Who we are
Humboldt University has established an initiative to improve German-American relations and to fill the gap between politics, business and academia: the Humboldt Institution on Transatlantic Issues.
The concept behind this institution is to create a think tank which brings together experts from politics, business and academia and which establishes a forum for the exchange of ideas on the most relevant subjects in German-American relations. The think tank is structured as follows: An outstanding scholar in the field of international law and politics, Professor Christian Tomuschat , is the president of HITI. A secretariat and a junior scholar prepares the day-to-day work of the think tank and the publications of HITI. The Think Tank was created by an initiative the Strategic Evaluation and Planning Group (STEP) of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. It is funded by the Transatlantik-Programm of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor.
Two advisory bodies form the core of the Institution: a senior board, made up of elder, experienced academics and statesmen; and a junior board, consisting of young professionals in the fields of politics, academia, business and the media. The composition of these boards reflects HITI's strategy of combining public policy, business and academia to create valuable synergies for the transatlantic dialogue. The boards work to identify problem areas where improved transatlantic dialogue is necessary for a better understanding between the US and Germany. These problem areas are then discussed in transatlantic workshops which take place in Berlin and in Washington D.C. The results of these workshops are then published in short, concise, and results-oriented policy papers.
To date, the institution has conducted eleven workshops on a wide variety of issues, including two in Washington. The first workshop took place in Berlin on Dec. 1, 2003 and dealt with problems related to the extraterritorial application of US civil law, particularly tort law, and its effects upon German-American economic relations. Workshops have also dealt with issues such as the strategic importance of the Caspian Sea region's energy resources for Germany and Europe, the influence of religion upon foreign policy, the weakness of the US dollar, transatlantic comparisons of family policy, and others.
HITI is currently in a stage of growth and development, in which where we are testing our new contribution to German-American relations. The first three years of HITI's operation will be financed by resources from the European Recovery Program (ERP), funded by the German government. Thereafter, once HITI has established its place in German American relations, we hope that it will be able to financie its activites throught contributions and outside grants, so that Humboldt University may continue to make a contribution this area of tremendous importance.
