FOTAR 2022

Globalisation is under a strain. Yet, the transatlantic debate about it is very much alive. On December 8th, 2022 for the third time, the FOTAR (Future of Transatlantic Relations) conference format, hosted by the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung and the Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, invited distinguished international speakers from various backgrounds to discuss pressing issues that affect both sides of the Atlantic. This year, the focus of the conference lay on the question how the transatlantic trade partnership can contribute to the socio-economic transformation of the global economic system. A keynote, three panels and a reception at the Hamburg Senate approached this complex issue from various points of view, focusing on the linkages between trade and human rights, social inequality, technology, climate change and the role of cities.

Trade has always been a cornerstone of the transatlantic partnership. But amid a multitude of global crises, classical liberal paradigms such as the invisible hand of the market and the democratising effect of trade integration are questioned, demanding a stronger role of the state. Or as speaker Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook summarised: ‘Politics is back on the stage of globalisation’. This does not only hold true for consultations between different governments in the transatlantic partnership or multilateral institutions where actors such as China loom large but also for countries from the Global South and civil society that rightly demand a say in designing globalisation.

Transatlantic partners can play a crucial role in driving change for a more inclusive form of globalization that increases our efforts to reduce social inequality, strengthen technological progress for good, and foster our engagement to tackle climate change when engaging in multinational dialogues on a level playing field and finding new ways to implementing human rights-based approaches in international trade relations.