About the event

Two world wars, three totalitarianisms in 25 years and the spread of communism spawned the idea and implementation of the Marshall Plan in post-war Europe. It was misery and despair which turned political extremism into mass movements, while general prosperity promoted freedom and tolerance. The challenge then was to demonstrate to the mass of Europeans that they too could enjoy prosperity and democracy IF they embraced the secrets of America's success: productivity and the continental-scale market.

Yet, the connection between prosperity and pluralism is not simple. Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. Nationalism is resurgent even in Europe and the single market, developed to world level, can produce violent identity backlashes. But when it comes to rebuilding Ukraine – and perhaps even post-Putin Russia – the discussion is: will another Marshall Plan be indispensable and can it serve as political blueprint and inspiration?

A cooperation of the Cluster of Excellence SCRIPTS, the U.S. Embassy Berlin, the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, and the Humboldt Lab of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

The event was not recorded.

Speakers

David W. Ellwood is Senior Adjunct Professor of European and Eurasian Studies at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Europe. Formerly, he was associate professor of contemporary international history at the University of Bologna.

Jessica Gienow-Hecht is Professor of International History at Freie Universität Berlin and Chair of the Department of History at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies. She is a Principal Investigator at SCRIPTS and member of the Research Unit "Borders".  

Sergey Lagodinsky is a German Member of the European Parliament in the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. He chairs the EU-Turkey Delegation and member of the Legal Affairs and Civil Liberties/Home Affairs committees.

Petra Pinzler (Moderation) is a multi-award-winning journalist and author. She worked as a correspondent for "Die Zeit" in the United States and Brussels. Since 2007, she has been ZEIT's capital correspondent for politics and economics.