Atlantik-Brücke

Atlantik-Brücke   (Deep state milieu)
File:Atlantik-Brücke logo.svg
Formation	1952
Headquarters	Berlin, Germany
Type	•  think tank •  influence network
Interests	Germany, Creating a network of reliable political cadre
Subpage	•Atlantik-Brücke/Chairman
A long established and relatively public organ of the US to control German politics.

Although they are based on very similar ideas, Atlantik-brúcke is not to be confused with its British counterpart The Atlantic Bridge

Organization

Atlantik-Brücke ('Atlantic Bridge') is the leading German private association to promote German-American understanding and Atlanticism. Founded in Hamburg in 1952, it was located in Bonn between 1983 and 1999 and is now located in Berlin.

The association organizes invitation-only conferences, seminars and colloquia. Through various programs for "Young Leaders", military officers, journalists, and students, Atlantik-Brücke fosters social networks among current and future leaders in business and world affairs.

Young Leaders

The two Atlantik-Brücke Young Leaders conferences receive more than 500 applications per year, from which 120 Young Leaders are chosen with the help of a steering committee of political, business and academic leaders. Sixty young leaders are chosen for the German-American Conference (30 Americans and 30 Germans) and sixty are chosen for the European Conference. As of 2011, the German-American Young Leaders Conference has been running for 33 years.

The Young Leaders Program initiated by Atlantik-Brücke represents the oldest and largest program dedicated to identifying and nurturing relationships among the future custodians of the transatlantic partnership. Since the first Young Leaders Conference was held in 1973, over 1,500 Europeans and Americans have attended one of thirty-two German-American Young Leaders Conferences or ten European Young Leaders Conferences. Alumni of these prestigious gatherings remain in contact with each other both informally and through regional discussion groups and biennial alumni conferences that had been held under the auspices of Atlantik-Brücke. On January 1, 2011 Atlantik-Brücke established the independent organization "Atlantik Forum e.V. – the Young Leaders Alumni of Atlantik-Brücke" to more effectively facilitate and manage all these activities.

Prominent Young Leaders alumni

   Christian Wulff, Former Federal President of Germany
   Thomas de Maizière, Former Federal Minister of Interior
   Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Former Federal Minister of Defense
   Michael Otto, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Otto Group
   Jürgen Großmann, Chairman of the Managing Board of RWE
   Thomas Enders, President and CEO of Airbus Industries
   Paul-Bernhard Kallen, Chairman of the Board of Hubert Burda Media Holding
   Hans-Gert Pöttering, Former President of the European Parliament
   Charles Schumer, Senior U.S. Senator from New York
   Cem Özdemir, Chairman of Alliance 90/The Greens
   Edelgard Bulmahn Member of Parliament; Former Federal Minister of Education and Research
   Michael Vassiliadis, Chairman of the Board of IG BCE – Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union
   Wolfgang Ischinger, Former German Ambassador to the United States
   Richard Burt, Former United States Ambassador to Germany
   Silvana Koch-Mehrin, Vice President of the European Parliament
   Craig Kennedy, President of the German Marshall Fund of the United States
   Kai Diekmann, Editor-in-Chief of BILD Zeitung
   Katja Gloger, Editor-at-large, STERN Magazin
   Joshua Bolten, Former White House Chief of Staff, President George W. Bush

History

Eric M. Warburg (founder of the firm currently known as Warburg Pincus) was one of the founders of Atlantik-Brücke, together with legendary editor Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, Chancellor of Germany Helmut Schmidt and other leading Hamburg citizens. In those Cold War times, the U.S. was looking for influence on Germany. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) probably gave the idea for founding the Atlantik-Brücke; Eric M. Warburg was a friend and consultant for John J. McCloy, Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and President of the World Bank. The Atlantik-Brücke is the German counterpart for the U.S. based American Council on Germany (members include US diplomats Richard Holbrooke and Henry Kissinger).

Extract of member list

Below you can find an extract of the member list of the Atlantik Brücke e.V.

   Philip D. Murphy, former United States Ambassador to Germany
   Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State of the United States of America
   Josef Ackermann, former CEO of Deutsche Bank, Germany
   Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, former Secretary of Defense of Germany
   Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor of Germany
   Helmut Schmidt, former Chancellor of Germany
   Rupert Stadler, former chairman of Audi AG
   Torsten Oltmanns, Global Marketing Director at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
   Joachim Gauck, former President of Germany
   Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany