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Our online community, atlantic-community.org, has an official occasion to meet. Curious glances are being exchanged as people enter the Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance, where the award ceremony is to take place. Strangers shake hands conversantly, introduce themselves - "I'm a member of the Community!" one simply says. I like the sound of it. I myself have been a member since September 2008.

The luminous conference room is well attended when Jan Dreher from Deutsche Bank steps up and explains why atlantic-community.org was selected: for its contribution to the transatlantic dialogue, and more importantly for the online civic platform it has created. Dr. Johannes Bohnen, founding director together with Jan Kallmorgen, makes the acceptance speech. His statement is very involved. He sounds proud and hopeful as he describes the project: a community of citizens from all across the globe, from all spectres of society, an open online think tank that ultimately seeks to influence foreign policy. His enthusiasm is not without pragmatism - just like other non profits, atlantic-community.org depends on external funding.

Joerg Wolf, editor-in-chief of atlantic-community.org, follows with a dynamic presentation of the homepage: the editors' section with press and think tank summaries, the open think tank with members' publications and comments, and the community section with several networking features. He explains that the community is distinguished from blogs by the high quality of its published content thanks to the editorial team.

Mr. Wolf points out the "Search profiles" community function: "Imagine you're on your way to London to a conference on climate change," he says, "why not search for a member with experience in that field located in London and meet up for a coffee?" A thought flashes through my head - the same evening I type in "Afghanistan" and ten profiles pop up. Ten people of our community are in Afghanistan right now, ten people I can ask for first-hand insight.

Mr. Wolf's presentation is followed by a panel discussion: the two founding directors and Arndt Kwiatkowski, founder of ImmobilienScout 24. Dr. Bohnen focuses on the potential of online communities to generate an interest in politics. Mr. Kwiatkowski points out the worldwide boost in internet use still to come. The panel ends with a contribution by Mr. Kallmorgen: "Can we learn from Obama's election campaign?" he asks. He describes three key websites that allowed Americans to be informed and get involved in the campaign. Hearing the awe in his words, the audience senses what ambitions and ideals lay at the heart of our community.

The audience is highly interested, and the discussion that follows is lively. Numerous questions arise. Could there be an Obama in Germany? Is the political system too different? Is it the people? Can the success of the Obama campaign websites be duplicated? Does that work only in times of elections? Of historic elections? Does the virtual world need support from reality, such as the traditional door-to-door campaigning? Can one create a civil society, a "Bürgergesellschaft," with the internet? Are there existing examples? Is it a matter of age? Of funding - are Americans more open to these kind of innovations?

The stirring discussion carries on as we move to dinner in the adjacent room. "We really are a community," I tell myself.

At a time where more and more decisions are made at the international level, civil society has to become global as well. Atlantic-community.org's social network on foreign policy, and we as its members, have a fundamental role to play in creating this global civil society. Today, we are more than 2000 members; we come from countries as different as Russia, Italy, Albania, Guatemala and Afghanistan; we are professors and soldiers, decision-makers and students. This is a good start, but the more we are, the more opinions and the more knowledge we bring to the table, and ultimately the more we build this international civil society. And maybe one day we will not only be a landmark in the land but rather the world of ideas.

Jules Gal is a European Affairs Masters student at Sciences Po, Paris, and is currently interning at the Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin.

Related materials from the Atlantic Community:

• Marcel Reichart: German Political Parties Must Inspire Grassroots Online
• Scott Michael Moore: A Multidimensional Approach for a Planet in Peril
• Sam Vanderslott: Action On Climate Change Requires Global Technology Transfer