mmf at 25: reflections on a transatlantic legacy

8/8/2019 MMF at 25: Reflections on a Transatlantic Legacy

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MMF AT 25:REFLECTIONS

ON ATRANSATLANTICLEGACY

MarshallMemorial

Fellowship



i n t r o d u c t i o n E

stablished in 1982, the Marshall

Memorial Fellowship (MMF)was created by the German MarshallFund (GMF) to introduce a newgeneration o European leaders toAmerica’s institutions, politics, and

people. In 1999, GMF launched acompanion program to expose utureU.S. leaders to a changing andexpanding Europe. Over the program’s

rst 25 years, MMF has attracted over

1,500 o the best and brightest romall sectors, including politics, media,business, and nongovernmentalorganizations.

MMF: Refections on a Transatlantic

Legacy is a collection o remembrancesrom Marshall Memorial Fellows and

program coordinators celebratingthe rst 25 years o the program.The unique experience o the MMF

program has had a positive impact onthe lives and careers o these Fellows,and GMF would like to thank thecontributors to the project and allo our Marshall Memorial Fellows

or making this program success ul.It is our distinct pleasure to share thesestories o that success.



t H E P r E S i d E n t

L E T T

E R F R O M

In 1982, the German MarshallFund brought its rst group

o Marshall Memorial Fellows— a cohort o nine rom

Germany — to the United

States. The ollowing year, Denmark,France, and the Netherlands were added to the program,

giving the program a more European identity and giving

GMF a wider presence. The MMF program continued to

grow and develop, and as democracy swept across EasternEurope in the early 1990s, MMF expanded to Poland,Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia in quick

succession. This gave GMF the singular opportunity to

expose the leaders o these newly democratic states tothe United States and the transatlantic relationship. The

development o the MMF program has continued as the

European Union has grown and the de nition o Europehas changed. The recent expansion o MMF to the

Western Balkans and Turkey refects GMF’s commitmentto a wide and inclusive Europe, o which we are proud.

American Fellows’ inclusion in the program since 1999

has bene ted GMF and the MMF program tremendously.

Sending 50 or more young American leaders across

the Atlantic each year has allowed us to strengthen ourrelationships with partners throughout Europe and gain

a oothold in communities across the United States asthese Fellows come home to have a positive impact on

their hometowns and regions.

Twenty- ve years a ter the ounding o the MarshallMemorial Fellowship program, we now have a network

o nearly 1,500 Fellows rom across Europe and theUnited States. This network o leaders — representing

the best and brightest in government, politics, business,

journalism, and the nonpro t sector — continues togrow and thrive. The program’s impact is widespread

as MMFs have gone on to become prime ministers,

members o European and national parliaments,

directors o major oundations and nonpro tinstitutions, and executives in corporations both largeand small. We hope that their leadership has been

positively infuenced by their transatlantic experience,

and we look orward to the uture accomplishments o our Fellows.

We at GMF are pleased to celebrate the rst 25 years o

the Marshall Memorial Fellowship program, and this

book is a unique opportunity to refect on the MMFprogram’s impact on the lives and careers o many o the

nest leaders throughout Europe and the United States.Congratulations to the Fellows, partners, and sta who

have made this program a success since 1982.

