Indianapolis, IN

Oct. 28, Nov. 19, and Dec. 19, 2020

October 28, 2020

28
Indy Business Roundtable: “The Future of Transatlantic Trade”
Our kick-off roundtable event was co-hosted with The International Center and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). The event convened Indianapolis business leaders to discuss how their work is tied to transatlantic trade and how the U.S.-China trade war has affected the city’s businesses. We were joined by the following diplomats and experts for this event:

Meet The Panel

Michael Curtis is the Deputy Head of Delegation at the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. He previously worked for the past 5 years for EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, advising her on a number of important foreign policy issues, including transatlantic relations. He has had a long career in the European Union institutions working mainly on foreign policy and external relations, trade, development, and humanitarian issues.

Zdenek Beranek is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Czech Embassy in Washington. He has been a member of Czech diplomatic service since 2007, including serving as Deputy Chief of Mission in Jordan, Desk officer for the Middle East Peace Process, and Head of EU and NATO division at the Foreign Affairs Department of the Office of the President.

Ricklef Beutin is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States. Prior to this, he was a Visiting Fellow in the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, and he has also served at the German Federal Foreign Office, including as Chief of Staff to Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and several State Secretaries.

Tomas Baert is the Head of the Trade & Agriculture Section at the European Union Delegation to the United States. Previously, Tomas worked at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade as Head of Unit for Trade Strategy.

Detlev Brauns has served as Head of the Economic and Business Section at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany since August 2020. He has previously served as Deputy Permanent Representative of the EU to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, and Head of Unit responsible for trade policy at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology in Berlin.

Andrea Kendall-Taylor is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Prior to joining CNAS, Andrea served for eight years as a senior intelligence officer, including as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and a senior analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) where she worked on Russia and Eurasia, the political dynamics of autocracies, and democratic decline.

28
Carmel High School Roundtable: “Next Generation Foreign Policy Perspectives”
This roundtable event was co-hosted with Carmel High School. This event gave students an opportunity to learn from real-world policymakers, while also helping our delegation understand how the next generation views the transatlantic relationship and U.S. foreign policy writ large. We were joined by the following diplomats and experts for this event:

Meet The Panel

H.E. Jonatan Vseviov has served as Estonia’s Ambassador to the United States since August 2018, his third diplomatic posting in Washington, D.C. Before assuming his current duties, Vseviov worked for 10 years at the Estonian Ministry of Defense, rising to the post of Permanent Secretary. He has lectured on international relations as well as Estonian security and defense policy at several universities.

Michael Curtis is the Deputy Head of Delegation at the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. He previously worked for the past 5 years for EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, advising her on a number of important foreign policy issues, including transatlantic relations. He has had a long career in the European Union institutions working mainly on foreign policy and external relations, trade, development, and humanitarian issues.

Peter Sparding is a transatlantic fellow in the German Marshall Fund’s Europe Program in Washington, DC, where he works on foreign and economic policy developments in the United States and Europe. Sparding’s work over the past years has focused on the consequences of political and economic crises in Europe on transatlantic relations, in particular the U.S.–German relationship.

Ulrike Franke is a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Her areas of focus include German and European security and defence, the future of warfare, and the impact of new technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence. Franke also co-hosts the Sicherheitshalber Podcast, a German-language podcast on security and defense.

Andrea Kendall-Taylor is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Prior to joining CNAS, Andrea served for eight years as a senior intelligence officer, including as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and a senior analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) where she worked on Russia and Eurasia, the political dynamics of autocracies, and democratic decline.

Jim Townsend is an adjunct senior fellow in the CNAS Transatlantic Security Program. After eight years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for European and NATO Policy, Jim completed more than two decades of work on European and NATO policy in the Pentagon, at NATO and at the Atlantic Council.

November 19, 2020

19
OSU-Ivy Tech-Butler University Student Roundtable: Next Generation National Security Perspectives
This roundtable event was co-hosted with Butler University and Ivy Tech Community College. We were also joined by students from the Ohio State University. This event brought together students and real-world policymakers to discuss the transatlantic relationship and the most pressing threats to U.S. national security. Students were also given the opportunity to learn more about careers in the national security space by asking policymakers about their personal experiences working in the field. We were joined by the following diplomats and experts for this event: 

Meet The Panel

H.E. Domingos Fezas Vital has served as Portugal’s Ambassador to the United States since 2015. A career member of Portugal’s Foreign Service, Fezas Vital has held a variety of positions including Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU and, most recently before becoming Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the EU.

Ricklef Beutin is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States. Prior to this, he was a Visiting Fellow in the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, and he has also served at the German Federal Foreign Office, including as Chief of Staff to Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and several State Secretaries.

Torleiv Opland is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Norway in Washington, DC. Before assuming his current duties, Opland spent nearly a decade at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, rising to the position of Director of Security Policy and North America.

Bastian Hermisson is the executive director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Washington DC. Before joining the foundation, Hermisson served as an advisor on foreign security and environmental politics to MP Katrin Göring-Eckardt. His areas of expertise include foreign policy, security policy, and energy and climate policy.

Peter Sparding is a transatlantic fellow in the German Marshall Fund’s Europe Program in Washington, DC, where he works on foreign and economic policy developments in the United States and Europe. Sparding’s work over the past years has focused on the consequences of political and economic crises in Europe on transatlantic relations, in particular the U.S.–German relationship. He regularly briefs government agencies, congress, the private sector, and other stakeholders on a range of transatlantic policy issues.

Jim Townsend is an adjunct senior fellow in the CNAS Transatlantic Security Program. After eight years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for European and NATO Policy, Jim completed more than two decades of work on European and NATO policy in the Pentagon, at NATO and at the Atlantic Council. His work spanned the Cold War, post-Cold War political reconstruction in Europe and Europe’s new challenges including Russia and terrorism.

Andrea Kendall-Taylor is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Prior to CNAS, Kendall-Taylor served for eight years as a senior analyst at the CIA and as the Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC).

December 19, 2020

19
Girls Inc. Roundtable: The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy and Transatlantic Relations & Careers in National security

Meet The Panel

Kara Frederick is a Fellow for the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Prior to joining CNAS, Kara helped create and lead Facebook’s Global Security Counterterrorism Analysis Program, served as a Senior Intelligence Analyst for a U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command, and as a counterterrorism analyst at the Department of Defense.

Dr. Andrea Kendall-Taylor is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Prior to joining CNAS, Andrea served as the Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) and as a senior analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Dr. Janka Oertel is the Director of the Asia Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She previously worked as a Senior Fellow in the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States’ Berlin office and as a program director at Körber Foundation’s Berlin office.

Dr. Jana Puglierin is the Head of the Berlin Office and a Senior Policy Fellow for the European Council on Foreign Relations since January 2020. Prior to this, she headed the Alfred von Oppenheim Center for European Policy Studies at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and as an advisor on disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation at the German Bundestag.

Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller is an expert on German, European, and trans-Atlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She is currently a senior fellow and the Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and trans-Atlantic relations in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings. She previously served as the Kissinger Chair on Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress and a senior transatlantic fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).

Becca Wasser is a fellow in the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Her research areas include wargaming, force posture and management, and U.S. defense strategy. She previously served as a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, where she designed wargames for the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Army.