By Richard Norman
One of the better sources of news and analysis of Transatlantic relations is the German Marshall Fund, founded in 1972 through a gift from the German government as a permanent memorial to the Marshall Plan. The GMF, headquartered in Brussels (but with offices in Washington and throughout Europe), hosts seminars and forums and invites prominent political leaders to address select audiences.
On several occasions it has been used as the first European port of call for American administration figures seeking to delineate new Transatlantic policy. (For example, both Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and NATO Ambassador Victoria Nuland made the GMF their first official European address). Addressing European audiences under a George Marshall banner is surely attractive for American officials in these days of barely-managed tensions. The GMF has a blog, and a new podcast series available at itunes.