Craig Kennedy

President



c o n t E n t SdAN dIONISIE:ROMANIA 1998

ANdRé dE MARGERIE:FRANCE 1987

jOSE LEMOS:pORTuGAL 1989

pARTICIpATING COuNTRIES

dObROSLAw ROdzIEwICz: pOLANd 1997

dAN SChENk:MMF pROGRAM COORdINATOR, pIERRE, Sd 7

EvRIpIdIS STYLIANIdIS:GREECE 2002

NOTAbLE FELLOwS

hARTwIG vON SChubERT: GERMANY 1983

jEAN-ChRISTphE bAS:FRANCE 1991

kLAuS FRANdSEN:dENMARk 1995

bERTRANd bAdRE:FRANCE 1998

ELEANOR COOpER:MMF pROGRAM COORdINATOR, ChATTANOOGA, TN 14

pOuL MAdSEN:dENMARk 1996

FRIEdbERT pFLüGER:GERMANY 1982

pARTICIpATING CITIES

SAvA ChISER:ROMANIA 1999

SOkOL dERvIShAj:ALbANIA 2006

NIkE IRvIN:uSA 2002

RAFAELLA MENIChINI:ITALY 2003

hANS-jüRGEN bEERFELTz:GERMANY 1985

INEz dENTINhO:pORTuGAL 1993



Hosting Marshall Memorial Fellows

in Pierre, South Dakota, has allowedus to step outside the routines

o our daily lives and lets us questionour place in the context o being both Americans and citizens o the world.

— Dan Schenk MMF Program Coordinator



1

h o m e c o u n t r y

t r a v e l y e a r

r

o m a n i a

1 9 9 8

Summer 2006 European Fellows visit the Martin Luther King, Jr., NationalHistoric Site in Atlanta, Georgia

M y rst contact with the United States was throughGMF, when I was part o the rst group o

Romanians and Bulgarians to take part in the MMFprogram. The strongest impression rom my experience

in the U.S. is the entrenched reedom. I have seen in

some other countries what I call entrenched wealth,accumulated or centuries like geologic layers, which

cannot erode even in di cult times. In others, I saw

entrenched poverty, the kind that cannot be wiped out

even in relatively prosperous times. In the U.S., I had analmost physical sensation o entrenched reedom, whichis rooted so deeply in people’s minds or generations, in

their arti acts and in their nature.

The very concept o the MMF program only contributed

to this sensation o reedom. We had a signi cant degreeo liberty in shaping a program according to our

interests, had rented cars to drive around,

and were responsible or managing ourtime, all without unnecessary ormalities and

paperwork. This is a power ul concept thatcaptivates and bonds people and is a hallmark

o the MMF experience.

dan d on s ePolicy Analyst un te Nat ons de elo ment program



2


t r a v e l y e a

r

F r a

n c E 1 9 8 7

European Fellows visitingCNN Headquartersin Atlanta, Georgia

From my MMF trip, I vividly recall on one hand ahomeless woman in Atlanta who wanted to come

to Europe with us, and on the other hand the projects,energy, sel -con dence, and dedication o the people

we met.

What was — and remains — o interest to me was the

discovery o a heterogeneous country with a similarly heterogeneous group o Europeans. GMF gave me the

opportunity to understand and experience that Europe

is not a single entity. In a sense, I have learned as muchabout Europe and Europeans as about the United States

and Americans.

An r e Marger eDirector of International RelationsARTE France



3


t r a v e l y e a

r

P o

r t u

g a l 1 9 8 9First, there was music, then movies, and then politics.

Then came GMF, and nally America was a dream

that came true.

I had been ascinated with America since I was a

youngster, a ascination that came mostly rom my passion or jazz and American cinema. The United

States was by then the country o alternative cultures, soclose yet so ar away. Later, when I became a journalist, I

covered events in the U.S., but never went beyond New

York and Washington. Everybody who knew Americakept telling me that America was not exactly New York or

Washington. But that is something I only experiencedthanks to GMF.

In that distant year o 1989 — the year o every change,the year in which the 20th century “ended” — I will

never orget that I ollowed the crisis o TiananmenSquare rom Yellowstone National Park and in tiny

Pocatello, Idaho. There I was in my beloved America, in

the unknown, watching the events o the world throughthe eyes o American reporters. Watching it along with a

group o Europeans rom di erent countries,

many o them journalists

like me, was even better.

The MMF program enabled me to meet real America, tomeet di erent hearts and minds rom di erent regions

and cultures. From that attorney in Providence, RhodeIsland, whose grand ather had emigrated rom Ukraine

at the beginning o the 20th century to the persistent

armers in Ohio who made me give a speech or a crowdat a school party, getting to know America better allowed

me to know Europe and the world better.

