From Leipzig to Jerusalem
Israel’s Elections and Eastern Germany’s Unfinished Reckoning Early in my tenure as American consul-general in Leipzig, I visited Jerusalem, the city of my first diplomatic posting, and encountered an unexpected …
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, …
Episode 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 …
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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, …
The 2026 State Elections: AGI Expert Analysis in the Media
In fall 2026, first-place finishes for the far-right and far-left in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin shook up German politics. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) will likely form …
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 …
One of 83 Million
Last week, two sports figures offered very different answers to a deceptively simple question: what does it mean to stand with your country? In Washington, Capitals hockey legend Alexander Ovechkin …
The Language of Eastern Resentment
Of the three eastern German states I was responsible for as U.S. Consul General in Leipzig, Saxony-Anhalt always struck me as perhaps the most distinctly eastern. It was also a …
He Inherited Freedom. Does He Believe It Is His?
At the risk of dating myself, I remember a very different mood among young people in post-communist Europe. I was a student in Prague in 1994, five years after the …
Episode 154: Germany’s Autumn: The Regional and International Constraints on National Politics
Approval ratings for Chancellor Merz and his government are at historic lows, the war in Ukraine is in its fifth year, and instability abroad has led to economic challenges at …
Watching Ceuta, Thinking About Magdeburg
What Spain’s Border Tells Us About Eastern Germany In the last week of July, tens of thousands of people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Spain’s Interior …
AGI Profiles: Nina Warken
Head of the Federal Chancellery Following the resignation of Jen Spahn, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet has been shaken up. Nina Warken was selected as Merz’s head of the Federal Chancellery, …
