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.
Reset

To Be or Not to Be a Woman…in Germany or the U.S.?

Since accusations of sexual assault and harassment by prominent Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein have surfaced, different segments of society, both in the U.S. and Germany, have had to grapple with …

Shattered by Glass: Working through Memories of Kristallnacht and Shanghai

We should learn from this story of the Shanghai Jews. But we haven’t learned.

Understanding Russia

For most of the past 70 years, Germans and Americans have found themselves largely on the same side of issues related to Eastern Europe and Russia.  During the Cold War …

Europe’s Illusions

Although for more than 70 years common values were invoked to keep the transatlantic partnership together, now is the time to assert shared U.S.-German interests.

Herero Activists in the United States: Demanding Recognition and Reparation for the First Genocide of the Twentieth Century

Between 1904 and 1908, over 100 000 people were killed in the first genocide of the twentieth century.[1]  Only 20 percent of the Herero and about 50 percent of the …

Harnessing the Power of Civil Society

In 2012, the short documentary “Kony 2012” by the NGO Invisible Children created a social media blitz and massive public support for intervention against the warlord Joseph Kony in Uganda. …

Exploring Immigration and Integration Initiatives in the United States

AGI Minority Exchange Program The German-American youth exchange program on the theme “Immigration, Integration, and a New Transatlantic Generation” is an innovative program which establishes new connections between communities that …

Records of Shanghai: One Man’s Quest to Validate Memories of a Family’s Refugee Past

Eric Kisch is a historian.  Although he does not hold a Ph.D. and made a comfortable living as a market researcher, he is a historian nonetheless.  The signs are all …

Art and Reconciliation: Beyond the Borders

Relations between Asian countries are influenced by historical consciousness. The expression of that consciousness, which is extremely politicized in Asia, plays an important role in building or destroying modern relationships.

Securing the National Interests: The United States and Japanese-South Korean Reconciliation

The reconciliation process in Northeast Asia, notably between Japan and South Korea (Republic of Korea), is still far from being a success story. The governments of the two states have …

Documenting German and Japanese War Crimes prior to 1945: The UN War Crimes Commission

Dan Plesch’s new book, Human Rights after Hitler: The Lost History of Prosecuting Axis War Crimes, sheds light on the existence of a little-known agency founded amid the atrocities of …

Working for Reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians: The Example of Friendship Across Borders

Working for reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians is arduous but rewarding—it keeps providing glimmers of hope in a situation that often seems beyond hopeless politically, motivating us to persevere. …