Since that distant year o 1989, the MMF program has

made me eel like a citizen o the world.

jose LemosEditor RTp port gal



4

c o

u n t r i E S

p A R T I C I p A T I N G

PORTUGAL

UNITED STATES

Albania 2 2006Bosnia/Herzegovinia 1 2006Bulgaria 34 1998Croatia 1 2006Czech Republic 34 1995Denmark 96 1983France 113 1983Germany 296 1982Greece 20 2000Hungary 64 1990

Italy 17 2000Macedonia 2 2006Montenegro 1 2006 The Netherlands 98 1983Poland 76 1990Portugal 68 1988Romania 35 1998Serbia (incl. Kosovo) 5 2006Slovakia 30 1995Spain 93 1985

Turkey 4 2007United States 346 1999

MMF No. of FirstCountry Fellows Year

Over the years, MMF has invited more than 1500 ellows

to experience the business and culture o other countries.

As o this writing, these are the countries that haveparticipated.



5

ITALY

FRANCE

DENMARK

THENETHERLANDS

ALBANIA

MONT.

GREECE

GERMANY POLAND

SPAIN

SLOVOKIA

CROATIA

SERBIA

MACEDONIA

BOSNIA

HERZ.

BULGARIA

TURKEY

ROMANIA

CZECHREPUBLIC

HUNGARY



6


t r a v e l y e a

r

P o l a n d

1 9 9 7

European Fellows learnabout eco-tourism inAnchorage, Alaska

M y MMF trip has been recorded in my memory as a unique combination o impressions and

experiences, rom everyday exposure to Americancivilization and way o li e, to a great number o meetings

with scholars, politicians, NGO activists, American

amilies that were our hosts, and those spontaneouschats with strangers met by chance. Did I pro essionally

bene t rom that rst-hand and pro ound American

experience? Because o my GMF-sponsored trips

to the United States, I dared to write (with a co-author, Slawomir Kardas) a book titled “Amerykadla Polaka” (“America or the Polish”) that was

published in April 2006. It hasn’t become a

best-seller — with about 2000 copies sold so ar— but working on it was great un, and I like to

believe that it was my modest contribution tocloser transatlantic relations.

do rosla Ro e cPresident, Board of DirectorsRa o kra o



7

c o o r d i n a t o r

m m F P r o g r a m

h osting Marshall Memorial Fellows in Pierre, SouthDakota, has allowed us to step outside the routines

o our daily lives and lets us question our place in thecontext o being both Americans and citizens o the

world. The Fellows have given me a great opportunity

to see how others view us and have challenged many o my notions. Over the years I have marveled at their

curiosity and intellect as well as their accomplishments:

the young woman rom the newly emerging Eastern Bloc

country who learned almost per ect English by watchingSesame Street; the up-and-coming politicians who goon to become “players” in their countries; and the media

types who show great curiosity in the stories behind

the stories. They have swum across the Missouri River,ridden horses, rounded up bu alo, red guns, visited

Indian Reservations, attended small-town Fourth o July

celebrations, walked in parades, watched rodeos, andvisited Mt. Rushmore. They have discussed the hard

li e o ranchers and armers trying to live on the land,and have seen rst-hand the di culties o providing

medical and educational services to ew people spread

out over vast areas.

While the ormal side o the GMF experience —the meetings and interviews — is the genius o the

program, giving them access to sources that ew

citizens could have, it is the human contacts that they carry back with them and recall in later years. That

is why I truly have enjoyed this program and every Fellow we have ever met.

dan Sc enp erre, So t da ota



8

g r E E c E 2 0 0 2


t r a v e l y e a r On the occasion o the 25th anniversary o

the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, let me

rst congratulate GMF on its initiatives aimed atstrengthening transatlantic relations and developing

dialogue among leaders rom both the United States

and Europe.

I participated in the MMF Program in February 2002.This program gave me the chance not only to broaden

my knowledge but also to make new acquaintances

and meet interesting people rom all over the world.

