Seminar on transatlantic security relations
June 19 and 20, 2009. The U.S.Consulate General, the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation and the Deutsche Atlantische Gesellschaft jointly organized a seminar on “Time for Building New Bridges: The United States and the Western Alliance” at the Ramada Hotel Frankfurt Airport in Hofheim.  American expert Crister Garrett, Professor of American Foreign Policy and International Studies at the University of Leipzig, referred to a wide variety of specific policy statements and decisions, demonstrating that President Obama pursued a pragmatic balance between soft and hard power creating new political opportunities with allied as well as non-allied countries.  He also showed that the president subscribed to a highly nuanced view of the world and to a broader concept of security, including, for example, economic factors.