
Episode 77: Zeitenwende Anniversary
On February 27, 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made an historic speech to the German Bundestag, declaring a historic turning point (Zeitenwende) for Germany’s security and defense policy following Russia’s …

Episode 73: 2022—A Year in Review
As 2022 draws to a close, AICGS President Jeff Rathke, AICGS Senior Fellow and Director of Society, Culture, and Politics Program Eric Langenbacher and AICGS Non-Resident Senior Fellow Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger …

Episode 69: Germany’s Shifting Political Landscape: Through the Lens of the Lower Saxony Elections
On this episode of the Zeitgeist, AICGS President Jeff Rathke, AICGS Senior Fellow and Director of Society, Culture, and Politics Program Eric Langenbacher and AICGS Non-Resident Senior Fellow Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger …

The Grand Failure
Grand New Beginning? February 24, 2022, will go down in history as a watershed moment for Europe and not the least for Germany. The day Russia invaded Ukraine spelled the …

Episode 67: Will Germany’s Zeitenwende Stick?
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared a “Zeitenwende,” a historic turning point for Germany’s security and defense policy. Scholz pledged to set up an …

Episode 59: Germany’s Shifting Political Landscape—State Election Edition #2
This month’s election in Germany’s largest state, North Rhine-Westphalia, saw a resurgence of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), growing support for the Green Party, further decline of the Social Democratic …

Episode 53: The Changing Dynamics of German Politics
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, and the Liberal FDP has just passed 100 days in office, faced with Russia’s war on Ukraine and …

German Turning Points
Past and Present When Chancellor Olaf Scholz took office three months ago, few expected that he would dramatically change the coordinates of German foreign and defense policy. But on February …

Episode 52: A Turning Point in Germany’s Policy toward Russia?
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine to redraw the post-Cold-War order in Europe. Russia’s aggression has drawn global condemnation and prompted Western governments to impose more severe economic sanctions …
Twenty-five Years after the Fall of the Wall
When history was about to turn the corner at the end of the 1980s and German unification shot to the top of the international agenda, not everybody was cheering. British …
The Merkel Regime: Perspectives After the German Election
As negotiations to form a grand coalition move forward, reflecting on the results of the German election reveal big winners, losers, and the outlook for the coming years of German …
Welcome to the Stuttgart Republic
When Germany abstained in the United Nations Security Council’s vote on Libya, quite a few eyebrows were raised in the United States and in Europe (not to speak of the German strategic community). While the U.S., France, and the United Kingdom were united in the determination to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Libya, Germany sided with Russia and China – as well as with Brazil and India, two countries that also have ambitions to become permanent members of the Council – in basically declaring neutrality (let’s set aside how realistic these permanent member ambitions have now become in light of the recent vote). In departing from her traditional Western allies, Germany, reciprocating French unilateralism in the Libya crisis, dealt a blow to transatlantic – and European – coherence and security cooperation.