Populists on Both Sides of the Atlantic Are Selling the Past. And Voters Are Buying It.
A striking pattern has become apparent in politics across Europe: populist parties and movements are mobilizing voters by tapping into nostalgia. Their message is simple: A better society once existed, …
AGI Profiles: Hans-Thomas Tillschneider
Vice President of the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag and Deputy Chairman of the AfD Parliamentary Group in Saxony-Anhalt When voters went to the polls in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt on …
Episode 158: The International Language of Populism
On this episode of The Zeitgeist, Henk de Berg, author of Trump and Hitler: A Comparative Study in Lying, discusses how populists have used rhetoric throughout history. He compares and …
The Transatlantic Situationship
How MAGA-AfD Ties Are Reshaping American-German Relations In September 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump publicly celebrated the radical-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) electoral victory in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, …
The AfD’s New Transatlantic Network
Tracking the AfD’s Engagement with the United States As the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has gained support domestically—exemplified by 20.8 percent of the vote in the 2025 Bundestag election—they have …
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Support Our WorkEpisode 157: What Factors are Driving the AfD’s Success?
The Alternative for Germany has received unprecedented support in state elections in 2026, especially in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In this episode of The Zeitgeist, Hannah Alarian discusses what issues and …
After Kohl and Merkel
Why the CDU Is Collapsing In September, the party of Adenauer, Kohl, and Merkel failed to win even five percent of the vote in Merkel’s own home state. It was …
The Crisis of Social Democracy
In 2025, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) experienced its worst electoral result since 1887, garnering a meager 16.4 percent of the vote and falling below the right-wing extremist …
On the Decline of Germany’s Major Political Parties
The decline of Germany’s major political parties, the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD), can be vividly illustrated in a single image (Figure 1). …
Berlin Voted for Change
Will Germany’s Political Center Listen? The most striking result of Berlin’s state election may also be its greatest paradox. Die Linke, a party long considered firmly anchored in Germany’s past, …
Episode 156: State Election Aftershocks
Regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin saw successes for the far-right Alternative for Germany and far-left Die Linke and “disaster” for the mainstream parties. The episode of The Zeitgeist …
Change at All Costs
Election Impressions from Saxony-Anhalt At 5:59 pm on Sunday, September 6, the anticipation in the whimsical restaurant tucked inside Magdeburg’s historic Millennium Tower was palpable. With all screens turned to …
The Unloved Chancellor
Following the results of the recent Landtag elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the press is already preparing Friedrich Merz’s political obituary. While he may be responsible for some of the discontent and …
