Post-Unification German Studies: Momentum Gained or Lost?
Carl Bildt, until recently Sweden’s foreign minister, told Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in 2003: “For a generation Americans and Europeans shared the same date: 1945. A whole …
Germany’s Foreign Policy of Reconciliation
Now available in paperback, AGI Society, Culture & Politics Director Dr. Lily Gardner Feldman’s book, “Germany’s Foreign Policy of Reconciliation: From Enmity to Amity,” highlights Germany as a model for …
Apprenticeship Loyalty in Hannover
Today we went to the MMBbS, an information technology and media vocational training school two hours south of Berlin by train, and learned about the school that was built on …
The Day the Berlin Wall Really Fell
Contrary to popular lore, the Berlin Wall did not fall on November 9, 1989. Nor did it fall in Berlin. It fell on October 9 some 120 miles away, in …
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Support Our WorkMars vs. Mercury: Germany, America, and the Global Order
Germany and America: Two Reluctant Pivotal Powers Germany and the United States rank as the two most influential and powerful Western liberal nations in a world challenged by the rise …
Safe as Houses: Comparing Housing Finance Policies in the U.S. and Germany
The recent financial crisis demonstrated that housing is a key sector of the U.S. economy, with the potential to bring down the entire global economy. The crisis also recast the …
2009 and 2014: Reflections
Time flies. I am struck by how recent the events of the twentieth anniversary of the Mauerfall feel. A rainy, but magical, memory. At first blush, 2009 seems a more …
After the Wall: Survivors’ Expectations
There were many expectations when the Wall came down. Not least among them that Holocaust survivors living in Eastern Europe would finally receive payments from Germany for their suffering. But …
November 1989
Like December 7, 1941, November 22, 1963, and September 11, 2001, November 9, 1989, is one of those dates remembered in freeze frame. But it’s the rare exception that most …
Broken Berlin Wall, by Tom Block
Visitors to AGI may be familiar with Tom Block’s art installation, “Broken Berlin Wall.” The artwork will continue to be on display for the 25th anniversary of the fall of …
Beyond Spying: How to Save the U.S.-German Alliance
While Washington fumbled the NSA clash with Germany, Berlin too has had a hand in stoking the heated debate over U.S. surveillance programs. Public denunciations and empty promises of retaliation …