In Focus
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Munich Security Conference Looking Beyond Trans-Atlantic Security
The situation in Afghanistan and Iran's nuclear program are among the top issues at the Munich Security Conference, an annual event that brings together leading foreign policy and security experts. The conference opened with an address by China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi. The chairman of the conference, Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, says that trans-Atlantic security remains the central theme of the conference, but that he deliberately sought to include Asia this year. Among the major speakers: Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov; NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and Catherine Ashton, the European Union's new high representative for foreign policy. The U.S. delegation includes national security adviser Gen. James L. Jones, deputy secretary of state James B. Steinberg, Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan; and a congressional delegation which includes Senator John McCain, Senator John Kerry, and Senator Joe Lieberman.
Photos from the U.S. Consulate General Munich | Munich Security Conference Website
Briefing on Recent Trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan
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Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Special Repre-
sentative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (left)
and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (right)
(© USDA Photostream) |
February 3, 2010.
The State Department, the Department of Agriculture and several other agencies are working in close coordination under the U.S. Government Agriculture Assistance Strategy for Afghanistan to strengthen the agricultural sector as an engine for economic growth and improved stability. Efforts to revitalize Afghanistan's agricultural sector are the "Number 1 nonsecurity priority" in the country. But given that Afghanistan is 80 percent agricultural, security and agriculture are "integrally related," as farmers replace opium poppies with legitimate crops, and increased profitability and job creation act as a counterincentive to joining the Taliban. "Our goal is nothing less than to help Afghanistan restore its agricultural sector to the vibrant export economy that it once had, and which was progressively destroyed starting in 1978," Richard Holbrooke, the State Department's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told reporters in Washington. more | video | transcript
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News from the Embassy |
Ambassador Murphy's Visit to Fruit Logistica
February 3, 2010. Ambassador Philip D. Murphy visited the USA Pavilion at the FRUIT LOGISTICA trade show in Berlin. FRUIT LOGISTICA is the largest trade show for fruits and vegetables in the world. Over the course of three days the show attracts over 50,000 trade visitor from 125 countries. Almost 30 companies from the United States exhibited their products and services at the USA Pavilion, ranging from apples, pears, dates, nuts, pistachios and dried fruits to temperature recorders and display moisteners. While visiting the USA Pavilion, Ambassador Murphy also met with Julia Kloeckner, the Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection.
Mrs. Murphy and kids attend Green Week trade show
 January 24, 2010. Mrs. Tammy Murphy and the Murphy children visited the 75rd Grüne Woche (International Green Week, IGW) trade show at Messe Berlin. The IGW is the largest international consumer food and agricultural show in Germany. It is among the oldest established trade fairs in Berlin and is one of the best-known events in the whole of Germany. Mrs. Murphy used this opportunity to learn more about German agriculture and to discuss with government and agricultural representatives key aspects of German agriculture and climate change. Topics included how consumer choices of food can have an influence on climate change, the relationship of agriculture and climate change, and the role of biofuels in combating climate change.
Ambassador Ivo Daalder on NATO challenges
 January 22, 2010. In a press roundtable with German journalists, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, described the four most important policy issues facing the Alliance as it moves toward its November 2010 summit in Lisbon. First, NATO needs to be on track to complete the hand-over of security responsibility to the Afghan government. “It is essential to hasten the day when Afghanistan can stand on its on feet,” he said. Secondly, NATO needs to embrace missile defense since “the threat to NATO today comes less from armies marching across borders than from ballistic missiles.” Thirdly, the Alliance needs to finalize a new strategic concept which will “make NATO relevant to the 21st century.” Fourthly, NATO needs to be united in its approach to Russia: “We need to achieve a balance between cooperation with Russia and making clear what our disagreements with Russia are.” photo gallery | video
U.S. Embassy Facilitates Trade Among Minority Entrepreneurs in Germany and U.S.
 Following a recent Entrepreneurship Roundtable hosted by Ambassador Murphy, U.S. Commercial Service representatives in Berlin arranged a meeting between the California-based Greater San José Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GSJHCC) and the Association of Turkish-German Businessmen in Berlin (Türkisch-Deutsche Unternehmervereinigung Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. - TDU), who signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a sustainable working platform on January 21. With this landmark agreement, GSJHCC CEO, Carlos Figueroa, and his German counterpart at TDU, Mr. Hüsnü Őzkanli, have committed their organizations to promote one another in their respective countries and beyond. This important agreement promises to expand business opportunities among minority small business owners in the U.S., Germany and Turkey. The GSJHCC will participate in TDU's International Conference in Berlin on April 18 prior to attending the Hannover Messe, and the TDU is working to organize a visit to San José, California in the near future to further advance the working relationship. video
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