Europeans Expecting German Leadership
As the euro saga unfolds, one thing is becoming clearer: The structure surrounding the euro has its weaknesses, but the crisis is not really about the currency at all. The current crisis is as much a crisis of EU governance and political mentality as it is of the economic policies of Greece or the ECB, argues AICGS Trustee and former U.S. Ambassador to Germany John Kornblum. A version of this essay originally appeared in the June 20, 2011, edition of Handelsblatt.
Berlin und Paris sind genauso verantwortlich wie Athen
While Greece certainly deserves its share of the blame for the euro crisis, Germany and France are also responsible to a large extent, argues Olaf Gersemann, economics columnist for Die Welt and a regular contributor to the Advisor. Gersemann contends that by acting in the name of monetary integration, Germany and France pushed Greece and others into living beyond their means via the strength of the euro, leading to the current crisis. This essay appeared in the June 19, 2011, edition of Welt am Sonntag and is available in German only.
Narrating the Future; Navigating From the Past
In this week’s At Issue, Executive Director Dr. Jackson Janes discusses the key challenges facing Europe and asks why today’s leaders should not be able respond to them as well as their predecessors.
Recent Authors
AGI provides knowledge, insights, and networks as tools to solve the challenges ahead.
Support Our WorkWhy the EU needs a Special Representative to Respond to the Arab Spring
The European Union and its member states continue to struggle to find a response to the Arab Spring, write former DAAD/AICGS Fellow Almut Möller and Cornelius Adebahr. Past policy approaches had little impact on the area’s regimes, if anything doing more to support them than reform them. In this report for the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the authors argue that the EU should reorient its policies and utilize one of its established and successful foreign policy instruments and name an EU Special Representative for North Africa.
Recapping Obama’s European Tour Part II
President Obama’s recent swing through Europe rekindled much of the positive energy that accompanied his election – despite some increasingly thorny issues that had to be discussed. Whether or not Obama can turn this goodwill into practical results on a range of issues, however, remains to be seen. This section features essays from Jan Techau, Kurt Volker, Daniel Fata, and Dr. Jackson Janes, all of whom focus on the long-term implications for transatlantic relations in the wake of the trip.
Above the Fray No More
For the United States, there is much to fear from Europe’s debt crisis but not much it can do, writes Bruce Stokes of The National Journal, a regular contributor to the Advisor. Washington has a huge financial stake in the taming of the euro crisis, Stokes argues, but the tools that exist to limit the damage are very limited. This article originally appeared in the May 28, 2011, edition of The National Journal.
The President’s European Tour #9
In this week’s At Issue, Executive Director Dr. Jackson Janes looks at President Obama’s upcoming trip to Europe and examines the projected benefits, purposes, and expectations attached to a week in Ireland, the UK, France, and Poland.
Recapping Obama’s European Tour
President Obama’s recent swing through Europe rekindled much of the positive energy that accompanied his election – despite some increasingly thorny issues that had to be discussed. Whether or not Obama can turn this goodwill into practical results on a range of issues, however, remains to be seen. This section features essays from Jan Techau, Kurt Volker, Daniel Fata, and Dr. Jackson Janes, all of whom focus on the long-term implications for transatlantic relations in the wake of the trip.
AGI Podcast: Germany’s Role in Libya and the Middle East
In a new AICGS Podcast, Member of the Bundestag Dr. Andreas Schockenhoff, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU-parliamentary group for Foreign Affairs, examines the roles of Germany, NATO, and the EU in dealing with the conflict in Libya and across the greater Middle East-North Africa region. Moderated by Dr. Jackson Janes, Dr. Schockenhoff touches on Turkey’s role in the Middle East, potential Libyan comparisons to Kosovo, and the importance of Egypt in overall regional stability.
How Europe Can Get the Germany it Needs
Since the beginning of the euro crisis last year, no solution to the crisis was possible without Germany, write AICGS Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr. Ulrike Guérot and Mark Leonard, both of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Although Germany has now signaled it will do what it takes to save the euro, much of Europe is worried about the way this will be done; the authors argue that Germany needs to recast its approach to economic governance to avoid the creation of a two-speed Europe and put its economic might at the heart of a push to develop a global Europe.
