American democracy is facing pressure from all sides: For months, there have been partly violent protests against systemic racism and police violence of the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The COVID pandemic has already claimed over 200,000 lives and has extreme economic consequences. Coupled with a polarized media landscape and the growing influence of social media, the pandemic has further exposed deep social divisions along ideological, economic and ethnic fault lines. In addition, the Trump administration is stepping up its escalatory description of the integrity of the American electoral system - what some consider to be a rigid electoral and party system in need of reform. How will the social conflicts affect the understanding of (American) democracy? How is the political establishment contributing to alienation from the Constitution?

Unilateralism and isolationism are making a comeback in the United States. Are Trump and his America First approach to the world a cause or a symptom? What are the ideological sources of the intimate connection between isolationism and the American experience? Will the COVID-19 pandemic undercut or deepen globalization? What impact will it have on U.S. grand strategy? The United States seems headed for an inevitable pullback of its global commitments. What should retrenchment look like? Can Americans find the middle ground between doing too much and doing too little?

Cathryn Cluver Ashbrook appeared on the major German national TV talkshow, "Maischberger: Die Woche," alongside the head of the German Social Democratic Party, Saskia Esken, and German journalists, Robin Alexander and Bettina Gaus.

There are a number of important issues on the transatlantic agenda. And, yet the relevance of the partnership between the United States and Germany has been called into question in recent years. From defense spending and the proposed U.S. military drawdown, to transatlantic trade and investment, to relations with other countries such as China and Russia, the German-American relationship has been charged. With the German presidency of the European Council, what can we expect for the transatlantic relationship in the months and years to come?On Tuesday, August 11, the ACG hosted a webinar with Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Senior Member of House Committee on Armed Services, and Bundestag Member Dr. Tobias Lindner (Die Grüne), Spokesman for Security Policy, Chairman of the Defense Committee; and moderated by Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Executive Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project and Executive Director of The Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of the ACG’s Eric M. Warburg Chapter in Boston.

A discussion between Project on Europe Fellow, Dr. Amanda Sloat, and Project on Europe Executive Director, Cathryn Cluver Ashbrook, on how people in different countries are weathering this crisis and the different policy questions that have been raised as a result. 

CNBC’s Kelly Evans breaks down how different countries are handling unemployment with senior economics reporter Steve Liesman and Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook of the Harvard Kennedy School.

As part of its new career webinar series, the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship and the Future of Diplomacy Project invite current HKS students and alumni to discuss ‘real world’ perspectives on forging careers in diplomacy from a transatlantic perspective, with four HKS alumni.

On Monday September 26th,  The Right Honourable John Bercow, MP Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom gave a public address at the Harvard Kennedy School Forum, followed by a Q&A moderated by Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Executive Director of the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship.

Cathryn Cluver Ashbrook, Harvard Kennedy School, James Politi, Financial Times, and Steven Ricchiuto, Mizuho Securities, join 'The Exchange' to discuss what a declining German economy signals about the global economy.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a discussion on the impact of the European Parliament election on issues like migration, trade, and transatlantic relations.