Episode 73: 2022—A Year in Review

Eric Langenbacher

Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program

Dr. Eric Langenbacher is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture & Politics Program at AICGS.

Dr. Langenbacher studied in Canada before completing his PhD in Georgetown University’s Government Department in 2002. His research interests include collective memory, political culture, and electoral politics in Germany and Europe. Recent publications include the edited volumes Twilight of the Merkel Era: Power and Politics in Germany after the 2017 Bundestag Election (2019), The Merkel Republic: The 2013 Bundestag Election and its Consequences (2015), Dynamics of Memory and Identity in Contemporary Europe (co-edited with Ruth Wittlinger and Bill Niven, 2013), Power and the Past: Collective Memory and International Relations (co-edited with Yossi Shain, 2010), and From the Bonn to the Berlin Republic: Germany at the Twentieth Anniversary of Unification (co-edited with Jeffrey J. Anderson, 2010). With David Conradt, he is also the author of The German Polity, 10th and 11th edition (2013, 2017).

Dr. Langenbacher remains affiliated with Georgetown University as Teaching Professor and Director of the Honors Program in the Department of Government. He has also taught at George Washington University, Washington College, The University of Navarre, and the Universidad Nacional de General San Martin in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has given talks across the world. He was selected Faculty Member of the Year by the School of Foreign Service in 2009 and was awarded a Fulbright grant in 1999-2000 and the Hopper Memorial Fellowship at Georgetown in 2000-2001. Since 2005, he has also been Managing Editor of German Politics and Society, which is housed in Georgetown’s BMW Center for German and European Studies. Dr. Langenbacher has also planned and run dozens of short programs for groups from abroad, as well as for the U.S. Departments of State and Defense on a variety of topics pertaining to American and comparative politics, business, culture, and public policy.

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elangenbacher@aicgs.org

Jeffrey Rathke

Jeff Rathke

President of AGI

Jeffrey Rathke is the President of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.

Prior to joining AICGS, 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 M.P.P. degree from Princeton University and B.A. and B.S. degrees from Cornell University. He speaks German, Russian, and Latvian.

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jrathke@aicgs.org

Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger

Non-Resident Senior Fellow

Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger is non-Resident Senior Fellow at AICGS.


As 2022 draws to a close, AGI President Jeff Rathke, AGI Senior Fellow and Director of Society, Culture, and Politics Program Eric Langenbacher and AGI Non-Resident Senior Fellow Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger take a look back at the most significant events of 2022 and their impact on German domestic as well as foreign and security policy.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine introduced the “Zeitenwende,” – a reckoning of German politics with its foreign policy mistakes toward Russia, and a pledge to strengthen its defense capabilities and address structural imbalances in its economic model. Delivering on that promise remains a major challenge. Public support for Ukraine has remained high, even as the German government has grappled with avoiding an energy crisis and a recession. At the same time, Germany must lead in building new coalitions in the EU to address the urgent demands arising from an upended European political, economic, and security order. Domestically, the three-party coalition has faced a tough year of crisis management, with ambivalent public support and no clear alternative emerging.

Our host Jeff Rathke has spoken with leading American and German experts on all these issues and more throughout the year on The Zeitgeist Podcast. Listen to their discussions as you settle in to enjoy your holiday break. AGI wishes you a happy holiday season and einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr. See you again soon in 2023!


Host

Jeff Rathke, President, AGI

Guest

Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, AGI Non-Resident Senior Fellow
Eric Langenbacher, AGI Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program

The views expressed are those of the author(s) alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the American-German Institute.