This episode was recorded as a live broadcast on the 25th October 2021.
Moderated by:
John Kampfner – award-winning author, broadcaster, commentator and cultural leader. John has had a 25-year career in international public life, spanning media, global affairs, UK politics, education, business, arts, and the third sector. He has been the Chief Political Correspondent at the FT, political commentator for the BBC’s Today Programme, and Editor of the New Statesman, and now writes for the Times, the FT, Guardian, and New European. John is a Consulting Fellow at Chatham House, and a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. His sixth book, Why the Germans Do It Better, was published in 2020, and went straight to the Sunday Times bestseller list.
On the panel:
Ambassador Jill Gallard – Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. Before joining the Embassy, Jill was the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Deputy Political Director (2018-2020) and Director of Human Resources (2014-2018). From 2011 to 2014 Jill served as British Ambassador to Portugal. Since joining the Diplomatic Service in 1991, her career in the FCDO has focussed on Europe, with postings in Prague, Madrid and at the European Commission in Brussels. She has also had a wide range of jobs in London, mainly working on the EU and wider Europe. Jill grew up in Northern Ireland and is married with two children. She studied French and Spanish at Edinburgh University. Jill speaks German, fluent French, Spanish and Portuguese, and some Czech.
Ambassador Andreas Michaelis – German Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Previously, Andreas was Permanent Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. He joined the German Foreign Service in 1989. He served as Private Secretary to the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, at the Embassy in Tel Aviv, and subsequently held several positions in Bonn and Berlin including Spokesman of the Federal Foreign Office. Michaelis then served as Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore, as Director for Asian and Pacific Affairs and as Director for Near and Middle Eastern Affairs and North Africa at the Foreign Office, before being appointed Ambassador to the State of Israel and then Political Director of the Federal Foreign Office.
Andreas Michaelis studied Political Sciences and Philosophy at the Universities of Hanover and Oxford.
This webinar is being held in partnership with Aspen Institute Germany