The Berlin Office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) kicked off its U.S. election night festivities in Berlin, with a large election party in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy and a number of other partners including the Atlantik-Brücke, the American Academy in Berlin, and the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) at Deutsche Telekom, on November 6.

Philip D. Murphy, U.S. Ambassador to Germany, introduced the panel which featured: Dr. William D. Chandler, professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego; Dr. John Hulsman, president and co-founder of John C. Hulsman Enterprises; Dr. Josef Braml, U.S. expert, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller, senior transatlantic fellow at GMF. Juliane Schäuble, the political editor of Der Tagesspiegel moderated the debate. Alongside the event, the partner organizations set up info-corners, organized raffles, and other activities for over 1000 guests who attended the evening. One of the major German TV channels, ZDF, broadcasted the event live from the venue.

To round off the evening, GMF, in partnership with Atlantik-Brücke and the DGAP, organized a night owl panel featuring: Laura Blumenfeld, a senior fellow at GMF Washington; Elmar Brok, a member of the European Parliament; Fred Irwin, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany; and Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, the global head of Government Relations at Allianz. Dr. Sylke Tempel, the editor-in-chief of Internationale Politik, moderated the panel. The campaign season leading up to Tuesday’s elections and potential foreign policy topics for the next administration were discussed among the panelists and during the Q&A with the audience.

GMF Berlin concluded its election activities in Berlin with a lively post-election lunch panel at the Magnus Haus. The Atlantik-Brücke, the DGAP, and GMF joined forces to present a discussion on “The 2012 U.S. Elections: What the Results Mean for America’s and Europe’s Future,” on November 7. The panel included: Craig Kennedy, president of GMF; Professor Doctor Eberhard Sandschneider, Otto Wolff director of DGAP; and Professor Doctor Torsten Oltmanns , head of Global Marketing at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. GMF's Laura Blumenfeld moderated the discussion, which focused on a variety of topics ranging from Mitt Romney’s and President Obama’s presidential campaigns, Obama’s next administration and legacy, Hillary Clinton’s success as Secretary of State, the fiscal cliff, bipartisanship as well as the potential restructuring of both political parties and opinions about 2016 election.

The event’s audience included a variety of high-level guests, including members of the German Bundestag, State Secretary Dr. Ralf Brauksiepe, and the former Federal president of Germany, Richard von Weizsäcker.