Registration for the 2014 German Conference at Harvard now open

"The US and Germany: Drifting Apart?
Perceptions of Security across the Atlantic"

In recent months, revelations about the NSA’s surveillance program have put mutual trust in the U.S.-German friendship at risk. While leaders on both sides of the Atlantic generally acknowledge the strategic importance and unique nature of the two countries’ bond, the ongoing debates over data and cyber security in the transatlantic partnership seem more than an ordinary diplomatic rift. They appear to expand beyond the immediate issue of spying and raise broader questions related to shared values and common interests.

With a recently formed government in Berlin as the international community prepares to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, the 75th anniversary of the start of Word War II and the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the 2014 German Conference at Harvard will cover a range of current issues in a truly historic context.

The Conference will focus on the different perceptions of security increasingly dominating transatlantic relations and their policy implications in four distinct subdimensions: Politico-Military, Cyber and Data, Energy, and Economic Security. Over the course of two days, four panels and a number of keynote speakers will discuss the following questions:

- What’s the future of the Euro-Atlantic Security Community, and Germany’s role in it, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich Security Conference?
- Is the cyber space the new ‘Wild West’? What are the challenges and opportunities of Internet governance?
- Divergent values, shared responsibility? What is the role for the U.S. and Europe in shaping the global energy policy of the future?
- What is Germany’s economic role in an integrated Europe and increasingly competitive globalized world? Where is the country heading under the newly formed government and what are the prospects for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)?