The Program on Transatlantic Relations was created at the end of 2007 as a result of an initiating donation by Pierre Keller, a former Fellow of the Center who is presently a member of the Center's Advisory Committee. Working in close cooperation with the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and Harvard Kennedy School, the program endeavors to strengthen research and teaching on transatlantic issues within the University, focusing on European and North American social, economic, political, security, and environmental issues that are of particular relevance to the transatlantic relationship.

Special events organized by the program include the Paul-Henri Spaak Lecture Series. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso was the speaker in September 2008. The 2010 speaker was European Union Foreign Minister, Baroness Catherine Ashton.

The program supports visiting scholars and public servants who have distinguished themselves in the field of transatlantic relations. In spring 2009, the first Pierre Keller Visiting Professor, Dominique Moïsi, senior adviser of the French Institute of International Relations, Paris, taught two courses in the Department of Government. Subsequent Pierre Keller Visiting Professors include: Dr. Markus Jachtenfuchs (spring 2010), professor of European and global governance and director of the Master of Public Policy Program at the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin; Dr. Michael Landesmann (fall 2010), scientific director, Vienna Institute of International Economic Studies and professor of economics, Johannes Kepler University, Linz; and Dr. Jacques Mistral, professor of economics and head of economic studies at the French Institute of International Relations and a member of the Conseil d'Analyse Economique (Prime Minister’s office), Paris (spring 2012).

In 2012–2013, the program will support Dr. Henrik Enderlein, associate dean and professor of political economy, Hertie School of Governance (spring 2013).

The program also facilitates research appointments for Europeans at the University (including Fritz Thyssen Fellows and Schumpeter Fellows), supports research on transatlantic issues by Harvard faculty and students, facilitates visits of European Union representatives to the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century Seminar series, and sponsors the Weatherhead Center's Transatlantic Relations Seminar.

The program also supports the Study Group on the Future of the European Union, co-sponsored with the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, in collaboration with experts from the greater Boston community, and the Weatherhead Center's annual June conference in Talloires, France.

The program's director is Karl Kaiser, adjunct professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Ann Townes, assistant to Director Karl Kaiser, supports the program. The program offices are located at 1737 Cambridge Street.

Related Links

• Current Program Affiliates
• Seminar: Challenges of the Twenty-First Century
• Seminar: Study Group on the Future of the European Union
• Seminar: Transatlantic Relations Seminar
• Lectureship: Paul-Henri Spaak Lecture Series
• Paul-Henri Spaak Lecture Vimeo Album
• Pierre Keller Visiting Professors
• Talloires Conference Website