It is always a great pleasure to see Fellows withdistinguished careers as policymakers or leading

experts. For me, as Greece’s Deputy Minister or Foreign

A airs, I eel that the experience and knowledge gainedthrough the MMF program became signi cant tools o

inspiration, helping me bring a more modern perspectiveto policymaking and political decisions.

E r s Styl an sDeputy Minister M n stry o Fore gn A a rs

Elizabeth Phocas (Greece), Dakota Korth (GMF), Neil Sumilas (GMF), & Paul Ortega (Spain) at the 2006 MMFPartners Meeting in Berlin



n o t a b l E F E l l o w S

9



10

h o m e c o u

n t r y

t r a v e l y e a r

g

E r m

a n y 1 9 8 3 It was 1983, I was in my early 30s and

had just started working as a minister

in a local congregation in one o the twored-light districts in Hamburg. It started

with a phone call rom the secretary o

Grä n Marion Dönho rom the weekly Die Zeit: “Grä n Dönho would like to meet

you about a ellowship program in the United

States next year.” “What kind o ellowship

program?” “Oh, you don’t know? Well, thenthe best way to learn is to come speak withGrä n Dönho .” A ter I shared my story with

Grä n Dönho , she decided to nominate me to

participate. As the rst theologian MMF, I had todevelop my program almost entirely on my own;

I ocused on inner-city parish programs in largeAmerican cities and — without Google — started

nding names and addresses.

It turned out to be quite success ul, as I had the

opportunity to observe the spiritual and social activitieso churches all across the country. I was most impressed

by the pragmatic and direct approach o neighborhoods,

which ound sometimes intriguing solutions or their

problems without waiting or outside assistance. Overthe years I have been able to build on these experiences

through research on social ethics, rst in biomedicineand more recently in peace and security a airs.

hart g on Sc ertDeaconjo nt Sta College o t e

German Arme Forces



11

h o m e c o u

n t r y

t r a v e l y e a r

F r a n c E 1 9 9 1

US Congressman Adam Smith (center)speaking with Chris Rabb (AMMF 2001)at the 2006 Seattle MMF Alumni Conference

w hat struck me the most was the diversity o theUnited States, how contrasted it was. My itinerary

took me to North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and otherparts o the country, giving me a chance to meet and

understand what is “real America,” including how people

think and how people live. Many o them told us that wewere the rst Europeans they had met. Almost all o them

told us that we were seeing more o their own country

than they ever had. Yet all were anxious to gure out our

vision o the world, what this “new” Europe was about,and to know more about us.

The open and continuous fow o ideas, theappetite or exchange o in ormation, the

capacity to combine the most provincial

and most innovative thinking, and thewillingness to engage all stakeholders in the

debate remain with me to this day.

jean-C r sto e basDevelopment Policy DialogueManager T e worl ban



12

h o m e c o u

n t r y

t r a v e l y e a r

d E n m

a r k 1 9 9 5 The MMF program is one o li e’s great

experiences. It is rare to experience another

country with such intensity.

During the program, I relished the opportunities: the

individual meetings with people at the peak o theirpro essions; the dynamics o a group o Europeans,

among them many who were ar more skeptical towardsthe U.S. than I was; the more socially ocused visits at a

soup kitchen; the police beat; the city council meeting

where the underlying social dilemmas o the Americanmodel were magni ed.

kla s Fran senDirector, Corporate Development pbS hol ng

European Fellows in Phoenix, AZ with local police (before theirpolice ride-a-long)



13

h o m e c o u

n t r y

t r a v e l y e a r

F r a n c E 1 9 9 8To say that my MMF experience was memorable

would be — by ar — an understatement. There

is undoubtedly an “a ter” as there was a “be ore” theew weeks I spent in the United States with my ellow

Europeans.

From attending a Packers game in Green Bay with the

“Cheeseheads” to a meeting with the CEO o Bank o America, rom being the only one in the room without

a star on my suit among a group o generals at the

National De ense University to debating the relativemerits o the American and European social models over

beers, the individual moments mad e the tripun orgettable.

