An Interview with Joerg Wolf, Editor-in-Chief at Atlantic-community.org

27 Jun 2013

This month, we speak with Joerg Wolf, Editor-in-Chief at Atlantic-community.org, which is a Berlin-based online think tank that focuses primarily on issues affecting transatlantic relations. By think tank, however, we additionally mean a worldwide community of over 7,500 members who not only share their analyses with others, but also provide a platform for young people to speak out and exercise real political influence. After describing these activities, Mr. Wolf then provides his views on the current state of transatlantic relations, particularly in relation to the US's 'pivot to Asia' and the economic difficulties faced by Europe and the US. The transatlantic partnership, he concludes, needs to be reevaluated and renewed but has not lost its relevance. In fact, in matters of defense, the need for 'smart' and more efficient spending makes NATO "more important than ever".

Atlantic-community.org is an online foreign policy think tank. What does your community look like and what services do you offer?

Our mission is to encourage open and democratic dialogue on the challenges facing Europe and North America. We believe that these challenges – from economic crises to counteracting terrorism – can only be solved through close cooperation. Atlantic-community.org is member-driven; our external pagecommunity of over 7,500 members encourages everyone, regardless of geographic location, to have a say on issues impacting the transatlantic community. Membership is free.

What this all means in practical terms is that op-eds written by our members and edited by our staff are published on a daily basis. Readers comment on the ideas and suggestions presented in the articles and the editorial staff then condense the debates into external pageAtlantic Memos – executive summaries that harness the collective intelligence of the community and present the best solutions and policy recommendations. These memos are sent to policy makers in over 27 countries in Europe and North America for their consideration.

Your think tank aims specifically at giving a voice to the younger generation. Why is this central to your mission and how do you work to establish dialogue between young and senior leaders?

Atlantic-community.org believes that young foreign policy thinkers have a great deal to bring to the table, including different perspectives and new ideas for old problems. Providing a forum for a new generation of future leaders and allowing them to showcase these skills is crucial, particularly because this demographic represents the future of foreign affairs.

The way we go about doing this is by giving the younger generation the opportunity to publish and debate side by side with established experts, and to have their policy ideas seen by senior officials. This gives our members real political influence, while decision-makers benefit from the next generation's policy input. For example, atlantic-community.org conducts "Theme Weeks" that focus on a particular issue and present a selection of member articles alongside established experts in that area. We also hold external pagePolicy Workshop Competitions where the winners get to present their ideas in person to government officials, as well as Q&As that allow members to ask direct questions of senior policy makers, most recently with the external pageNATO Secretary General's Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, Mari Skaare.

The growing focus on Asia by the Obama administration has raised questions about the continued primacy of the transatlantic alliance. Is the ‘pivot to Asia’ a sign of new priorities, growing alienation or an opportunity to reevaluate and reinterpret the transatlantic dialogue?

The EU and the US have the largest bilateral trade relationship and share the most integrated economic relationship in the world; they have created the most successful and powerful military alliance in world history, NATO; and most importantly, the US and Europe have strong historic and cultural ties that bind them together. In other words, both sides of the Atlantic are profoundly committed to each other. This will not change with the so-called “pivot to Asia”.

However, it is clear that in a post-Cold War world the nature of the transatlantic partnership needs to be rethought and renewed. One sector in which the “pivot” may facilitate this is in security. With the US no longer maintaining as strong of a military presence on the European continent, the European NATO member states have to provide for more security themselves. Doing so will allow the Europeans to have more weight within the transatlantic alliance, ultimately resulting in stronger and more efficient transatlantic cooperation. This means, however, that Germany and most of the other European NATO member states have to increase defense spending and invest more in military capabilities.

Trying to resolve economic difficulties and implement austerity programs currently dominate the domestic agendas on both sides of the Atlantic. How do these efforts impact upon transatlantic relations in your opinion?

Tough economic times have compelled Brussels and Washington to finally start negotiating a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which could spur economic growth and also provide the added benefit of rejuvenating and propelling forward the transatlantic bond. The negotiations, however, will be long and difficult, and they could also fail.

Europeans and Americans are now more inward looking and our transatlantic cooperation suffers from complacency. President Obama expressed such criticism in his Berlin speech, but in a quite subtle way.

Given the high levels of unemployment and slow rates of economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic, the governments in Europe and North America have to focus on their domestic fronts. They should, however, also realize that participation in NATO’s Smart Defense initiative would help make defense spending more efficient, and thereby enable Alliance members to achieve security despite austerity. In this respect, today’s NATO is more relevant and more important than ever.

Joerg Wolf works for the Atlantische Initiative e.V. in Berlin as editor-in-chief of the open think tank external pageatlantic-community.org. Follow him on Twitter at external page@transatlantic.

For additional information please see:
external pageAtlantic-community.org 'About us'
external pageAtlantic-community.org 'Your Opinion'
external pageAbout Atlantische Initiative