MMF AT 25:

REFLECTIONS
ON A
TRANSATLANTIC
LEGACY

Marshall
Memorial
Fellowship
 E
introduction stablished in 1982, the Marshall
Memorial Fellowship (MMF)
was created by the German Marshall
Fund (GMF) to introduce a new
generation of European leaders to
America’s institutions, politics, and
people. In 1999, GMF launched a
companion program to expose future
U.S. leaders to a changing and
expanding Europe. Over the program’s
first 25 years, MMF has attracted over
1,500 of the best and brightest from
all sectors, including politics, media,
business, and nongovernmental
organizations.
MMF: Reflections on a Transatlantic
Legacy is a collection of remembrances
from Marshall Memorial Fellows and
program coordinators celebrating
the first 25 years of the program.
The unique experience of the MMF
program has had a positive impact on
the lives and careers of these Fellows,
and GMF would like to thank the
contributors to the project and all
of our Marshall Memorial Fellows
for making this program successful.
It is our distinct pleasure to share these
stories of that success.

THE PRESIDENT In 1982, the German Marshall
Fund brought its first group
of Marshall Memorial Fellows
— a cohort of nine from
Germany — to the United
States. The following year, Denmark,
France, and the Netherlands were added to the program,
giving the program a more European identity and giving
GMF a wider presence. The MMF program continued to
grow and develop, and as democracy swept across Eastern
Europe in the early 1990s, MMF expanded to Poland,
Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia in quick
succession. This gave GMF the singular opportunity to
expose the leaders of these newly democratic states to
the United States and the transatlantic relationship. The
development of the MMF program has continued as the
European Union has grown and the definition of Europe
has changed. The recent expansion of MMF to the
Western Balkans and Turkey reflects GMF’s commitment
to a wide and inclusive Europe, of which we are proud.
letter from
American Fellows’ inclusion in the program since 1999
has benefited GMF and the MMF program tremendously.
Sending 50 or more young American leaders across
the Atlantic each year has allowed us to strengthen our
relationships with partners throughout Europe and gain
a foothold in communities across the United States as
these Fellows come home to have a positive impact on
their hometowns and regions.
Twenty-five years after the founding of the Marshall
Memorial Fellowship program, we now have a network
of nearly 1,500 Fellows from across Europe and the
United States. This network of leaders — representing
the best and brightest in government, politics, business,
journalism, and the nonprofit sector — continues to
grow and thrive. The program’s impact is widespread
as MMFs have gone on to become prime ministers,
members of European and national parliaments,
directors of major foundations and nonprofit
institutions, and executives in corporations both large
and small. We hope that their leadership has been
positively influenced by their transatlantic experience,
and we look forward to the future accomplishments of
our Fellows.
We at GMF are pleased to celebrate the first 25 years of
the Marshall Memorial Fellowship program, and this
book is a unique opportunity to reflect on the MMF
program’s impact on the lives and careers of many of the
finest leaders throughout Europe and the United States.
Congratulations to the Fellows, partners, and staff who
have made this program a success since 1982.
Craig Kennedy
President
 CONTENTS
dan dionisie: ROMANIA 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

andré de margerie: FRANCE 1987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

jose lemos: portugal 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Participating countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

dobroslaw rodziewicz: poland 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

dan schenk: mmf program coordinator, Pierre, SD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

evripidis stylianidis: greece 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

notable fellows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

hartwig von schubert: germany 1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

jean-christphe bas: france 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

klaus frandsen: denmark 1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

bertrand badre: france 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

eleanor cooper: mmf program coordinator, Chattanooga, TN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

poul madsen: denmark 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

friedbert pflüger: germany 1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

participating cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

sava chiser: romania 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

sokol dervishaj: albania 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

nike irvin: usa 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

rafaella menichini: italy 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

hans-jürgen beerfeltz: germany 1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

inez dentinho: portugal 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Hosting Marshall Memorial Fellows
in Pierre, South Dakota, has allowed
us to step outside the routines
of our daily lives and lets us question
our place in the context of being both
Americans and citizens of the world.
— Dan Schenk
MMF Program Coordinator