The GMF space — built with patience andcontinuity — has become one o the

rare places where riendshipand intelligence, despite the

ocean, marry well. I am glad

to have been a best man at thewedding party!

bertran ba reManaging Director

La ar Frères



14

c o o r d i n a t o r

m m F P r o g r a m

Our community o Chattanooga, Tennessee, hashosted Fellows once or twice a year or ten years.

I can honestly say that we learn as much rom theEuropeans as they learn rom us. The conversations have

increased in intensity since the inclusion o the East

European countries.

In March 2004, we hosted a group o Fellows rom Italy,Bulgaria, Hungary, Denmark, Poland, and Germany. The

Fellows met with some A rican-American members o

the Rainbow PUSH Coalition about civil rights issues inChattanooga. The newspaper article about the visit was

titled “Europeans Learn o Chattanooga Race Relations,”but the conversation revealed much more than that.

Johnny Halloway o Chattanooga explained his reasonsor reparations. He demanded that the government

pay A rican-Americans or the labor o their ancestorsand repay them or past injustices such as lynching and

segregation.

“You’ve got to get past that,” said Robert Kowalski o

Poland. “A ter 50 years under Communism, we decidedwe could not change the past. We ound we must move

orward.” Lessons learned — on both sides!

One o the best parts o the Fellows’ visits to Chattanooga

is the opportunity to stay in homes. Fellows coming toChattanooga straight rom Washington, DC, are usually

quite anxious about meeting their hosts, and the hostsare equally nervous! They are going to share their home

with a stranger rom another country, and the anxiety on both sides is high. Three days later, I hear the laughter

and the tales o unny things that have happened — you

would think they had known each other or years.

Throughout the program — in the meetings and thehome stays, the Fellows contribute to our understanding

not just o Europe but o humanity.

Eleanor Coo erC attanooga, Tennessee

Seattle MMF Alumni

Naomi Ishisaka (2005)and Tom Albro (2002)



15

“Te open and continuous fowso ideas, the appetite or exchange

o ideas, the capacity to combine themost provincial and most innovative

thinking, the willingness to engageall stakeholders in the debate —

these issues struck me and remain with me to this day.”

— Jean-Christophe Bas (France)



16

h o m e c o u

n t r y

t r a v e l y e a r

d E n m

a r k 1 9 9 6 One day, I joined the Border Patrol at Del Rio, Texas,

stopping illegal immigrants rom Mexico.

The next, my French traveling companionand I ended up in a urious discussion

at the Cuban-American Society in Miami,

Florida. En route between the two states,I learned all I needed to know about the

latest developments in Slovakia rom

another ellow MMF.

The MMF program was opened my eyes— not only to the U.S., but also to my

European neighbors — especially the ones romthe eastern part o our continent. A ter six weeks

in the U.S., I suddenly understood li e in Poland,

Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

MMF also gave me the courage and motivationto apply various aspects o my personality in my

pro essional li e, kick-starting my career back home.

It was an un orgettable experience, which continues tothis day, as I have taken advantage o the MMF network

around the world. The MMF program made me want to

see more, meet more Americans, and learn more. I havereturned to the United States several times, and I hope to

return several times more.

po l Ma senEditor-in-Chief E stra bla et

Benjamin Görlach(EMMF 2006) at theGrand Canyon in Arizona



17

h o m e c o u

n t r y

t r a v e l y e a r

g

E r m

a n y 1 9 8 2As one o the rst participants o the Marshall

Memorial Fellowship Program back in 1982, I still

have vivid memories o my visit to the United States. At27, I was working or Richard von Weizsäcker, then-

mayor o Berlin who would later become Germany’s

president. He nominated me or an MMF journey thatled me across America. In Opelika, Alabama, I met

Alabama’s our-time governor George C. Wallace and

discussed his personal trans ormation rom a supportero segregation to an honest riend o A rican-Americans.

His claim that “the Old South is gone” rang true when heran or governor that year.

