The United States Meets Europe is a network of likeminded individuals from across the world, who have an active interest in international affairs, cultural exchange, and the European-American relationship. Members can join the forum by taking part in a USAME Weeklong Seminar. The forthcoming USAME Weeklong Seminar will be held in Washington DC & New York from 3rd – 9th January 2011, and will focus on the following theme:

“Beyond Mars and Venus: The Transatlantic Relationship in the New World Order.”

The Forum is aimed at young professionals and students, economists, diplomatic and political representatives, and civil society practitioners. The weeklong seminar will consist of lectures, seminars, workshops and panel discussions by leading figures from the fields of politics, diplomacy, civil society, academia, and the private sector, which will offer a range of perspectives on the issues at stake, the challenges ahead, and the new strategies and approaches being taken to address these challenges. The program will be complemented by cultural and social activities that will provide an opportunity to experience the diversity of the respective cultures and provide networking opportunities between the participants themselves, as well as between the participants and speakers.

Participants

The Weeklong Seminar is open to students and young professionals as well as to all individuals with an interest in international affairs and transatlantic relations.

The online application form can be found under: http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/europeanamericanrelationship/index.php?en_usame_application-form

In particular, the next USAME Weeklong Seminar will focus on the following themes:

• The State of Transatlantic Relations Today: Confronting Immediate Issues and Identifying Future Challenges

• Foreign Policy in an Increasingly Multi-Polar World: The Application of Hard and Soft Power by the US and Europe

• The Future of International Governance: Reforming the UN Security Council and the Role of the G20 as an Engine of International Decision-Making

• How can Europe and the US Work with Developing Countries to Support Progress in Addressing Poverty, Corruption, and Infrastructure?

• NATO and the Future of International Security Organisations: Managing Threats from State and Non-State Actors

• In the Wake of the Global Financial Crisis: Coordinating the New International Financial Architecture and Preventing Future Crises

• Climate Change: US and European Perspectives

******

Speakers

The speakers during the Seminar will include leading figures and experts from international politics, academia, the diplomatic community, civil society and the private sector, from across the world. These speakers will include a number of individuals from the ICD Advisory Board (for further information about the Advisory Board please click here).

Speakers for the Conference include:

Alan Larson - Former United States Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs

Dr. Ali Ahmad Jalali - Former Interior Minister of Afghanistan; Distinguished Professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies of the National Defense University, Washington.

Amb. András Simonyi - Former Hungarian Ambassador to the US

President Dr. Alfredo Palacio - Former President of Ecuador

Amb. Christopher R. Hill - Former US Ambassador to Macedonia, Poland, South Korea and Iraq; Former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Amb. Dr. Cynthia Schneider - Professor of Cultural Diplomacy at Georgetown University, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands

Amb. Elena Poptodorova - Ambassador of Bulgaria to the USA

Ellen P. Embrey - Former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs

Dr. Fred Charles Iklé - Former United States Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Lord Jack McConnell - Former First Minister of Scotland

Dr. Jackson Janes - Executive Director of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC

Dr. James M. Goldgeier - Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

Sir James Mancham - Former President of the Republic of Seychelles

Admiral James Milton Loy - Former United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security; Former Commandant of the Coast Guard

James S. Robbins - Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs at the Washington Times

John Feffer - Co-Director, Foreign Policy in Focus - Institute for Policy Studies

Dr. Karen Donfried - Executive Vice President, the German Marshall Fund of the United States

Kingsley Smith - Program Director - NPR Worldwide & NPR Berlin

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović - Ambassador of Croatia to United States

Dr. Martin A. Klimke - Research Fellow, German Historical Institute (GHI) Washington, D.C.

The Honorable Michael Chertoff - Former United States Secretary of Homeland Security

Michele Wucker - Author; President of The World Policy Institute

Dr. Miomir Zuzul - Former Foreign Minister of Croatia, President of Dubrovnik International University

Dr. Paul R. Pillar - Veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); A Visiting Professor at Georgetown University for Security Studies

Phyllis E. Oakley - Former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; Former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration

Dr. Solomon Passy - Former Foreign Minister of Bulgaria

Governor Steve Cowper - Former Governor of Alaska

The Hon. Senator Tim Hutchinson - Former United States Senator from Arkansas

President Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga - Former President of Latvia (tbc)

Vivian Schiller - CEO and President of NPR

Dr. Volker Berghahn - Professor of History, Columbia University, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

William Howard Taft IV - Former United States Deputy Secretary of Defense; Former Legal Adviser of the Department of State; Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO

Senator William Emerson Brock III – 18th US Secretary of Labor; Former US Senator from Tennessee; 8th US Trade Representative

Governor William Weld - Former Governor of Massachusetts

Participant Papers

The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy encourages research and progressive thought into the fields of culture, globalization and international relations. In this regard, the ICD welcomes participants of the Conference to submit papers on this subject. The papers can cover any topic within these fields, according to your own particular interests and passions. Participants can submit work that they have completed in the past for other purposes, ongoing research or a paper written specifically for the conference. Groups of students are also allowed to submit collaborative pieces of work.

Contact:

www.icd-usame.org

usame@culturaldiplomacy.org