Summer 2006 European Fellows visit
the Martin Luther King, Jr., National
Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia
M
romania 1998
y first contact with the United States was through
GMF, when I was part of the first group of
travel year
Romanians and Bulgarians to take part in the MMF
program. The strongest impression from my experience
in the U.S. is the entrenched freedom. I have seen in
some other countries what I call entrenched wealth,
accumulated for centuries like geologic layers, which
cannot erode even in difficult times. In others, I saw
home country
entrenched poverty, the kind that cannot be wiped out
even in relatively prosperous times. In the U.S., I had an
almost physical sensation of entrenched freedom, which
is rooted so deeply in people’s minds for generations, in
their artifacts and in their nature.
The very concept of the MMF program only contributed
to this sensation of freedom. We had a significant degree
of liberty in shaping a program according to our
interests, had rented cars to drive around,
and were responsible for managing our
time, all without unnecessary formalities and
paperwork. This is a powerful concept that
captivates and bonds people and is a hallmark
of the MMF experience.
Dan Dionisie
Policy Analyst
United Nations Development Program

 F
FRANCE 1987 rom my MMF trip, I vividly recall on one hand a
homeless woman in Atlanta who wanted to come
travel year

to Europe with us, and on the other hand the projects,

energy, self-confidence, and dedication of the people
we met.

What was — and remains — of interest to me was the

discovery of a heterogeneous country with a similarly
home country

heterogeneous group of Europeans. GMF gave me the

opportunity to understand and experience that Europe
is not a single entity. In a sense, I have learned as much
about Europe and Europeans as about the United States
and Americans.

André de Margerie
Director of International Relations
ARTE France

European Fellows visiting

CNN Headquarters
in Atlanta, Georgia


F

portugal 1989
irst, there was music, then movies, and then politics. The MMF program enabled me to meet real America, to
Then came GMF, and finally America was a dream meet different hearts and minds from different regions

that came true.
I had been fascinated with America since I was a
youngster, a fascination that came mostly from my
passion for jazz and American cinema. The United
States was by then the country of alternative cultures, so
travel year
and cultures. From that attorney in Providence, Rhode
Island, whose grandfather had emigrated from Ukraine
at the beginning of the 20th century to the persistent
farmers in Ohio who made me give a speech for a crowd
at a school party, getting to know America better allowed
me to know Europe and the world better.

home country
close yet so far away. Later, when I became a journalist, I
covered events in the U.S., but never went beyond New Since that distant year of 1989, the MMF program has
York and Washington. Everybody who knew America made me feel like a citizen of the world.
kept telling me that America was not exactly New York or
Jose Lemos
Washington. But that is something I only experienced
Editor
thanks to GMF. RTP Portugal

In that distant year of 1989 — the year of every change,

the year in which the 20th century “ended” — I will
never forget that I followed the crisis of Tiananmen
Square from Yellowstone National Park and in tiny
Pocatello, Idaho. There I was in my beloved America, in
the unknown, watching the events of the world through
the eyes of American reporters. Watching it along with a
group of Europeans from different countries,
many of them journalists
like me, was even better.


countries

UNITED STATES
participating

MMF No. of First PORTUGAL

Over the years, MMF has invited more than 1500 fellows
to experience the business and culture of other countries.
As of this writing, these are the countries that have
participated.
Country Fellows Year
Albania 2 2006
Bosnia/Herzegovinia 1 2006
Bulgaria 34 1998
Croatia 1 2006
Czech Republic 34 1995
Denmark 96 1983
France 113 1983
Germany 296 1982
Greece 20 2000
Hungary 64 1990
Italy 17 2000
Macedonia 2 2006
Montenegro 1 2006
The Netherlands 98 1983
Poland 76 1990
Portugal 68 1988
Romania 35 1998
Serbia (incl. Kosovo) 5 2006
Slovakia 30 1995
Spain 93 1985
Turkey 4 2007
United States 346 1999


