What John B. Emerson learned from his time as US Ambassador to Germany

On February 9th, John B. Emerson, who served from 2013 to 2017 as United States Ambassador to Germany under the Obama administration, talked about the past and future of the transatlantic relationship. The digital conversation was part of the series “Das Ende des Transatlantischen (T)Raumes?” organized by the German-American Institutes.

Ambassador Emerson reminisced about his stay in Germany and the experiences he gained. Coming from a background with a greater focus on economy than national security, Emerson distinguished himself from the majority of his colleagues but found himself perfectly situated in a position that needed an understanding for TTIP and other economic themes of the time. Besides TTIP, he had to tackle more obstacles that threatened the relationship between Germany and the United States. But how exactly do you rebuild trust? And which significance has this process now after the Trump administration?

Emerson underlined the importance of communication in those challenging times but also shares his positive outlook for the future. Although our transatlantic and international relationships may be currently burdened by the isolationist Trump era, the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic and the climate crises, the Biden administration has great potential to re-strengthen the ties between Germany and the United States.

You can watch the Fireside Chat with John B. Emerson here.

This event was hosted by the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrums in Stuttgart in cooperation with Amerika-Gesellschaft Schleswig-Holstein e.V., Amerikahaus München, Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Sachsen, Atlantische Akademie Rheinland-Pfalz e.V., Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg, DAI Heidelberg, Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Nürnberg, Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Saarland e.V., d.a.i. Tübingen.