On December 15th, in cooperation with NATO, The European Institute held a luncheon  meeting to discuss U.S.- EU-NATO relations. Panelists included: Antonella Cerasino, Head of the Countries Section, Public Diplomacy Division, NATO; Ambassador Robert Hunter, Director of the Center for Transatlantic Security Studies in the Institute for National Strategic Studies as the National Defense University; Ambassador Kurt Volker, Managing Director and Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies; Brigadier General Bruno Caitucoli, Defense Attaché at the Embassy of France; and Rory Domm, Political Counselor at the Delegation of the European Union. The discussion was moderated by Leo Michel, Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University. This is part of a series of events the Institute will hold in the walkup to the NATO Summit in Chicago in May 2012.

Twenty years after the ending of the cold war, America has 76,000 of its military in Europe. What are they there for? What U.S. and transatlantic strategic framework justifies their presence? Such questions are likely to emerge front and center next year, a U.S. election year, amid the certainty of deep cuts in the Pentagon budget through the next decade.

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On December 5th, The European Institute presented its Transatlantic Leadership Award to The Honorable Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund and to The Honorable Elias Zerhouni, President of Global Research and Development at Sanofi and former Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, at the Annual Ambassadors’ Gala Dinner. Madame Lagarde was recognized for exercising uncommon leadership in seeking to resolve the European sovereign debt crisis and stem further contagion of the global economy. Dr. Zerhouni was honored for his pivotal role in furthering translational medical innovation to the benefit of global public health.

Click here to read Christine Lagarde's remarks.

Click here to read Dr. Elias Zerhouni's remarks.

On October 25, 2011, The European Institute held its Annual Meeting of the Members and Board of Advisors at the Belgian Residence, hosted by His Excellency Jan Matthysen, Ambassador of Belgium to the United States.  Moderated by Nova Daly, Public Policy Consultant at Wiley Rein LLP, the panelists: Kathleen Doherty, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Department of State; Dr. Christian Burgsmüller, Counselor and Head of the Transport, Energy, Environment and Nuclear Matters Section at the Delegation of the European Union; Barbara Matthews, Managing Director at BCM International Regulatory Analytics LLC and The Honorable Bart Gordon, Partner at K&L Gates discussed the transatlantic relationship, energy and environment priorities, the ongoing economic crisis and the need and opportunities for innovation on both sides of the Atlantic.  

The panel was followed by a dinner discussion with David Mark, Senior Editor at POLITICO who shared his insight into the current U.S. political landscape and the upcoming 2012 elections.

On October 4, 2011, The European Institute held a seminar in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy, European Commission and Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s EU-Japan-U.S. Trilateral Critical Materials Initiative.  The Honorable David Sandalow, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs, The Honorable Reinhard Bütikofer, Vice Chair of the European Parliament’s Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance and Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, European Parliament; and His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki, Ambassador of Japan to the United States presented keynote remarks.  Panelists included: Gwenole Cozigou, Director for chemicals, metals, mechanical, electrical, construction industries and raw materials, DG Enterprise and Industry at the European Commission; Herbert von Bose, Director for Industrial Technologies, DG Research and Innovation at the European Commission; Cyrus Wadia, Senior Policy Analyst, Environment and Energy Division at the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy; Charles Cogar, Legislative Director for U.S. Representative Mike Coffman; Komei Halada, Managing Director for the Center for Strategic Natural Resources at the Japanese National Institute for Materials Science; Keiichi Kawakami, Deputy Director General, Manufacturing Industries Bureau at the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Stephen Collocott, Group Leader, Novel Alloys, Magnetics and Drives at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization; Anil Arora, Assistant Deputy Minister, Minerals and Metals Sector, Natural Resources Canada; Alain Rollat, Technology Development Manager for Rhodia Rare Earth Systems; Maurits Van Camp, Coach, Recycling and Extraction Technology Platform, Umicore; and Jim Sims, Vice President for Corporate Communications at Molycorp.  The discussion was moderated by The Honorable Bart Gordon, Partner at K&L Gates LLP.