AGI

Society, Culture & Politics

The AGI Society, Culture & Politics Program focuses on crucial topics within the German-American dialogue, including: demographic change, migration/integration, and aging societies; electoral politics at the national, state, and European levels, and comparative analysis of Germany and the United States; diversity within Germany, Europe, and the United States; the politics of collective memory and identity, Holocaust remembrance and reconciliation, and shifting conceptions of national identity that shape perspectives and policy responses.
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AGI Profiles: Hans-Georg Engelke

State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community Hans-Georg Engelke, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat, BMI) has …

German Strategic Culture

Small Steps or Side-Stepping? Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, German chancellor Olaf Scholz is still in search of the right balance between courage and prudence in addressing the …

Will A Beautiful Summer Follow Germany’s Winter of Rage?

The mood in Germany right now is as bleak as a Berlin winter. Things are indeed not going so well in this “winter of rage” (Wutwinter). The economy contracted by …

Episode 100: The Enduring Allure of Weimar Music and Culture

Max Raabe & the Palast Orchester have been playing the music of and inspired by the 1920s and 30s for almost forty years, to enormous success in Germany and internationally. …

AGI Profiles: Wolfgang Schmidt

Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks Wolfgang Schmidt, dubbed by some as Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “shadow foreign minister,” has been serving as the Head of …

Jeff Rathke on the U.S. Presidential Elections and Transatlantic Relations

Ahead of the New Hampshire primary, AGI President Jeff Rathke spoke to Südwest Presse (in German) about what motivates the U.S. electorate, the likelihood of a Trump/Biden rematch, and what …

Franz Beckenbauer (1945-2024)

Germany’s Last “Kaiser” and His Legacies Franz Beckenbauer was Germany’s most important soccer personality—as a player, coach, soccer executive, and public figure. However, Beckenbauer stood for more than just soccer. …

AGI Partners with Transatlantic Organizations for “Road to Election” Series

The 2024 U.S. election will significantly shape the transatlantic political environment and policy landscape. The results of this monumental election will have serious implications for the future of not only …

Farewell to Wolfgang Schäuble

The Chancellor-behind-the-Scenes Imagine a mountain climber who scaled every peak in the Himalayas except Everest. That was Wolfgang Schäuble. No postwar politician reached more top party and government posts. Although …

Remembering Pulse

The Power of Community-Driven Collective Memory Natalie Adams-Menendez: Reflection Days before I turned seventeen, I awoke to news that 49 people had been killed and at least 53 others had …

Far-Right Violence and World Community

An Evolving Threat in a Changing World What the life and work of German-American Christian ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) tells us about an old problem in a new context. Far-right …

Episode 98: 2023 in Review

2023 was a tumultuous year in German politics and foreign policy. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government is polling at record lows following a series of unpopular policies and setbacks in …

Trending Now: Queerphobia

Decoding the Role of Trans- and Homophobic Narratives for Right-wing Online Mobilization in the United States and Germany When a group of prominent politicians from the German CSU party convened …