 DENMARK

CZECH
REPUBLIC POLAND
GERMANY
THE
NETHERLANDS

SLOVOKIA
HUNGARY
FRANCE

CROATIA ROMANIA

BOSNIA
SERBIA
HERZ.
BULGARIA

MONT. TURKEY
SPAIN MACEDONIA
ITALY

GREECE
ALBANIA


 M
poland 1997 y MMF trip has been recorded in my memory
as a unique combination of impressions and
travel year

experiences, from everyday exposure to American

civilization and way of life, to a great number of meetings
with scholars, politicians, NGO activists, American
families that were our hosts, and those spontaneous
chats with strangers met by chance. Did I professionally
benefit from that first-hand and profound American
home country

experience? Because of my GMF-sponsored trips

to the United States, I dared to write (with a co-
author, Slawomir Kardas) a book titled “Ameryka
dla Polaka” (“America for the Polish”) that was
published in April 2006. It hasn’t become a
best-seller — with about 2000 copies sold so far
— but working on it was great fun, and I like to
believe that it was my modest contribution to
closer transatlantic relations.

Dobroslaw Rodziewicz
President, Board of Directors
Radio Krakow

European Fellows learn

about eco-tourism in
Anchorage, Alaska


H
osting Marshall Memorial Fellows in Pierre, South
Dakota, has allowed us to step outside the routines
of our daily lives and lets us question our place in the
context of being both Americans and citizens of the
world. The Fellows have given me a great opportunity
to see how others view us and have challenged many
of my notions. Over the years I have marveled at their
curiosity and intellect as well as their accomplishments:
the young woman from the newly emerging Eastern Bloc
country who learned almost perfect English by watching
Sesame Street; the up-and-coming politicians who go
on to become “players” in their countries; and the media
types who show great curiosity in the stories behind
the stories. They have swum across the Missouri River,
ridden horses, rounded up buffalo, fired guns, visited
Indian Reservations, attended small-town Fourth of July
MMF PROGRAM
coordinator
celebrations, walked in parades, watched rodeos, and
visited Mt. Rushmore. They have discussed the hard
life of ranchers and farmers trying to live on the land,
and have seen first-hand the difficulties of providing
medical and educational services to few people spread
out over vast areas.
While the formal side of the GMF experience —
the meetings and interviews — is the genius of the
program, giving them access to sources that few
citizens could have, it is the human contacts that they
carry back with them and recall in later years. That
is why I truly have enjoyed this program and every
Fellow we have ever met.
Dan Schenk
Pierre, South Dakota

 O
greece 2002 n the occasion of the 25th anniversary of
the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, let me
travel year

first congratulate GMF on its initiatives aimed at

strengthening transatlantic relations and developing
dialogue among leaders from both the United States
and Europe.

I participated in the MMF Program in February 2002.

home country

This program gave me the chance not only to broaden

my knowledge but also to make new acquaintances
and meet interesting people from all over the world.

It is always a great pleasure to see Fellows with Fo

distinguished careers as policymakers or leading Mini
experts. For me, as Greece’s Deputy Minister for Foreign
Elizabeth Phocas (Greece), Dakota
Affairs, I feel that the experience and knowledge gained
Korth (GMF), Neil Sumilas (GMF), &
through the MMF program became significant tools of
Paul Ortega (Spain) at the 2006 MMF
inspiration, helping me bring a more modern perspective
Partners Meeting in Berlin
to policymaking and political decisions.

Evripidis Stylianidis
Deputy Minister
Ministry of Foreign Affairs


 Ivailo
Kalfin
Pe Viktor C o n n ie Foreign

notable fellows
Broe ter
Minis
rtje Orban Hedegaard Bulgaria ter,

Edito s ime Minist

Former Pr ary
er,
Environment Minister,
r-in-C
de Vo hief Hung Denmark
The N lkskrant ,
ethe ,
rland
s

