Stephen Szabo

Stephen F. Szabo is a prominent scholar of German-American and transatlantic relations.

Szabo has authored numerous articles and books on the state of transatlantic political and security matters, most notably Parting Ways: The Crisis in German-American Relations (2004) about the deterioration of the relationship between Washington and Berlin in the run-up to the second Iraq War and The Diplomacy of German Reunification (1992) that attributes German reunification to skillful political leadership and adept negotiations by well-positioned German and American political elites.

Currently, Szabo is Executive Director of the Transatlantic Academy (TAA),[1] which is a partnership between the German Marshall Fund, the Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius of Hamburg, Germany, and the Robert Bosch Foundation. It is a forum for research and dialogue between scholars, policy experts, and authors from both sides of the Atlantic. The TAA's purpose is to strengthen the transatlantic partnership by bringing together Fellows to conduct intensive research and discussion on a single topic for a year, with the goal of introducing their research findings into the policy discussions on both sides of the Atlantic. Besides, Szabo is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bertelsmann Foundation North America.

Prior to joining the German Marshall Fund, Szabo had been with the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, where he served as Academic and Interim Dean as well as Professor of European Studies. Prior to that he had served as Professor of National Security Affairs at the National Defense University and Chairman of West European Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State. He has written on German foreign and security policies, generational politics in Europe, and transatlantic security and political relations.

Szabo received his PhD from Georgetown University in political science and a B.A. and M.A from the School of International Service, the American University.[2] He speaks fluent German in addition to his native English.