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2012

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A Message from AGI President Jack Janes

As AGI looks ahead to the institute’s 30th anniversary in 2013, I would like to thank you for participating in our unique mission, and ask you to continue to participate …

Islam in Germany Revisited: The Circumcision Debate

The notorious silence of the relatively uneventful summer this year in Germany was suddenly disrupted by a heated debate regarding the abolishment of circumcision—ignited by a May 2012 court ruling. …

Germany’s Circumcision Debate: A Personal Reflection

I never imagined that my existence as a Jew in Germany would be challenged by an advertisement in the Berlin U-Bahn. But there it was, staring at me on the …

Preventing the Proliferation of Pain

The massacre of children and their teachers in Connecticut has once again generated two questions with no real answers: why did this horrific event happen and how is another preventable? …

End of Year Summitry

The European Union’s end of year summit delivered what amounts to solid progress: there is a deal on a banking union and the European central bank will in fact become …

Financing German Health Care

Former DAAD/AGI fellow Dr. Dirk Göpffarth of the German Federal Insurance Office in Bonn, Germany and Klaus-Dirk Henke of  the Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, recently published a report entitled “The German Central Health …

Italy’s Revolving Political Door

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti’s sudden decision to pull the plug on his own government sent shockwaves across Europe and spooked investors. In fact, many observers squarely attacked former Italian …

Zusammenfassung: Es geht nicht nur ums Geld

Seit mehr als zwei Jahren hat die europäische Schuldenkrise Amerika und Deutschland geholfen, die Folgen der großen Rezession zu überwinden. Beide Länder werden als Zufluchtsort für Anlagen gesehen und haben …

From Separating to Integrating Foreign and Domestic Security Policy in Germany – Toward a Cultural Turn in Security?

The use of military force in the Federal Republic of Germany has been restricted by the constitution since the nation’s founding. Based on the experience of the political abuse of …

An Exercise in External Reconciliation

With the EU accepting its Peace and Reconciliation Nobel Prize, it is worth a look at an example of the EU using its reconciliation experience, specifically  in the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This essay …

Merkel’s Political Strategy

In this recent commentary originally published by Süddeutsche Zeitung, Prof. Dr. Karl-Rudolf Korte compares the election strategies of President Obama as he sought a second term and Chancellor Merkel as …

Merkel and the CDU: “A Safe Hand and a Clear Compass”

“A strong Germany—with chances for all!” was the motto of the CDU’s national party conference that took place in Hanover this week, the last of that kind before next year’s …

Scenarios for the Future of the EU: Disintegrating, Diffident or Decisive?

Three Scenarios As the U.S. recalibrates its relationship with the EU in the second Obama administration, it behooves observers to contemplate different trajectories for the EU’s future. The three possible …

Domestic Victories, European Challenges

With 97.94% of votes cast in her favor, the German Chancellor and head of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) Angela Merkel could not be happier. At their party convention in …