Episode 153: The Greens’ Next Steps
Felix Banaszak
Member of the Bundestag (Alliance 90/The Greens)
Felix Banaszak is the Co-Chair of Alliance 90/The Greens, Germany’s third largest and leading progressive party according to latest polls. He has also served as a Member of the German Bundestag since 2021, where his work has focused on economic policy, climate-neutral industrial transformation, and Germany’s energy transition. Before becoming Federal Chair of the party, he served in the Bundestag on the Economic Committee and the Budget Committee and held senior leadership positions within the party, including State Chair of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Jeff Rathke
President of AGI
Jeffrey Rathke is the President of the American-German Institute in Washington, DC.
Prior to joining AGI, Jeff was a senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Program at CSIS, where his work focused on transatlantic relations and U.S. security and defense policy. Jeff joined CSIS in 2015 from the State Department, after a 24-year career as a Foreign Service Officer, dedicated primarily to U.S. relations with Europe. He was director of the State Department Press Office from 2014 to 2015, briefing the State Department press corps and managing the Department's engagement with U.S. print and electronic media. Jeff led the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur from 2011 to 2014. Prior to that, he was deputy chief of staff to the NATO Secretary General in Brussels. He also served in Berlin as minister-counselor for political affairs (2006–2009), his second tour of duty in Germany. His Washington assignments have included deputy director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs and duty officer in the White House Situation Room and State Department Operations Center.
Mr. Rathke was a Weinberg Fellow at Princeton University (2003–2004), winning the Master’s in Public Policy Prize. He also served at U.S. Embassies in Dublin, Moscow, and Riga, which he helped open after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mr. Rathke has been awarded national honors by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as several State Department awards. He holds an MPP degree from Princeton University and BA and BS degrees from Cornell University. He speaks German, Russian, and Latvian.
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Germany’s Green Party is no longer part of the federal government and is seeking a comeback. How can the party mobilize the electorate and counter growing fragmentation and extremism in the political landscape? Green Party co-chair Felix Banaszak joins this episode of The Zeitgeist to discuss Germany’s current politics, the Green Party’s priorities, and what progressive movements seek to learn from their counterparts across the Atlantic.
Host
Jeff Rathke, President, AGI
Guests
Felix Banaszak, Co-Chair, Alliance 90/The Greens; Member of the Bundestag
