German Marshall Fund off the United States

The German Marshall Fund off the United States is an American institution of public policy which aims at promoting the transatlantic relations, by the means of an important network of experts and financing of projects.

History

June 5th, 1947, the American Secretary of State George Catlett Marshall proposes a supplementary programme intended to promote the rebuilding of Europe devastated after the Second world war. 17 States whose Western Germany and Turkey accept this project without hesitating and create the European Organization of economic cooperation to be distributed granted financial aid.

25 years after the launching of the Marshall plan, the German Chancellor Willy Brandt goes to Harvard and announces the creation of an institution (financed with height of 150 million deutschmarks), in memory of the American support and of this help without precedent. It takes the name of German Marshall Fund off the United States .

With the fall of the wall in 1989, German Marshall Fund quickly developed in Central Europe and Eastern Europe, in particular in Balkans where he played a considerable part in the process of transistion democratic of the country of old the glacis Soviet.

In 1986 and 2001, the Bundestag decided to grant new and ultimate financial support in German Marshall Fund.

In January 2006, Angela Merkel inaugurated the new buildings of the GMF in Washington D.C.

In complement of the seat, the GMF has five antennas in Europe: (Berlin, Bratislava, Paris, Brussels, Belgrade) and of an antenna with Ankara in Turkey.

With the autumn 2007, the GMF opened an additional antenna with Bucharest

Objectives and Missions

The German Marshall Fund is an independent and apolitical institution which has as an ambition to promote the transatlantic relations, by encouraging an exchange of ideas and a co-operation increased between the United States and Europe. The vocation of the GMF is to support these exchanges in fields as varied as the Politique, the economy, the Social, the Environnement, through meetings between politicians, business men, representatives of the ONG and journalists.

Extremely of a network of experts on both sides of two banks of the Atlantic, GMF provides many analyzes of international policy, proposes many programs and grants financings projects which answer the objectives of the Institution.

Initiatives and political projects

  • transatlantic Dialog : the GMF seeks to weave bonds between the United States and Europe by joining together personalities in many fields in order to bring a public expertise.

This dialog can take the form of forum or symposium (European Américano Symposium of Think Tank, transatlantic Forum of journalism, Conférence of the young leaders with Tremezzo, Dialog Bellagio on the question of the migrations…)

  • Balkan Trust for Democracy : the GMF takes part in this important project (30 million dollars) whose objective is to promote the democracy, the good governance and the integration of Europe of South-east in the concert of the European and transatlantic relations.

  • Promotion of the democracy in Central and Eastern Europe : since the years 1980, the GMF actively helped the States of old the glacis Soviet (the GMF is cofounder of the International commission on Balkans, plays a part in the democratic transition and the elections, sets up partnerships on the environment…)

  • To promote a better comprehension on the questions of migration and integration : financial aid and institutional

  • Public opinion : annual realization of two surveys on the transatlantic relations and their impacts on the public opinion.

Marshall Fellowship Memorial

Created in 1982, the Marshall Memorial Fellowship is the program headlight of the GMF. The purpose of it is to imply the new generations of young people " décideurs" Europeans and American (28-40 years) in the transatlantic relations, in their making it possible to accomplish a study trip four weeks, respectively in the United States and in Europe.

In a score of years, some 1.200 young Europeans and Americans engaged in the working life, carefully selected, accomplished a stay, to familiarize itself with social realities, cultural and professional different from those of their countries of origin. The observation of these groups aims also to learn some empirical lessons on the young elites, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Among the French fellows which benefitted from this opportunity it is possible to quote: Francois Bayrou (1986), Patrick Jarreau (1988), Olivier Mongin (1988), Laurent Wauquiez (2005)…

Members

list nonexhaustive:

External bonds

  • German Marshall Fund off the United States
  • History off the GMF

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