The 2026 State Elections: AGI Expert Analysis in the Media
In fall 2026, first-place finishes for the far-right and far-left in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin shook up German politics. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) will likely form …
One of 83 Million
Last week, two sports figures offered very different answers to a deceptively simple question: what does it mean to stand with your country? In Washington, Capitals hockey legend Alexander Ovechkin …
Change at All Costs
Election Impressions from Saxony-Anhalt At 5:59 pm on Sunday, September 6, the anticipation in the whimsical restaurant tucked inside Magdeburg’s historic Millennium Tower was palpable. With all screens turned to …
The Unloved Chancellor
Following the results of the recent Landtag elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the press is already preparing Friedrich Merz’s political obituary. While he may be responsible for some of the discontent and …
AGI Profiles: Kai Wegner
Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner, Berlin’s first conservative mayor in twenty-two years, initially emerged as the figure who could restore the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) position in Berlin. Yet after …
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The Language of Eastern Resentment
Of the three eastern German states I was responsible for as U.S. Consul General in Leipzig, Saxony-Anhalt always struck me as perhaps the most distinctly eastern. It was also a …
He Inherited Freedom. Does He Believe It Is His?
At the risk of dating myself, I remember a very different mood among young people in post-communist Europe. I was a student in Prague in 1994, five years after the …
AGI Profiles: Kristin Brinker
Member of the Berlin House of Representatives; AfD State Chairwoman in Berlin The outcome of Berlin’s September 20, 2026, election is far from clear. Polling remains volatile, with the positions …
Watching Ceuta, Thinking About Magdeburg
What Spain’s Border Tells Us About Eastern Germany In the last week of July, tens of thousands of people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Spain’s Interior …
AGI Profiles: Nina Warken
Head of the Federal Chancellery Following the resignation of Jen Spahn, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet has been shaken up. Nina Warken was selected as Merz’s head of the Federal Chancellery, …
Shifting Partisan Trends among Young Germans
Rising Youth Polarization The 2025 Bundestag election revealed serious generational divides in German voting patterns. While the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD) received solid support from older Germans, …
Looking for Germany’s Future in the Former East
A Week in Saxony On a warm Friday evening in late June, nearly 140 people gathered inside the former synagogue in Görlitz, Germany’s easternmost city. They had come from the …
Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States: Past, Present, and Future
A Three-Year AGI Project – Final Conference Summary The American-German Institute held a final conference in Washington, DC, for the three-year project, “Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United …
The AfD’s New Transatlantic Network
Tracking the AfD’s Engagement with the United States As the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has gained support domestically—exemplified by 20.8 percent of the vote in the 2025 Bundestag election—they have …
