper on a topic of the groups choosing at the end of the year that addresses a specific topic or problem that is relevant on both sides of the Atlantic. Depending on funding available, these scattered teams would come together at the end of the year to present to each other what they discussed and wrote and these propositions would be shared with the relevant sectors in both governments. I think in this case though the outcome (the paper written) is less important than the method of producing the paper.
Hi Margaret,
Thank you for your interesting perspective. Thanks also to you Michael for raising the question. I would like to add on that. With modern technology, a lot of barriers have vanished. I think especially social media could be facilitated to bridge the geographic divide via platforms which could be set up as in a way to present rooms for individuals to find people from across the isle with shared interests. I think this could be a way to bring people together in the way you mentioned. I think a problem could be the moderation, mediation and supervision of such platforms. What do you think?
Hi Heiko – your question is for Margaret and I will defer to her on the strategy, but I just wanted to say that I agree with your suggestion that the proper channel would be via some kind of robust social media strategy (FB, Instagram, other networks, and especially Twitter given its newfound role in political discourse, etc.) -Mike
Hi Heiko, Thank you for your comment! I agree that social media could and should be an important component of this initiative. I tend to prefer private/closed groups so that conversation can be more open (like it is here for the Atlantic Expedition) but I think there are a number of creative ways we can use technology to development personal connections and share ideas. Skype, discussion forms like TypeForm, closed Facebook groups come to mind and I’m sure there are others.
Hi Margaret,
very good points indeed. I would not promote Facebook in this regard though since the platform itself is not set up in a way to favor or to host a diverse spectrum of interest based chat rooms/private groups yet connected by a common frame work. I regret saying this, since Facebook was my last employer and has treated me pretty well. This might sound unbelievably old fashioned but I remember the first innocent shots at social media platforms by Lycos, where you had a platform (a pirate ship might not be the ideal motto though) which was set up with an already sort of differentiated group of rooms based on vague interests like sports, music and all kinds of stuff. You could, however, create new rooms within the framework, based on people you would have met in the respective rooms. If this was possible in the early 2000s it should be well achievable now. What do you think?
Hi Michael – thank you for your thoughts! Great point. I think one method would be to pair technical or communities colleges (or their alumni distros) or send out applications within large businesses that have a high percentage of workers without a college degree. Or perhaps it would be possible to work through rural community centers (the VFW for example in the US and the equivalent in Germany) and disseminate information about the opportunity through them.
Hi Margaret,
Thank you for sharing your proposal and experience. While governments are focused on political rhetoric and international relationships, your proposal seeks to focus on diverse connectivity in an effort to transcend this rhetoric and establish a positive dialogue. It may be, in the current state of affairs, that an approach that starts from the top may not be as effective and not lead to the diverse network that you describe. In what ways do you suggest to gain initiative to promote this idea? I think it sounds great and would love to see ideas for implementation.
Best,
Brandy
Hi Brandy – thank you for your comment! I agree that starting from the grassroots level may be the best way to begin this type of project. One option for getting diverse buy in, specifically in the US, is going to state or local governments, the national governors association or local community groups rather than going to the federal government or DC think tanks/NGOs. There are a number of incredible programs being started at a city level and something like this could fit into broader growth efforts.
Hi Margaret,
I read your article with less of a intentional specific “idea” but more of a concentration on priority issues (developing personal ties) and rethinking the very basis for how we’ve defined the transatlantic relationship. I liked your emphasis on both topics as I also feel that more than any issue, developing a personal connection and sharing ideology must come before economic ties, political agreements, etc.
I also like your emphasis on rethinking the basis of definitions. Often time we throw around political buzz words, but it’s important to go back to their meaning. Other examples: liberty and globalization. Are their any other aspects or buzz words of the transatlantic relationship that you think we should re-think?
Kind regards,
Lindsey
Hi Lindsey – thank you for your comment! Yes to rethinking buzzwords! I would add: collective security, nationalism, populism, and “The West” — I think there are a number of assumptions about what these concepts mean in the context of trans-Atlantic relationships and within each of our nations and a robust conversation about the past and future of the terms would be very beneficial.