Vision

The world is changing — fast. The transatlantic alliance, long seen as a given, is under pressure. But we believe: it’s exactly now that we need it the most.

The Transatlantics Club emerged from a moment of both realization and conviction.

Our roots lie in the Young Transatlantic Initiative (Junge Transatlantiker e. V.), a non-partisan network founded in Germany to strengthen ties between young Europeans and North Americans. Inspired by this spirit, our current President David Kirsch — after several years abroad, including in Germany — brought the idea to Austria. Having served on the board of the original initiative, he knew: Austria needs its own place for transatlantic dialogue.

We staunchly believe that Austria’s foreign policy debate needs new energy. For too long, international affairs have been treated in Austria as a niche concern: technocratic, predictable, detached from public interest. And yet, as the saying goes: You may not be interested in foreign policy — but foreign policy is interested in you. We believe it’s time to bring fresh momentum, more honesty, and greater urgency to Austria’s global conversation. With the Transatlantics Club, we aim to inject new life into Austria’s foreign policy debate — moving it from the margins to the mainstream, and from passive commentary to proactive engagement.

In 2024, David launched the Vienna City Hub, soon joined by Yannic Haimeder and later Daniel Undeutsch — and so the founding team was born. As our events gained momentum, we quickly saw just how much interest there was in Austria for fresh, bold, and open-minded transatlantic conversations.

We hosted the Transatlantic Talks series, in collaboration with the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES), the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, and YATA — featuring high-level guests from diplomacy, politics, and academia.

We organized background talks with senior foreign policy advisors, held regular Stammtische with prominent political voices, and became part of Austria’s international conversation during the U.S. Election Night 2024.

We also published two widely circulated guest commentaries in national media — not to promote simple answers, but to call for realism and responsibility. We argued that Europe and Austria must take their fate into their own hands and prepare for a future in which the transatlantic relationship may look very different than in the past.

Then came the U.S. elections of 2024 — and with them, the turning point.

Many declared the transatlantic partnership dead, fractured, or obsolete.

We said: Not so fast.

We believe the opposite is true. Especially now — ‘despite and because of Trump’ — we need to double down on our commitment to each other. Europe and the United States remain fundamentally linked: through shared values, strategic interests, and the belief that open societies are worth defending — together.

That moment became our catalyst.

We evolved from a youth hub into an independent, intergenerational platform: the Transatlantics Club.

Curious what we offer — and how you can take part? Join The Club!