Panelists, Attendees Have ‘Hard Conversations’ at German American HKS Conference

German and American politicians discussed the 2024 U.S. election and upcoming elections in Germany at the Harvard German American Conference, an annual event primarily organized by students at the Harvard Kennedy School.

The theme of this year’s GAC — which consisted of a series of panels and workshops spanning Friday to Sunday — was “Hard Conversations.” The conference featured keynote speakers EU Ambassador to the U.S. Jovita Neliupšienė, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Thomas E. Price, and President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Stephen Harbarth.

GAC Co-Chair Stephanie Armbruster said during the conference’s closing ceremony that the theme was intended to foster dialogue about contentious topics including the future of Germany’s tenuous coalition government, generative artificial intelligence, climate change, and political polarization.

“This conference is about conversation, not about conclusions,” said Lukas Manske, co-chair of the GAC. “In this time of uncertainty, we really count on all of you to keep the dialogue going.”

In a Saturday panel titled “The Cost of Absolute Freedom: Where Do We Draw the Line Between Free Speech and Propaganda?” panelists Clayton Weimers, Isabell W. Karras, and Christian Djeffal discussed increasing global restrictions on press freedom.

Weimers, the executive director of Reporters Without Borders USA, pointed to the “fractured” state of the media industry, encouraging attendees to avoid “painting the media with a broad brush.”

“There are newsrooms that both do good and bad things every single day,” Weimers said.

Karras, a German correspondent based in Washington D.C., said journalists must also acknowledge their own responsibility to prevent the spread of misinformation.

At a Sunday keynote event, Harbarth discussed the history of the German constitution — known as the “Basic Law” — and its implications for modern German politics.

“The Basic Law provides a stable framework, and as such, it gives us reason to look towards the future with confidence,” Harbath said. “However, we know that even the best constitutional order will fail without citizens who are prepared to be courageous, determined, and passionate in standing up for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.”

Addie L. Esposito ’25, who has been involved with organizing the GAC since her freshman year, said the GAC has evolved to include more American perspectives.

“The conference is more well known in Germany than in the United States,” Esposito said. “I've seen us do a better job of putting the ‘American’ in ‘German American Conference’ over the past three years.”

For Mohamed Fachrou, a second-time GAC attendee, the conference provided an opportunity to meet “very high stakeholders” and “get into debate and discussions.”

The conference also featured a panel about the future of the automotive industry through “a transatlantic lens,” which included discussions about President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

Attendee Lukas Kortendieck said the automotive panel was his favorite because it was all women, which came as “maybe a big surprise.”

Throughout the conference, many attendees and panelists expressed similar concerns about both the recent U.S. elections and the upcoming 2025 German elections.

“I feel like there’s a sense of insecurity at the moment because people don't really know what to expect, and I feel like that is also affecting the conversations that I'm having,” Karras said of the state of German politics.

Sonja Kreibich, Consul General of Germany to the New England states, told attendees at GAC’s closing ceremony that she will “walk away with an incredible sense of urgency” as “the world is not getting easier” and “getting more difficult globally for Germany.”

But in an interview with The Crimson, Weimers said he was heartened by the display of strong trans-atlantic relations and agreement, pointing to how many attendees seemed to “echo the same sentiments.”

“I was in Germany last month, and I was really blown away by how closely Germans are following American politics and news,” Weimers said. “It's heartening that other places in the world care about what's going on here.”