ISSUE: Political thought inspired by the Berlin Wall’s fall
Angus Burgin
Professor, Department of History
Burgin can discuss general issues related to global political economy — for example, how the fall of the Berlin Wall helped foster a widespread sense in the 1990s that nations around the world were converging on liberal democracy; and how the end of the specter of communism affected political and social thought in the United States.
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ISSUE: European Union expansion, current implications of the wall’s fall
Nicolas Jabko
Professor, Department of Political Science
Jabko can discuss the implications of how the fall of the Berlin Wall “marked the beginning of a massive EU expansion eastward; and why it is now in a deep ‘crisis’ that largely has to do with a reassertion of national sovereignty.”

ISSUE: German unification challenges
Victoria Harms
Professor, Department of History
Harms can discuss the role of Hungary in the fall of the Berlin Wall. Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl called the opening of the Austro-Hungarian border the first stone chipped out of the wall; and how that history has been resonating today in new tensions along the same border. She is also available to discuss the challenges of German unification from a scholarly and personal perspective.

ISSUE: Cultural implications of the Berlin Wall’s fall
Deborah Mifflin
Professor, Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures
Mifflin can discuss the film series she organized with funding from the German embassy. The series marks the 30-year anniversary with films “commemorating this defining historical moment and its far-reaching implications.” Films include: Good Bye Lenin; Barbara; We are young, we are strong.

ISSUE: What led to the Berlin Wall’s collapse; post-Cold War Europe
Mary Elise Sarotte
Professor, Historical Studies at School for Advanced International Studies
An expert in the history of international relations, Mary Elise Sarotte is the inaugural holder of the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Distinguished Professorship of Historical Studies. Sarotte is also a research associate at Harvard University’s Center for European Studies. Sarotte earned her AB in History and Science at Harvard and her PhD in History at Yale University. She is the author or editor of five books, including The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall and 1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe.

ISSUE: International history of Germany since 1945
Kristina Spohr
Professor, School of Advanced International Studies
Kristina Spohr is the inaugural Helmut Schmidt Distinguished Professor here at the Kissinger Center, a unique position made possible through the generosity of the German Foreign Ministry and DAAD. Dr. Spohr is a specialist in the International History of Germany since 1945 and interested summitry and statecraft as well as in the theory and practice of Contemporary History.

ISSUE: NATO, nation building and democratization
Daniel S. Hamilton
Professor, School of Advanced International Studies
Past positions include Richard von Weizsäcker Professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS, fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, senior diplomatic fellow in the German Foreign Office, executive director, American Consortium on European Union Studies, US deputy assistant secretary of State for European Affairs, US special coordinator for Southeast European stabilization and associate director of the Policy Planning Staff for two secretaries of State.

ISSUE: European integration, diplomacy and transatlantic relations
Mark Gilbert
Professor, History and International Studies at School of Advanced International Studies
Before joining SAIS, Gilbert was associate professor in contemporary history and international studies at the University of Trento and lecturer in European studies at the University of Bath. Gilbert is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He has been Associate Editor of the Journal of Modern Italian Studies since 2015.

ISSUE: American foreign policy, transatlantic relations
John L. Harper
Professor, American Foreign Policy at School of Advanced International Studies
Contributing editor of Survival; former German Marshall Fund Research Fellow; recipient of the Robert Ferrell Prize from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and Marraro Prize from the Society for Italian Historical Studies; Ph.D., European studies, SAIS. Author of “The Cold War.”

ISSUE: Political economy in Europe
Erik Jones
Professor, European Studies and International Political Economy at School of Advanced International Studies
Jones teaches on topics in international and comparative political economy with a particular focus on Europe and the transatlantic relationship. He is a frequent commentator on European politics and political economy whose contributions have been published in, among others, Financial Times, New York Times, USA Today, and newspapers and magazines across Europe.