Michael Trinkwalder was a Research Intern at AGI for Summer/Fall 2018. Currently, Mr. Trinkwalder is pursuing a master’s degree in International Relations at the KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in Germany. In his program, he concentrates on issues of foreign and security policy as well as diplomatic history. He is particularly interested in transatlantic relations, the future of the EU, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and Chinese foreign policy. Before joining AGI, Mr. Trinkwalder spent time abroad studying in both the UK and China and worked as a project assistant at the Aspen Institute Germany. He is a founding member of the university group for foreign and security policy at the KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt as well as a member of the Young European Federalists.
German Security Policy: Is Europe Germany’s Crutch?
The NATO treaty guarantee has been weakened by President Donald Trump’s alternating attacks on the alliance followed by effusive pledges of support. His Europe trip in July demonstrated his tendency …
EU Elections: From “Spitzenkandidat” to Coalition Candidate?
The European Union is under threat. From the outside, it is confronted by a revisionist Russia and a U.S. president seemingly set on demolishing the rules-based international system. Even more …
The Hijacking of the German Immigration Debate
When the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) had their ugly spat over migration in July, few would have expected it to result in a new …
Quo Vadis CDU/CSU: The Bavarian Elections and Beyond
Markus Söder has a problem. The Christian Social Union’s (CSU) Bavarian minister-president leads a party that is polling between 36 percent and 39 percent ahead of October 14’s state elections. …
EU Elections: The Center Cannot Hold, but Do We Want It To?
Populism has truly become a transatlantic phenomenon, transcending national borders and disrupting democracies throughout the Western world: from Brexit in the UK to the election of Donald Trump in the …
Reinstating Conscription: Wrong Issue, Wrong Time
Nearly a decade after Germany suspended military conscription, the topic has found its way back into the German political debate. In a surprise move, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the general secretary of …
The CDU and CSU: Hanging Together Rather Than Hanging Separately
This summer has not been easy for Angela Merkel, with a spat over immigration threatening to break up the party alliance between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian …
