I’m immensely grateful to Pamplin International Programs and to Ms. Alessandra Rosetti and Dr. Jennifer Clevenger for the opportunity to travel to the 17th Annual German American Conference, hosted by students at Harvard Kennedy School. This year’s theme, The Transatlantic Relationship at a Crossroads, delved into transatlantic issues, with panelists spanning industry, government, defense, and academia.

The action-packed three-day conference seemed to get better and better, opening with a keynote speech from Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State under the Biden Administration, in the historic Harvard Memorial Church. The venue itself represented the complex and long relationship between both the United States and Germany, initially built in 1932 to honor the men and women of Harvard University who died in World War I. Friday evening rolled into a discussion with Hazel Brugger and Victoria Reichelt to finish off day one. Hazel Brugger, a German actress, comedian, and poet, defined what it means to laugh through the uncertainty as a political satirist, keeping the spirit light and highlighting the commonalities between the American and German political environments.

We started Saturday off with a panel discussion on What is West: Exploring the Shared Values, History, and Unity between Germany, America, and the 'West' more broadly. The debate got at what it means, or doesn’t mean, to share an intertwining history and present values. Professor Shiela Jasanoff, Professor Rana Mitter, and Kenneth Weinstein examined many of our shared commonalities, as well as our differences.  We then shifted to a panel discussion on Diplomacy Under Pressure: Transatlantic Security in an Age of Strategic Rivalry, where Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman and New York Times Reporter David Sanger discussed U.S. geopolitical goals and their relationship to Germany. We then listened to a Panel discussion on Rethinking Transatlantic Defense and Strategic Autonomy & the Role of Startups and Big Tech in Security and Democracy. Both panels touched on the critical role that national security priorities play in defining the Transatlantic relationship and focused on drone innovation in Ukraine as a key priority for both German and American policymakers.

Global mentor
Global mentor

A highlight of Saturday’s programming was Michael Brigl, the Managing Director & Senior Partner in Boston Consulting Group’s Central Europe division, discussing German innovation. He specifically examined how future technologies and long-term investments can reboot the German economy. This discussion was particularly interesting for me because some of the challenges he highlighted are being uniquely solved right here at Virginia Tech. Thanks to Fulbright Germany, Pamplin International Programs has hosted 96 of Germany’s best and brightest STEM students to learn about American entrepreneurship, business, and culture right here in Blacksburg, Virginia. I’ve personally worked with 48 of these incredible German students, doing what I can to see them thrive during the three-week-long summer institute. Our German Fulbrighters got to learn from world-class entrepreneurship professors and also from boots-on-the-ground American entrepreneurs. The goal is challenging, but simple: bring back a sense of this American entrepreneurial spirit to Germany and start something unique. It was rewarding to watch two of our German Fulbrighters, Nele Rosenkranz & Orest Tkach, join the student team that put on the GAC 2025. The GAC 2025 and its four or five different panels on innovation policy confirmed the importance of the work Pamplin International Programs is doing for the Transatlantic Relationship.

After a panel-packed Saturday, we spent the evening at the Prudential Tower for a German Fulbright Summer Institute at Virginia Tech, Jannis Metrikat. We finished up Sunday with discussions on the future of Global Aid, Free Press: Journalism and Democracy Across the Atlantic, Military Perspectives on Global Security, and a keynote from Governor Eric Holcomb on the importance of a Transatlantic relationship defined by history, commerce, and shared values.

Quinn Neary
(mentors leader)