AGI

Eric Langenbacher

Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program

Dr. Eric Langenbacher is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture & Politics Program at AGI.

Dr. Langenbacher studied in Canada before completing his PhD in Georgetown University’s Government Department in 2002. His research interests include collective memory, political culture, and electoral politics in Germany and Europe. Recent publications include the edited volumes Twilight of the Merkel Era: Power and Politics in Germany after the 2017 Bundestag Election (2019), The Merkel Republic: The 2013 Bundestag Election and its Consequences (2015), Dynamics of Memory and Identity in Contemporary Europe (co-edited with Ruth Wittlinger and Bill Niven, 2013), Power and the Past: Collective Memory and International Relations (co-edited with Yossi Shain, 2010), and From the Bonn to the Berlin Republic: Germany at the Twentieth Anniversary of Unification (co-edited with Jeffrey J. Anderson, 2010). With David Conradt, he is also the author of The German Polity, 10th and 11th edition (2013, 2017).

Dr. Langenbacher remains affiliated with Georgetown University as Teaching Professor and Director of the Honors Program in the Department of Government. He has also taught at George Washington University, Washington College, The University of Navarre, and the Universidad Nacional de General San Martin in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has given talks across the world. He was selected Faculty Member of the Year by the School of Foreign Service in 2009 and was awarded a Fulbright grant in 1999-2000 and the Hopper Memorial Fellowship at Georgetown in 2000-2001. Since 2005, he has also been Managing Editor of German Politics and Society, which is housed in Georgetown’s BMW Center for German and European Studies. Dr. Langenbacher has also planned and run dozens of short programs for groups from abroad, as well as for the U.S. Departments of State and Defense on a variety of topics pertaining to American and comparative politics, business, culture, and public policy.

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elangenbacher@aicgs.org

Recent Content

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Episode 98: 2023 in Review

2023 was a tumultuous year in German politics and foreign policy. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government is polling at record lows following a series of unpopular policies and setbacks in …

Episode 97: LGBTQ+ Spaces, Public Art, and Memory

Public memorials have many functions: honoring victims, acknowledging history, or symbolizing values. After the 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the site was transformed into an …

Publication Preview: The German-Israeli Special Relationship

In the coming weeks, the American-German Institute will publish “The German-Israeli Special Relationship: A Chronicle of Four Decades, 1983-2023” from Senior Fellow Dr. Lily Gardner Feldman. In light of the …

Episode 94: The German-Israeli Relationship Following the October 7 Terror Attacks

On October 7, Hamas terrorists carried out a surprise attack that killed 1,400 people—the deadliest day in Israel’s history. Over 200 people remain hostages. One of the first foreign leaders …

Episode 93: Sahra Wagenknecht Tries to Shake Up German Politics with a New Party

On October 23, one of Germany’s most popular politicians Sahra Wagenknecht announced that she would leave the Left Party and form a new political party. The “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance” (BSW) …

Episode 92: State Elections in Bavaria and Hesse

Two German Länder elected their state parliaments on Sunday, October 8: Bavaria and Hesse. In both states, it appears that the current coalitions will continue, led by center-right parties (the …

Episode 91: After the Zeitenwende: Is Germany’s Military Measuring Up?

Dr. Eva Högl is the German Bundestag’s Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, assisting the Parliament in their oversight of the German military. She is working to ensure that everyone …

Episode 89: Forty Years of Anticipating Trends

Dr. Jill McGovern has been involved with AGI since the idea for it came about in 1981. As part of our AGI at Forty series, Dr. McGovern reflects on how …

Episode 88: The Geoeconomic Evolution of Germany and AGI

On this episode of the Zeitgeist, guest host Dr. Eric Langenbacher, Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture & Politics Program, continues our AGI at Forty podcast series with …

The 2023 Bavarian State Election in Historical Context

As the federal state with both the second-largest population (13.4 million, 16 percent of the country’s total) and economy (18.5 percent of the country’s total), what happens in Bavaria matters. …

Episode 85: Addressing Germany’s Colonial Legacy

Germany is well-known for its robust memory culture that deals with the crimes of National Socialism and the Holocaust; however, it has only recently begun to address legacy of its …