Dear Readers,

Be it Afghanistan or climate change, American literature or foreign policy–this is how diverse the content of transatlantic relations is. Hence, this is also how broad the range of topics is, the American Ambassador to Germany is dealing with.

As of the end of last year, the United States have a new representative in Berlin in charge of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Germany: Philip D. Murphy. Before coming to Germany, the former bank manager was financial advisor in Barack Obama's campaign team. He knows Germany well and emphasizes being an Ambassador to all Germans, not only to Berlin. He especially reaches out to the youth and knows–being a father of four– how important it is to engage the next generation in a dialogue early on.

For this newsletter, we interviewed Philip D. Murphy on a personal note and on political issues and are proud to present to you the "new man" at the American Embassy. (Please view grey boxes below for both parts of the interview.)

Last but not least I would like to recommend to you to check our latest program of events. Among others, we have two very special highlights coming up: America's famous thinker on civil society, Benjamin R. Barber, will speak in Bonn, and John E. Rielly, one of the leading foreign policy advisors, is coming to Aachen.

Yours truthfully,

Eveline Metzen, Executive Director