Episode 14: Adapting to a New Foreign Policy Approach

Carlo Masala

University of the Bundeswehr

Prof. Dr. Carlo Masala is a Professor of International Politics at the University of the Bundeswehr, Munich.

Jeffrey Rathke

Jeff Rathke

President of AGI

Jeffrey Rathke is the President of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.

Prior to joining AICGS, Jeff was a senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Program at CSIS, where his work focused on transatlantic relations and U.S. security and defense policy. Jeff joined CSIS in 2015 from the State Department, after a 24-year career as a Foreign Service Officer, dedicated primarily to U.S. relations with Europe. He was director of the State Department Press Office from 2014 to 2015, briefing the State Department press corps and managing the Department's engagement with U.S. print and electronic media. Jeff led the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur from 2011 to 2014. Prior to that, he was deputy chief of staff to the NATO Secretary General in Brussels. He also served in Berlin as minister-counselor for political affairs (2006–2009), his second tour of duty in Germany. His Washington assignments have included deputy director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs and duty officer in the White House Situation Room and State Department Operations Center.

Mr. Rathke was a Weinberg Fellow at Princeton University (2003–2004), winning the Master’s in Public Policy Prize. He also served at U.S. Embassies in Dublin, Moscow, and Riga, which he helped open after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mr. Rathke has been awarded national honors by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as several State Department awards. He holds an M.P.P. degree from Princeton University and B.A. and B.S. degrees from Cornell University. He speaks German, Russian, and Latvian.

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jrathke@aicgs.org

Thomas Wiegold

Thomas Wiegold is a Berlin-based journalist and author of Augen geradeaus!

Ulrike Franke

European Council on Foreign Relations

Dr. Ulrike Franke is a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and part of ECFR’s New European Security Initiative. Her areas of focus include German and European security and defence, the future of warfare, and the impact of new technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence.


Following the Bonn International Security Forum, AGI President Jeff Rathke sat down with the hosts of the popular German-language podcast Sicherheitshalber to discuss the evolving dynamics of foreign and security policy across the Atlantic. They discuss the need for the U.S.’ traditional allies to find ways to adapt to the Trump administration’s new approach of engaging in the world, the tensions between perceptions of NATO and the European Union (particularly among Americans), and lingering differences in concepts of the use of force. They also look at the political dynamics in both countries ahead of the 2020 elections in the U.S. and the planned 2021 federal election in Germany.


Host

Jeff Rathke, President, AGI

Guests

Ulrike Franke, Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations

Carlo Masala, Professor for International Politics, University of the Bundeswehr Munich

Thomas Wiegold, Journalist


The views expressed are those of the author(s) alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the American-German Institute.