AGI

Foreign & Security Policy

The AGI Foreign & Security Policy Program addresses German security policy, the foreign policy cooperation between the U.S. and Germany, and the transatlantic defense relationship.
Reset

Der 9. November 1989 – Eine Erinnerung aus frauenpolitischer Sicht

The process surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall brought new freedoms for German women from the East, but at the same time new problems as well, writes Dr. Eva Maleck-Lewy, professor at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and a regular participant in AICGS events. This Transatlantic Perspectives essay examines the post-Berlin Wall transformation of women in Germany and discusses the remaining problems facing German women at current.

A Change in Government but No Change in Policy? Implications of the 2009 German Election

Issue Brief 32 In Issue Brief 32, “A Change in Government But No Change in Policy? Implications of the 2009 German Election,” AGI Research Associate Kirsten Verclas takes an in-depth …

Germany and Poland 1989-2009: The East-West Divide in a Nutshell

Visitors to the Polish embassy in Berlin will notice a big poster on display showing a cowboy ready for a shoot-out. “It started in Poland,” states the poster, but don’t be confused—Polish diplomats do not claim John Wayne as a Pole…

German Unity – A Project

The Wall should have been left standing: as a memorial. As a commemoration in stone it would be a resistance to amnesia. Because the past is uncertain, and becomes ever more uncertain over the years, even when we try to remember how it really was, we can no longer speak with certainty. We must rely on our memory and that is deceptive and hallucinatory…

A Status-Conscious Germany Between Adolescence and Retirement: Foreign Policy Commemorations on the 60th Anniversary of the Federal Republic

In this AICGS Transatlantic Perspectives essay, Senior Non-Resident Fellow Dr. Gunther Hellmann, Professor of Political Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, examines how Germany’s drive for equal status influenced its foreign policy over the past sixty years. Dr. Hellmann suggests that Germany has ‘grown up’ in its foreign policy practice, even if it continues to intensify the practice of limited solidarity with its allies.

Germany at 60 in Europe

Amidst a major anniversary year for Germany, Senior Non-resident Fellow Dr. Jeffrey J. Anderson, Graf Goltz Professor and Director of the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University, examines Germany’s changing role in Europe and discusses how Germany’s shifting historical memory has impacted foreign policy since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Dr. Anderson argues that there is reason to believe that a more assertive Germany, motivated more openly by national interests but still acting with and through Europe, makes for a more effective and reliable transatlantic partner for the United States.

Postwar Federalism at 60: Showing its Age

Senior Non-Resident Fellow Dr. Wade Jacoby, Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University, writes that something seems to have gone wrong with German federalism, and that exactly what went wrong is the subject of a lot of head scratching. As recent reform efforts have been watered-down and have had far-reaching unintended consequences, Dr. Jacoby argues, it is unclear how federalism will continue to evolve in Germany.

Kulturpolitik versus Aussenpolitik in the Past Sixty Years

Senior Non-resident Fellow Dr. Frank Trommler, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, examines the history of the Federal Republic’s foreign cultural policy and how it has expanded and changed since after World War II. Dr. Trommler writes that the decentralization of foreign cultural policy in the Federal Republic has opened a more creative and attractive exchange with other countries, something that has led to the betterment of all parties involved.

Finding Security in an Age of Uncertainty: German and American Counterterrorism Policies

Policy Report 41 New administrations took office in 2009 in both Germany and the United States, bringing with them renewed focus on counterterrorism measures. Still, despite ever-increasing cooperation among allies, …

Looking Ahead: The United States, Germany, and Europe in 2020

Policy Report 40 What will the world look like in 2020? While this is ultimately unknown, in Policy Report 40, Jackson Janes asserts that over this time, the transatlantic community …

Toward a Transatlantic Eastern Policy? The U.S., the EU, and the “In-Between States”

Policy Report 38 In Policy Report 38, Dr. Kai-Olaf Lang, former DAAD/AGI Fellow and Senior Associate at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, examines the European and American policies vis-à-vis Russia and …

The Fall of the Wall at 20: Global Consequences Today

German-American Issues 12 When East Germans first crossed through the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, no one knew that the consequences of this one small act would have global …