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, …
Reopening Germany’s Surrogacy Debate
A recent public revelation about a member of the Christian Democratic Party’s (CDU) leadership having a child through surrogacy unleashed a political storm in the party and has dramatically illuminated …
Looking for Germany’s Future in the Former East
A Week in Saxony On a warm Friday evening in late June, nearly 140 people gathered inside the former synagogue in Görlitz, Germany’s easternmost city. They had come from the …
Recent Authors
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Support Our WorkEpisode 151: Soccer and Society
The 2026 World Cup has been bigger than ever before; an expanded tournament of forty-eight teams has brought record-breaking audiences. On this episode of The Zeitgeist, Andrei Markovits discusses soccer …
Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States: Past, Present, and Future
A Three-Year AGI Project – Final Conference Summary The American-German Institute held a final conference in Washington, DC, for the three-year project, “Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United …
Episode 150: Valuing Civil Society Organizations
Civil society organizations are funded differently in the United States and Germany, and LGBTQ+ organizations must take different approaches when seeking financial support from the public and private sector. Preston …
Heated Relations
The Past, Present, and Future of the LGBTQ+ Community in Germany and the United States For over a century, LGBTQ+ communities in Germany and the United States have fought for …
Episode 149: Forgotten LGBTQ+ Histories
The Stonewall Riots are known worldwide as a starting point for LGBTQ+ activism, and musicals like Cabaret have shared the story of the queer experience in Weimar Berlin. But the …
When Your Ally Is Not an Ally Anymore
Recently, the United States has seen immense turnover in policies and practices toward the LGBTQ+ community. One such reversal was the exclusion of transgender persons from the U.S. military. Alone, …
Building on Legacy
Generational Differences Within the Queer Community In 1980s Berlin, queer life existed largely in the shadows. While reforms to Paragraph 175 in 1969 and 1973 partially decriminalized sex between men, …
Episode 147: Merkel, Leadership, and Crisis
Why are some women leaders hailed as brilliant crisis managers while others draw widespread criticism? Louise K. Davidson-Schmich’s new book Gender, Leadership, and Crisis: Possibilities and Perils for Women Leaders (Oxford University Press, …
Zsuzsanna Végh, DAAD/AGI Research Fellow
AGI is pleased to welcome Zsuzsanna Végh as a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow in Spring/Summer 2026. Zsuzsanna Végh is a program officer with the European Resilience program of the German Marshall …
