KUNZ Lawyers and Amerikahaus NRW e.V. organized a panel discussion with high-level representatives from German (Peter Beyer) and U.S. politics (Peter Chase) as well as Markus Krischler for business aspects.
The occasion was the European visit of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week: with impressions of the visit still fresh, we were able to win over a group of experts for an online panel shortly before the holidays.
Peter Beyer MP is the German government's transatlantic coordinator. Peter Chase has more than 30 years of experience in all stages of German-American cooperation and has been a Senior Fellow of the German of the German Marshall Fund, an organization focused on U.S.-German relations, for about five years. The corporate perspective was represented by the head of 'Public Affairs Germany' of Boston Scientific, the medical device manufacturer. The panel was moderated by Hermann Knott, partner of the co-organizer, the law firm KUNZ Rechtsanwälte in Cologne.
The program was ambitious: The new political orientation in the U.S., strategic challenges in the cooperation between the two nations as well as the cooperation in the fields of trade, climate and health policy were to be addressed. Hermann Knott succeeded masterfully - and two fields emerged that quickly became the focus of further discussions: the elements of change and continuity within U.S. policy and the prospects in the relationship with China.
As far as the basic political attitude of U.S. policy is concerned, the concept of "America First" will of course not be abolished. However, political self-interests will be realized in the future with a view to international commitments and interests in cooperating with other nations and organizations. Everyone agreed that the change in tone alone has a positive effect: According to Peter Beyer, this in no way means that we are 'just' being nice to each other. Rather, he said, it was crucial to talk to each other again at eye level and among partners - also and especially with regard to the relationship with China. In this regard, Peter Chase emphasized the importance of a China policy coordinated among all partners across the Atlantic.
Of course, the role of Russia should not be forgotten. The unanimous opinion was that there would probably be no more Cold War. Markus Krischer stressed that the world was too closely interconnected economically with China. But a way had to be found to take appropriate account of the threats felt by China's neighboring states in Asia.
At the end, Peter Beyer said goodbye with the welcome announcement "I'll be back" - and we are happy to join him: With thanks to the panel for this highly topical, exciting discussion - which included contributions from the audience. There are plenty of topics for continuing the dialogue.
