From the 2009 Annual Report

Rarely has the transatlantic relationship faced such a combination of crisis and hope. There have been many crises before--World Wars I and II, the Cold War--and there has been hope before--post-War reconstruction and prosperity, the fall of communism. But rarely have despair and hope arrived at nearly the same moment.

There are crises on several fronts all coming to a head at the same time-the collapse of the global economy; trouble spots such as Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, and Israel/Palestine; energy as a source of conflict; and environmental erosion. But with the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president, there is renewed hope from citizens on both sides of the Atlantic for transatlantic cooperation to confront these crises.

Obama has pledged to work with European leaders, and given the reaction to his European trip as a candidate, European governments and publics seem poised to work with the Obama administration. But there are difficult times ahead. It will take steadfast transatlanticists to ensure that both sides of the Atlantic are speaking to and listening to each other.

Through convening, research, networking, and grantmaking, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is foremost among those who will continue to work to strengthen transatlantic relations. That has been GMF's mission since its founding more than 35 years ago, and it has been true these last eight years. In fact, once European leaders moved past
the Bush administration decision to go to war with Iraq, the last four years have seen stronger cooperation between the North American and European governments than has been
popularly believed.

In looking at the aforementioned crises, GMF is poised to facilitate transatlantic cooperation on those issues. GMF's Economic Policy Program works on a host of issues touched by the global economic crisis, from coherent aid policies for the developing world to unequal trade practices.

On Russia, GMF's offices in Europe--Belgrade, Bucharest, Bratislava, Ankara, Brussels, Berlin, and Paris--deal with their neighbor on a host of issues, whether it is Russia's bilateral relationship with former Soviet states, the enlargement of NATO and the European
Union, or energy dependence.

When GMF organizes Brussels Forum or another high-profile event in one of its operating cities, Iran and Afghanistan are high-priority topics. In 2008, when GMF convened the Bucharest Conference on the sidelines of the NATO Summit, the Afghanistan panel was a true highlight, featuring Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Later in the year, I traveled with a few colleagues to Afghanistan to get a firsthand view of the political, military, and civil society there.

While GMF has not tackled the Israel-Palestine issue head-on, GMF's new Mediterranean project and its Ankara office deal with the region as a whole, and especially Turkey's role as a bridge between the transatlantic allies and the Middle East.

On energy dependence and interdependence, GMF deals with the issue both on the environmental side and on the geopolitical side. Biofuels are mentioned as a possible replacement or supplement to oil, and GMF's biofuels project takes a hard look at the benefits and drawbacks of these controversial alternatives. GMF's work on Russia has long
dealt with the geopolitical consequences of Russia's control of natural gas pipelines to Europe.

Finally, on the environmental front, GMF's new Climate and Energy Program has been a powerful convener on the issue, including at the UN's COP14 conference on climate change in Poznan, Poland, in 2008, and looking toward the COP15 negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009. GMF has played and will continue to play a bridging role between European and American climate negotiators.

There are other issues that have not yet reached crisis proportion, but that GMF has identified as critical to the future of the transatlantic relationship. Asia, including the rise of China, continues to be an important arena. Urban issues, including housing and transportation, are fields where transatlantic information-sharing may not be obvious, but which GMF's long history has shown can be powerful in delivering tangible results. Countries in both Europe and North America deal with immigration and integration, and even on different scales and with different populations, lessons learned are relevant and significant.

Today's crises are certain to take time, effort, and money to overcome, both at the government level and at the policy institute level. GMF is committed to continue convening, supporting research, promoting knowledge sharing, developing young transatlantic leaders, and grantmaking in support of the issues topping the transatlantic agenda.

GMF is proud of and thankful for the relationships it has developed with partner institutions, governments, and corporations to continue the important work of drawing the allies closer together. It has never been more important to develop these partnerships, and GMF welcomes new partners to join in this critical work.

With the world looking to the transatlantic allies for leadership once again, never has there been a better opportunity to effect positive change--to borrow another word--than at this
moment of crisis and hope. GMF will be there. Stay tuned.

Craig Kennedy
President
The German Marshall Fund of the United States