Turkey After the Elections – Where is it Heading?
While prevailing opinion delivered by most of Germany’s newspapers labeled the Turkish election results as a major setback for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party, looking at the numbers will quickly make it clear that the AKP is far from legitimately being considered the election’s loser writes DAAD/AICGS Fellow Rana Deep Islam. Mr. Islam examines the election results and argues that the outcome will have a significant impact on Turkey’s foreign policy strategies in dealing with the greater Middle East.
Why 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.
Robert Gates and the Future of NATO
In what has been termed his last major policy speech as Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates blasted NATO members for not carrying their weight within the Alliance, and questioned the viability and relevance of the Alliance going forward. While NATO’s path has been questioned before, Gates’ exceedingly strong words were aimed at multiple audiences – both foreign and domestic – and hit home at the imbalance of commitments amongst Alliance members. Please find below a selection of the range of reactions to Secretary Gates’ speech from both sides of the Atlantic.
Germany’s Exit from History?
Buffeted by European and global headwinds, many in Germany wish for their country to “exit from history” and chart a more peaceful and insular course. But as Ludger Kühnhardt, Director at the Center for European Integration Studies at Universität Bonn and a regular contributor to the Advisor, argues, Germany can only engineer a good future for its people as an engine of further European integration, as a partner of the United States and as a defender of universal human rights. This essay originally appeared in the June 14, 2011, edition of The Globalist.
Ein Comeback für die Gruppe der acht
In recent years it had looked as if the days of the Group of Eight (G-8) were numbered, especially with the growth of the G-20 and emerging markets. Since this year’s G-8 meeting in Deauville, however, the G-8’s momentum has returned argues Dr. Ulrich Speck, political analyst and a former DAAD/AICGS Fellow. The Arab Spring revolutions have made the G-20 a deeply-divided organization, Dr. Speck contends, and this has given the G-8 new life. This article originally appeared in the June 14, 2011, edition of Neue Zürcher Zeitung and is available in German only.
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In this week’s At Issue, Executive Director Dr. Jackson Janes discusses Chancellor Merkel’s upcoming visit to Washington and how the past legacies of German-American relations can be transformed into opportunities for the future.
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.
The May 22 Election in Bremen – AGI Coverage
Another Land election, another historical result for the Greens: For the first time ever, the Greens bested the CDU, coming in a strong second in the May 22 elections. The SPD will retain power in coalition with the Greens, but the headline remains the Greens’ success and the failure of the CDU and FDP in the smallest of the Bundesländer. Pundits have labeled Bremen as the ‘final warning’ for Chancellor Merkel’s federal coalition ahead of the 2013 federal election, further showing the CDU’s weakness in large cities and the lasting impact of Fukushima on German voters.
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.
Germany’s Global Role at Risk: New Challenges for Stability in the Middle East
Germany’s struggle to understand and to define its global responsibilities through the euro crisis, Afghanistan, and now Libya has taken the country’s policy course through more turns than in the Nürburgring racetrack, writes Ambassador J.D. Bindenagel, vice president at DePaul University and a regular contributor to the Advisor. Because of its unclear policies, Germany faces the challenge of being sidelined when the danger of the moment in the Middle East urgently needs European leadership, Bindenagel argues. This essay originally appeared in the May 18, 2011, edition of Süddeutsche Zeitung.