I was overwhelmed by the great hospitality and open-

mindedness o the Americans. The impact o these

experiences on my career has been immense: I havevisited the United States countless times and have

become a strong advocate or stronger transatlanticties. As oreign policy spokesman o the ederal

Christian Democratic parliamentary group, I joinedAngela Merkel on her trip to the United States in 2003.

Now, as opposition leader in the state parliament

o Berlin, I, along with my party, am ully aware o America’s contribution to the reedom o West Berlin

during the Cold War and o U.S. support or German

reuni cation. The United States and the MarshallMemorial Fellowship Program gave me a lot, and I

congratulate the German Marshall Fund on the 25thanniversary o its fagship program.

Fr e ert pf gerOpposition Leader berl n State parl ament

American MMFs in front ofthe Brandenburg Gate inBerlin, Germany



18

c i t i E S

P a

r t i c i P a t i n g From Pittsburgh to Los Angeles, Brussels to

Bilbao, the Marshall Memorial Fellowship o ers

participants an immersion experience in their hostcountries. To accomplish this, MMF coordinators work

tirelessly to put together varied programs or the ellows.

They are united by a desire to share their cities andcultures, and to help bridge the transatlantic divide.

This is a sampling o the cities MMFs have visited on

both sides o the Atlantic.



19



20

“In many ways, we were junior

diplomats, representing our cities, amilies, and employers...doing our best to translate

what it means to be Americanin the early 21st century.”

— Nike Irvin (USA)



21


t r a v e l y e a r

r o m a n i a 1 9 9 9In my country, there is a saying, “Knowledge is the

source o sadness. As knowledge grows, the questions

increase; as the questions become numerous, man startsto be short on answers; as the answers are only ew,

happiness declines.” Fortunately, this was not the case or

me. Yes, the program made me ask a lot o questions, andI don’t have answers or all o them. But I elt no sadness

and instead I elt energized, which stayed with me

through the weeks o meetings and travel and questions.

For me, the greatest bene t o the MMF program was my new mindset about work and pursuing one’s personal

objectives. Mobility, adaptability, keeping your eyeswide open to the need or challenges — those are the

most important things I’ve learned rom the United

States. Now, as a senior consultant to the Ministry o European Integration, I seek to add a

pro-Atlantic favor to each and every strategic meeting about the uture o the European Union. At least I hope to!

Sa a C ser Senior Consultant M n stry o E ro eanIntegrat on



22


t r a v e l y e a r

a l b a n i a 2 0 0 6

Fellows in Times Square NYCIn 2006, GMF included the Western Balkans in its mapo Memorial Marshall Fellows. I eel very privileged

to have been part o the rst group o MMFs rom theregion. This program is a great opportunity to travel to

the U.S. and get a favor o this great country and, most

importantly, to engage with a variety o people, bothFellows and hosts.

I had been to the U.S. be ore this trip, but the MMF

program gave me the unique opportunity to meet with

common Americans who share the concerns o everyday li e, who do not think only about Iraq or globalization,

but also about community a airs, employment,human rights, education, health care, the rule o law,

and individual reedom. I was most impressed with

Americans’ spirit o involvement and responsibility.

By understanding America better, I could compare itwith the European values and institutions, which are

sometimes similar and sometimes very di erent. This

trip gave me a better understanding o Europe and thechallenges my country has to ace to become a respected

member o the European amily o nations.

This trip did not end when I departed rom New

York. My journey and my relationship with GMFhave just begun.

So ol der s aPolitical SpokesmanSoc al st Mo ement or Integrat on



23


t r a v e l y e a r

u S a

2 0 0 2

The Reichstag

in Berlin, Germany

The Marshall Memorial Fellowship is like anall-access pass to the top European political,

economic, and social institutions. In many ways, wewere junior diplomats, representing our cities, amilies,

and employers, and doing our best to translate what

it means to be American in the early 21st century. TheMMF program took my European lens and stretched it

dramatically. When I came home rom my trip, I took up

a subscription to the Economist and enrolled in a Frenchclass. My appetite or all things European (not just ood!)

grew tremendously.

