Papal Purposes
As the College of Cardinals gathered in Rome this week to choose—for the first time in 600 years—one pope to replace another who is still living, I reflected on two …
Government – Italian Style
While there is nothing better than watching Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni explain marriage Italian style, watching government styles is a bit more challenging. A recent editorial in The Washington …
Italy’s Electoral Chaos
The Italian elections have resulted in gridlock. With polls increasingly painting a picture of utter confusion, and no obvious majority, Italian commentators displayed growing incredulity. Many international observers are already …
Italian Election Scenarios
“If Italians want to vote for Silvio Berlusconi, the problem is not Berlusconi, it’s Italians.” Those few words uttered by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti during a radio interview just …
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Support Our WorkLearning Lessons from a Decade
Sitting in the great hall of the Bayerische Hof during the recent Munich Security Conference, I found myself drifting back a decade to February of 2003 and the time I …

The Franco-German Elysée Treaty at Fifty: A Model for Others?
The fiftieth anniversary of the 1963 Elysée Treaty provides occasion for reflection on the larger meaning of this landmark for Franco-German relations, but also raises the question of whether its …
A Spirit of Reason – Festschrift for Steven Muller
In Memory of Steven Muller Former President of Johns Hopkins University and Co-Chairman of AGI Steven Muller died on January 19, 2013. He left behind a rich tapestry of accomplishments …
Merkel’s Setback in Lower Saxony
This essay was also published in The National Interest on January 23, 2013. As President Obama began his second term in the White House this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel …
The Legacy of the Elysee Treaty
In a conversation with his ambassador to France, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer once impatiently remarked that Germans needed to be more closely bound to France for a very simple reason: to …
AGI President Jack Janes in The Economist
With elections in Lower Saxony approaching on January 20th, Germany’s political parties will be looking towards the results as a gauge for what could be expected when all Germans take …