Panel discussion with Einstein Visiting Fellow Richard Samuels, Klaus Scharioth, former German ambassador to the U.S. and Michael Stürmer, historian and publicist

The world’s geostrategic map is under reconstruction. In Asia, Tokyo’s enhanced muscularity derives directly from Beijing’s new assertiveness in regional affairs. In post-Crimea Europe, NATO must now consider new ways to deter further hypothetical Russian aggression. This reconstruction is made more pressing by another, equally critical, element of European and Japanese strategy: their changing perceptions of U.S. capabilities and commitment. Parallel concerns about the relative decline of the United States and the possibility of U.S. retrenchment from its longstanding global role also motivate foreign and security policy behaviour in East Asia and in Western Europe. Strategists from Berlin to Tokyo want to know: How can the United States both cut its defense budget and maintain its commitments to them?
 
On 11 November 2016, three days after the U.S. elections, Einstein Visiting Fellow Richard J. Samuels, former German ambassador to the U.S., Klaus Scharioth, and Michael Stürmer, historian and publicist will explore and articulate how perceptions of a relative decline in U.S. capabilities and commitments to its allies may affect the strategic balance in Asia and Europe and the security goals of its longstanding allies. The discussion will be moderated by Cathleen Fisher, President of the American Friends of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Richard J. Samuels is Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2015 he was named an Einstein Visiting Fellow at the Graduate School of East Asian Studies of the Freie Universität Berlin, where he heads a research project about East Asian Security Politics. Watch a short video portrait about Richard Samuels here.

Klaus Scharioth is former German ambassador to the U.S. From 2002 to 2006 he was State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in charge of security and defence policy. 
Since 2011 he has been head of the Mercator Fellowship programme on International Affairs.

Michael Stürmer is Professor of History and longtime chief correspondent of the German daily „Die Welt“. He published numerous articles and books on geopolitical issues.

 

---

Time & Place

Friday, 11. November 2016  |  20:00 

Max Liebermann Haus, Stiftung Brandenburger Tor
Pariser Platz 7, 10117 Berlin

Please find further information here.