Scheitert Europa? Joschka Fischer
It’s been ten years since Joschka Fischer, together with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, piloted Germany’s foreign policy in the first national Red-Green government. His seven-year tenure was marked by military deployments …
The Miracle of Leipzig
This is a story about the secret of freedom—courage. Germans in Leipzig courageously faced down a regime that had killed fellow citizens, whose only crime was to seek freedom and …
Freedom Cannot Be Taken for Granted
In the fall of 1989, I studied at the Karl-Marx-University in Leipzig. As a student of theology, I was able to participate in the demonstrations on the street as well …
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 …
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 Work2009 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 …
The Cycles of Decline: Addressing the Political Backlash in Europe
Following the European Union elections, the main conclusion seems to be that bashing Brussels is a mobilizing force on both the left and the right and that national governments around …
From the AGI Bookshelf: The Passage to Europe
The effort to create a European community of nations and peoples is one of the most important experiments in world history. On a continent shaped by war and conflict for …
Trying to Keep the Germans Close on EU Competences is Risky for Britain.
As German politicians discuss competences within the EU, the British media have characterized this as a positive response to London’s call to renegotiate the relationship between member states and the …