Joyc Kr ist ia n
Iv a n Helge Chan e Je ns en
M ik lo s Sander Direc g
Mark tor, Emer
Minister of Taxation,
ormer Deputy Prim f Denmark
e Minister o ology ets gin
Unite , JP Morga g
ister and Minister Techn
Foreign Affairs,
of Science, vation, d Sta n
tes ,
Slovakia
and Inno k
Denmar
La rs
Ba rf oe d
Former Minister
for Family and
Jo Piotr Ethan Consumer Affairs,
S o c r as e Pa c e w i c z
B e r k o w it z Denmark
tes Former Minority Le
Prime -in-Chief, ader,
Min Deputy Editor Alaska House of
Portug ister, Gazeta Wybor
cza,
Representatives
al
Poland
Eva
H a n sK j e r
s en
K l a uh e r Mini
Socia ster of
W a l t resident, B e rn d vo n l Af
Denm fairs,
n i o r
P
Vice fthansa
, M a lt ze n ark
Se sche Lu
y Vice Chairman,
Deut German
Deutsche Bank AG,
Germany 
 I
germany 1983 t was 1983, I was in my early 30s and
had just started working as a minister
travel year

in a local congregation in one of the two

red-light districts in Hamburg. It started
with a phone call from the secretary of
Gräfin Marion Dönhoff from the weekly
Die Zeit: “Gräfin Dönhoff would like to meet
you about a fellowship program in the United
home country

States next year.” “What kind of fellowship

program?” “Oh, you don’t know? Well, then
the best way to learn is to come speak with
Gräfin Dönhoff.” After I shared my story with
Gräfin Dönhoff, she decided to nominate me to
participate. As the first theologian MMF, I had to
develop my program almost entirely on my own;
I focused on inner-city parish programs in large
American cities and — without Google — started
finding names and addresses.

It turned out to be quite successful, as I had the

opportunity to observe the spiritual and social activities
of churches all across the country. I was most impressed
by the pragmatic and direct approach of neighborhoods,
which found sometimes intriguing solutions for their
problems without waiting for outside assistance. Over
the years I have been able to build on these experiences
through research on social ethics, first in biomedicine
and more recently in peace and security affairs.

Hartwig von Schubert

Deacon
Joint Staff College of the
German Armed Forces

10
W

FRANCE 1991
hat struck me the most was the diversity of the
United States, how contrasted it was. My itinerary

travel year
took me to North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and other
parts of the country, giving me a chance to meet and
understand what is “real America,” including how people
think and how people live. Many of them told us that we
were the first Europeans they had met. Almost all of them
told us that we were seeing more of their own country

home country
than they ever had. Yet all were anxious to figure out our
vision of the world, what this “new” Europe was about,
and to know more about us.

The open and continuous flow of ideas, the

appetite for exchange of information, the
capacity to combine the most provincial
and most innovative thinking, and the
willingness to engage all stakeholders in the
debate remain with me to this day.

Jean-Christophe Bas
Development Policy Dialogue
Manager
The World Bank

US Congressman Adam Smith (center)

speaking with Chris Rabb (AMMF 2001)
at the 2006 Seattle MMF Alumni Conference

11
 T
denmark 1995 he MMF program is one of life’s great
experiences. It is rare to experience another
travel year

country with such intensity.

During the program, I relished the opportunities: the

individual meetings with people at the peak of their
professions; the dynamics of a group of Europeans,
among them many who were far more skeptical towards
home country

the U.S. than I was; the more socially focused visits at a

soup kitchen; the police beat; the city council meeting
where the underlying social dilemmas of the American
model were magnified.

Klaus Frandsen
Director, Corporate Development
PBS Holding

European Fellows in Phoenix, AZ

with local police (before their
police ride-a-long)

12
T

france 1998
o say that my MMF experience was memorable
would be — by far — an understatement. There

travel year
is undoubtedly an “after” as there was a “before” the
few weeks I spent in the United States with my fellow
Europeans.

From attending a Packers game in Green Bay with the

“Cheeseheads” to a meeting with the CEO of Bank of

home country
America, from being the only one in the room without
a star on my suit among a group of generals at the
National Defense University to debating the relative
merits of the American and European social models over
beers, the individual moments made the trip
unforgettable.

The GMF space — built with patience and

continuity — has become one of the
rare places where friendship
and intelligence, despite the
ocean, marry well. I am glad
to have been a best man at the
wedding party!

