The Atlantic alliance faces not only internal challenges, but it also, if it is to be an effective alliance, needs a new generation of Atlanticists willing and able to work together on responses to global problems. What policies should the EU and the US take toward the Middle East? Terrorism? United Nations reform? Or demographic challenges? In order to support the creation of a transatlantic community of policymakers addressing these questions, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation started the "Global Atlanticists" program.

Driven forward by the initiative of Pia Bungarten, head of the FES Division for International Dialogue, and the Ebert Foundation’s Washington D.C. office and supported by the German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation, this program brings together young policy makers (mainly members of the German Parliament and U.S. Congress as well as Congressional staffers) from both sides of the Atlantic. So far, the Global Atlanticists have held eight meetings over the course of the past five years, two in Germany, four in the U.S., one in Morocco and one in Russia.

The work of the group also contributed to various joint transatlantic policy papers on the nuclear threat posed by Iran. Participants from the German side include a group of 12 young German MPs from the different political parties represented in the Bundestag. GPPi Associate Director Thorsten Benner and GPPi fellow Sergey Lagodinsky are also members of the group. GPPi prepares a policy paper for each of the meetings covering the three main topics to be discussed and serving as a common basis for discussion.

Background papers

First meeting, Berlin, 8-10 November 2003: I. New Threats, Old Threats, and How to Deal With Them, II. The Institutional Framework for Responding to Threats and Governing the Use of Force; and III. Iran and Transatlantic Cooperation. Prepared by Thorsten Benner and Sergey Lagodinsky, Global Public Policy Institute
Second meeting, Washington D.C., 3-6 April 2004: I.Concepts of Security; II. Democracy Promotion and "Nation-Building", and III. Social Justice in a Market Economy. Prepared by Thorsten Benner and Sergey Lagodinsky, Global Public Policy Institute
Third meeting, Washington D.C., 30 January-2 February 2005: I. Migration and Religion: Integrating Immigrants of different religious and cultural backgrounds; Turkey’s Place in Europe: II. The EU crisis and the debates on enlargement and neighbourhood policies; and III. World Order 2020: European-American Strategies for Dealing with Emerging Powers and Reforming the UN structural problems. Prepared by Thorsten Benner and Sergey Lagodinsky, Global Public Policy Institute
Fourth meeting, Berlin, 13-16 October 2005: I. A common strategy for the Broader Middle East?; II. The Challenge of Dealing and Trading with Emerging Economies; and III. Demography and Immigration. Prepared by Thorsten Benner and Sergey Lagodinsky, Global Public Policy Institute
Fifth meeting, San Diego/Los Angeles, 14-18 September 2006: I. The Nuclear Showdown with North Korea; II. Iran's Nuclear Ambitions - the Current Debate; and III. Comprehensive Strategies for the Reaction of Democratic States to Terrorism. Prepared by Thorsten Benner and Justin Dubois, Global Public Policy Institute
Sixth meeting, Rabat, Morroco, 1-4 November 2007: I. Dealing with Political Islam; II. Promoting Economic Development in the Middle East and North Africa; and III. (Inter-)regional Cooperation . Prepared by Thorsten Benner, Hannes Ebert and Dan Pasternak, Global Public Policy Institute.
Seventh meeting, Washington D.C., 13-16 April 2008: I. Assessing Threats in the Crescent of Conflict: Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan; II. Iraq and the Region; and III. The US Economic Downturn and its Implications for the Transatlantic Partnership and the World Economy. Prepared by Thorsten Benner and Christopher Wratil, Global Public Policy Institute.
Eighth meeting, Moscow, 16-19 May 2009: I. Coping with the Global Financial Crisis: From National Crisis Management to Sustainable Multilateral Solutions?; II. Iran and Afghanistan: Common Strategies to Address Challenges in the ‘Arc of Conflict’?; and III. NATO-Russia-Relations: Window of Opportunity for a New Strategic Partnership? Prepared by Thorsten Benner and Jakob Thomä, Global Public Policy Institute.
Ninth meeting, Washington D.C./New York City, 13-16 April 2010: I. The Accidental Experiment; II. The Good News of Damnation; III. Three Presidents and a Process; IV. Coalitions of the Willing; V. A Useful Disappointment; VI. The Big Four; and VII. The Shadow of the Future. Prepared by Thorsten Benner and Christian Dietrich, Global Public Policy Institute.
Tenth meeting, Beijing, 17-22 April 2011: Presentation on Germany-China relations. Prepared by Thorsten Benner, Global Public Policy Institute.