Politischer Rückblick 2010 und Ausblick 2011
Dr. Dieter Roth looks back at the major German political events and figures of 2010 and discusses how these events and people changed the political landscape over the course of the year. Dr. Roth, a frequent contributor to the Advisor, then turns to his outlook for 2011 and concludes that it will be a very interesting year in the world of German politics for all parties and actors. This essay was originally written for a Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg program which aired on January 2, 2011.
American Education Reform Process in Isolation
While American education policy has mostly been conducted at the local level, recent reform efforts have been enacted at the federal level. These reforms, however, have been conducted in ‘isolation’ and with minimal consideration for international evaluations like the OECD’s PISA studies, writes Dr. Kerstin Martens, AICGS Visiting Fellow in fall 2010. Why are such reforms carried out independently of international studies? Dr. Martens examines this issue in her essay.
German Family Policy and the Idea of “Wahlfreiheit”
At 3.1 percent of GDP, Germany spends far above the OECD average on family benefits, whereas the United States spends only 1.3 percent of its GDP on family benefits. However, differences in spending are not the only contrasts regarding family policy in Germany and the U.S., writes former DAAD/AICGS Fellow Dr. Isabelle Kürschner. They also differ significantly with respect to parental leave systems, maternal employment rates, and the number of children born in each country. Dr. Kürschner examines the distinctiveness of German family policy in this Transatlantic Perspectives essay.
Don’t Mention the Four
“Football is not a matter of life or death,” claimed Bill Shankly, a former manager of Liverpool, one of England’s most well-known football clubs. “It’s much more important than that!” …
The Many Sides of Muslim Integration: A German-American Comparison
German-American Issues 13 While analyses on the integration of immigrants and especially Muslim immigrants have multiplied in recent years, debates in the U.S. and Germany differ on these issues. Even …
Recent Authors
AGI provides knowledge, insights, and networks as tools to solve the challenges ahead.
Support Our WorkReligious Tolerance and Islam: A Comparative Analysis
Issue Brief 36 By most measures the United States today is a religiously tolerant country, despite its past history of discrimination against many minority faith communities, writes Mark Rozell, Professor …
A Nation of Joiners: Sports Clubs in Germany
There is no doubt that America looks back upon a long tradition of voluntarism and civic activity, organized by and large in voluntary organizations, writes Dr. Annette Zimmer, former DAAD/AICGS Fellow and Professor at the University of Münster. But it is not as well known, however, that Germany stands out for its club culture as well, including more than 90,000 registered sports clubs with more than 27 million members. Dr. Zimmer looks at the history of German club culture and concludes that while the overall attitude toward German sports clubs is strong, these clubs will increasingly face membership challenges in the future due to the changing structure of German society.
Transatlantic Counterterrorism Policy: Cultural, Economic, and Financial Aspects
Issue Brief 34 The fight against terrorism has been on the forefront of the U.S. and German agendas and shapes the relationship between both countries. While differences in counterterrorism policy …
Similarities in Difference: The Challenge of Muslim Integration in Germany and the United States
Issue Brief 33 In Issue Brief 33, “Similarities in Difference: The Challenge of Muslim Integration in Germany and the United States,” Mounir Azzaoui examines the status of Muslim integration in …
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.
Battle for the Bundestag: German Election of 2009
On September 27, 2009 the German voters decided in favor of a change in the German government. After four years of a grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and SPD, the …
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…
