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 US Congress as well as Congressional Staffers) from both sides of the Atlantic. So far, the Global Atlanticists have held four meetings over the course of the past three years, two in Berlin, and two in Washington D.C.

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.

The seventh meeting took place in Washington D.C. from 13-16 April 2008.

Background papers

Background Paper: First Meeting of the Global Atlanticists, Berlin, November 8-10 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
Background Paper: Second Meeting of the Global Atlanticists, Washington DC, April 3-6 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
Background Paper: Third Meeting of the Global Atlanticists, Washington DC, 30 January 2005- 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
Background Paper: Fourth Meeting of the Global Atlanticists, 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
Background Paper: Fifth Meeting of the Global Atlanticists, 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
Background Paper: Sixth Meeting of the Global Atlanticists, 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.