Bertrand Badre
Managing Director
Lazard Frères

13
 O
MMF PROGRAM
coordinator
ur community of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has
hosted Fellows once or twice a year for ten years.
I can honestly say that we learn as much from the
Europeans as they learn from us. The conversations have
increased in intensity since the inclusion of the East
European countries.
quite anxious about meeting their hosts, and the hosts
are equally nervous! They are going to share their home
with a stranger from another country, and the anxiety
on both sides is high. Three days later, I hear the laughter
and the tales of funny things that have happened — you
would think they had known each other for years.

In March 2004, we hosted a group of Fellows from Italy, Throughout the program — in the meetings and the
Bulgaria, Hungary, Denmark, Poland, and Germany. The home stays, the Fellows contribute to our understanding
Fellows met with some African-American members of not just of Europe but of humanity.
the Rainbow PUSH Coalition about civil rights issues in
Eleanor Cooper
Chattanooga. The newspaper article about the visit was
Chattanooga, Tennessee
titled “Europeans Learn of Chattanooga Race Relations,”
but the conversation revealed much more than that.

Johnny Halloway of Chattanooga explained his reasons

for reparations. He demanded that the government
pay African-Americans for the labor of their ancestors
and repay them for past injustices such as lynching and
segregation.

“You’ve got to get past that,” said Robert Kowalski of

Poland. “After 50 years under Communism, we decided
we could not change the past. We found we must move
forward.” Lessons learned — on both sides!

One of the best parts of the Fellows’ visits to Chattanooga

is the opportunity to stay in homes. Fellows coming to
Chattanooga straight from Washington, DC, are usually

Seattle MMF Alumni

Naomi Ishisaka (2005)
and Tom Albro (2002)

14
 “The open and continuous flows
of ideas, the appetite for exchange
of ideas, the capacity to combine the
most provincial and most innovative
thinking, the willingness to engage
all stakeholders in the debate —
these issues struck me and
remain with me to this day.”
— Jean-Christophe Bas (France)

15
 O
denmark 1996 ne day, I joined the Border Patrol at Del Rio, Texas,
stopping illegal immigrants from Mexico.
travel year

The next, my French traveling companion

and I ended up in a furious discussion
at the Cuban-American Society in Miami,
Florida. En route between the two states,
I learned all I needed to know about the
latest developments in Slovakia from
home country

another fellow MMF.

The MMF program was opened my eyes

— not only to the U.S., but also to my
European neighbors — especially the ones from
the eastern part of our continent. After six weeks
in the U.S., I suddenly understood life in Poland,
Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

MMF also gave me the courage and motivation Benjamin Görlach

to apply various aspects of my personality in my (EMMF 2006) at the
professional life, kick-starting my career back home. Grand Canyon in Arizona
It was an unforgettable experience, which continues to
this day, as I have taken advantage of the MMF network
around the world. The MMF program made me want to
see more, meet more Americans, and learn more. I have
returned to the United States several times, and I hope to
return several times more.

Poul Madsen
Editor-in-Chief
Ekstra Bladet

16
A
s one of the first participants of the Marshall
Memorial Fellowship Program back in 1982, I still
have vivid memories of my visit to the United States. At
27, I was working for Richard von Weizsäcker, then-
mayor of Berlin who would later become Germany’s
president. He nominated me for an MMF journey that
led me across America. In Opelika, Alabama, I met
Alabama’s four-time governor George C. Wallace and
discussed his personal transformation from a supporter
of segregation to an honest friend of African-Americans.
His claim that “the Old South is gone” rang true when he
ran for governor that year.
I was overwhelmed by the great hospitality and open-
mindedness of the Americans. The impact of these
experiences on my career has been immense: I have
visited the United States countless times and have
germany 1982
become a strong advocate for stronger transatlantic
ties. As foreign policy spokesman of the federal
travel year
Christian Democratic parliamentary group, I joined
Angela Merkel on her trip to the United States in 2003.
Now, as opposition leader in the state parliament
of Berlin, I, along with my party, am fully aware of
America’s contribution to the freedom of West Berlin
during the Cold War and of U.S. support for German
home country
reunification. The United States and the Marshall
Memorial Fellowship Program gave me a lot, and I
congratulate the German Marshall Fund on the 25th
anniversary of its flagship program.
Friedbert Pflüger
Opposition Leader
Berlin State Parliament
American MMFs in front of
the Brandenburg Gate in
Berlin, Germany
17
 Marseille Madison
F
Athen
participating
cities
rom Pittsburgh to Los Angeles, Brussels to
Bilbao, the Marshall Memorial Fellowship offers
participants an immersion experience in their host