N e Ir nPresident T e R or an Fo n at onGMF Trustee



24


t r a v e l y e a r

i t a l y 2 0 0 3 In October 2003, I arrived in Washington to participate

in the Marshall Memorial Fellowship. The adventure

was ull o potential, and I understood that I had beengiven a great opportunity. But the experiences that the

Fellowship gave me were much more than I could have

ever imagined, and made me realize how little I knewabout America and how much I still needed to learn. I

also realized how much I needed to learn about Europe,

especially the so called “new Europe,” rom where most o my ellow MMFs came.

My re-discovery o America had begun, and has not

stopped since. The contacts and experience I gatheredduring the trip have been o great value in my career as

a oreign policy editor and reporter. In 2004, I covered

the American presidential elections or my newspaper.Thanks to the people I met during the ellowship,

I was able to meet with the major politicalcommentators at the New York Times, and Idiscovered interesting insights, suggestions, and

stories while ollowing the elections. I look orwardto other opportunities to meet GMF experts and

ellows in order to exchange our views on where

we — and the world — are going.

As or me, in the meantime I have made my ownpersonal contribution to the improvement o

transatlantic relations by marrying an American.

I’m still not entirely sure that GMF didn’tcontribute to this major transatlantic event.

Ra aella Men c nDeputy Editor La Re l ca



25


g E r m

a n y 1 9 8 5

t r a v e l y e

a r

Closing Dinner for the Seattle MMFAlumni Conference in the private studioof reknowned artist Dale Chihuly

As a participant in one o the very rst MarshallMemorial Fellowship programs, I look back ondly

on an extraordinary six-week trip all over the UnitedStates through which I became a riend o America,

established lasting contacts, and learned all about

American belie s and behaviors. The MMF programwas the rst o more than 40 trips I have

made to the United States or both

business and pleasure.

hans-j rgen beer eltExecutive Director Free democrat c party



26


t r a v e l y e a r

P o r t u g a l 1 9 9 3 At times during the program I elt like an American

“prisoner o my own reedom.” Everything that I

asked to do — or to know — was possible. I elt the ullorce o the American spirit, like a European immigrant

arriving to Ellis Island, with my destiny in my own hands.

I was an MMF in 1993, shortly a ter the end o the Cold

War. Nearly 15 years later, Europe is dealing with many o the issues I observed in the United States during

my Fellowship — immigration, social security, labor

mobility, health care systems, new concepts o amily,ull access to technology and communication. We are

closer, we look similar, we deal with the same problems.But we don’t always agree, such as on terrorism or the

environment. Our common needs do not always bring

us together, because o the lack o common knowledge.GMF’s quest to create avenues to

exchange that knowledgeremains a vital piece o thepuzzle.

Ine dent n o Advisor to the Mayor C ty o L s on

European Fellows meet

with Anchorage MayorMark Begich



a n n i V E r S a r y

o u r 2 5 t H

27

Throughout 2007, GMF and the network o MMFalumni will mark this occasion on both sides o

the Atlantic, including at the Marshall Forum on

Transatlantic A airs in Elmau, Germany, romJune 28–July 1, and in Atlanta, Georgia, rom

September 27–30. Join us or these and other events

to celebrate the strengthening o transatlantic bonds.Updates will be posted on our website regularly.



a b o u t

g m F

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The German Marshall Fund o the United States(GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy

and grantmaking institution dedicated to promotinggreater cooperation and understanding between the

United States and Europe.

GMF does this by supporting individuals and institutions

working on transatlantic issues, by convening leaders todiscuss the most pressing transatlantic themes, and by

examining ways in which transatlantic cooperation can

address a variety o global policy challenges. In addition,GMF supports a number o initiatives to strengthen

democracies.

Founded in 1972 through a gi t rom Germany as a

permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance, GMFmaintains a strong presence on both sides o the Atlantic.

In addition to its headquarters in Washington, DC,GMF has six o ces in Europe: Berlin, Bratislava, Paris,

Brussels, Belgrade, and Ankara.



www.gmfus.org

mmf at 25: reflections on a transatlantic legacy

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