Montgomery
countries. To accomplish this, MMF coordinators work
tirelessly to put together varied programs for the fellows.

Amste
They are united by a desire to share their cities and
cultures, and to help bridge the transatlantic divide.
This is a sampling of the cities MMFs have visited on

Istanbul
both sides of the Atlantic.

Bismarck
Wilmington
Boulder
B
BerlinDenve
Atlanta Copenh
Brussels Boise Bel Washington

Hamburg
Rome Lille
Warsaw Champa
18
 Bucharest
Chicago Lyon San Francisco
Thessaloniki
ns Minneapolis
Madrid RaleighBudapest
terdamCleveland Boston Anchorage
lMadison
Frankfurt Spanish Fork

Ankara
on Kansas City
Chattanooga
Dallas
Sofia
Bilbao Pierre
Barcelona
er L.A. Kiel
nhagen Birmingham
Portland
Austin
lgrade Prague
Pittsburgh Boise
Phoenix Bratislava Seattle
aign Turin Lincoln 19
 “In many ways, we were junior
diplomats, representing our cities,
families, and employers...
doing our best to translate
what it means to be American
in the early 21st century.”
— Nike Irvin (USA)

20
I

romania 1999
n my country, there is a saying, “Knowledge is the
source of sadness. As knowledge grows, the questions

travel year
increase; as the questions become numerous, man starts
to be short on answers; as the answers are only few,
happiness declines.” Fortunately, this was not the case for
me. Yes, the program made me ask a lot of questions, and
I don’t have answers for all of them. But I felt no sadness
and instead I felt energized, which stayed with me

home country
through the weeks of meetings and travel and questions.

For me, the greatest benefit of the MMF program was my

new mindset about work and pursuing one’s personal
objectives. Mobility, adaptability, keeping your eyes
wide open to the need for challenges — those are the
most important things I’ve learned from the United
States. Now, as a senior consultant to the Ministry of
European Integration, I seek to add a
pro-Atlantic flavor to each and every
strategic meeting about the future of
the European Union. At least I hope to!

Sava Chiser
Senior Consultant
Ministry of European
Integration

21
 I
albania 2006 n 2006, GMF included the Western Balkans in its map
of Memorial Marshall Fellows. I feel very privileged Fellows in Times Square NYC
travel year

to have been part of the first group of MMFs from the

region. This program is a great opportunity to travel to
the U.S. and get a flavor of this great country and, most
importantly, to engage with a variety of people, both
Fellows and hosts.
home country

I had been to the U.S. before this trip, but the MMF
program gave me the unique opportunity to meet with
common Americans who share the concerns of everyday
life, who do not think only about Iraq or globalization,
but also about community affairs, employment,
human rights, education, health care, the rule of law,
and individual freedom. I was most impressed with
Americans’ spirit of involvement and responsibility.

By understanding America better, I could compare it

with the European values and institutions, which are
sometimes similar and sometimes very different. This
trip gave me a better understanding of Europe and the
challenges my country has to face to become a respected
member of the European family of nations.

This trip did not end when I departed from New

York. My journey and my relationship with GMF
have just begun.

Sokol Dervishaj
Political Spokesman
Socialist Movement for Integration

22
 T

USA 2002
he Marshall Memorial Fellowship is like an
all-access pass to the top European political,

travel year
economic, and social institutions. In many ways, we
were junior diplomats, representing our cities, families,
and employers, and doing our best to translate what
it means to be American in the early 21st century. The
MMF program took my European lens and stretched it
dramatically. When I came home from my trip, I took up

home country
a subscription to the Economist and enrolled in a French
class. My appetite for all things European (not just food!)
grew tremendously.

Nike Irvin
President
The Riordan Foundation
GMF Trustee

The Reichstag
in Berlin, Germany

23
 I
italy 2003 n October 2003, I arrived in Washington to participate
in the Marshall Memorial Fellowship. The adventure
travel year

was full of potential, and I understood that I had been

given a great opportunity. But the experiences that the
Fellowship gave me were much more than I could have
ever imagined, and made me realize how little I knew
about America and how much I still needed to learn. I
also realized how much I needed to learn about Europe,
home country

especially the so called “new Europe,” from where most of

my fellow MMFs came.

My re-discovery of America had begun, and has not

stopped since. The contacts and experience I gathered
during the trip have been of great value in my career as
a foreign policy editor and reporter. In 2004, I covered
the American presidential elections for my newspaper.
Thanks to the people I met during the fellowship,
I was able to meet with the major political
commentators at the New York Times, and I
discovered interesting insights, suggestions, and
stories while following the elections. I look forward
to other opportunities to meet GMF experts and
fellows in order to exchange our views on where
we — and the world — are going.

As for me, in the meantime I have made my own

personal contribution to the improvement of
transatlantic relations by marrying an American.
I’m still not entirely sure that GMF didn’t
contribute to this major transatlantic event.

Raffaella Menichini
Deputy Editor
La Repubblica

24
A

germany 1985
s a participant in one of the very first Marshall
Memorial Fellowship programs, I look back fondly

travel year
on an extraordinary six-week trip all over the United
States through which I became a friend of America,
established lasting contacts, and learned all about
American beliefs and behaviors. The MMF program
was the first of more than 40 trips I have
made to the United States for both

home country
business and pleasure.

Hans-Jürgen Beerfeltz
Executive Director
Free Democratic Party

Closing Dinner for the Seattle MMF

Alumni Conference in the private studio
of reknowned artist Dale Chihuly

25
 A
portugal 1993 t times during the program I felt like an American
“prisoner of my own freedom.” Everything that I
travel year

asked to do — or to know — was possible. I felt the full

force of the American spirit, like a European immigrant
arriving to Ellis Island, with my destiny in my own hands.

I was an MMF in 1993, shortly after the end of the Cold

War. Nearly 15 years later, Europe is dealing with many
home country

of the issues I observed in the United States during

my Fellowship — immigration, social security, labor
mobility, health care systems, new concepts of family,
full access to technology and communication. We are
closer, we look similar, we deal with the same problems.
But we don’t always agree, such as on terrorism or the
environment. Our common needs do not always bring
us together, because of the lack of common knowledge.
GMF’s quest to create avenues to
exchange that knowledge
remains a vital piece of the
puzzle.

Inez Dentinho
Advisor to the Mayor
City of Lisbon

European Fellows meet

with Anchorage Mayor
Mark Begich

26
 OUR 25th
ANNIVERSARY
T hroughout 2007, GMF and the network of MMF
alumni will mark this occasion on both sides of
the Atlantic, including at the Marshall Forum on
Transatlantic Affairs in Elmau, Germany, from
June 28–July 1, and in Atlanta, Georgia, from
September 27–30. Join us for these and other events
to celebrate the strengthening of transatlantic bonds.
Updates will be posted on our website regularly.

27
 T
about gmf he German Marshall Fund of the United States
(GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy
and grantmaking institution dedicated to promoting
greater cooperation and understanding between the
United States and Europe.

GMF does this by supporting individuals and institutions

working on transatlantic issues, by convening leaders to
discuss the most pressing transatlantic themes, and by
examining ways in which transatlantic cooperation can
address a variety of global policy challenges. In addition,
GMF supports a number of initiatives to strengthen
democracies.

Founded in 1972 through a gift from Germany as a

permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance, GMF
maintains a strong presence on both sides of the Atlantic.
In addition to its headquarters in Washington, DC,
GMF has six offices in Europe: Berlin, Bratislava, Paris,
Brussels, Belgrade, and Ankara.

28
www.gmfus.org