AGI

Society, Culture & Politics

The AGI Society, Culture & Politics Program focuses on crucial topics within the German-American dialogue, including: demographic change, migration/integration, and aging societies; electoral politics at the national, state, and European levels, and comparative analysis of Germany and the United States; diversity within Germany, Europe, and the United States; the politics of collective memory and identity, Holocaust remembrance and reconciliation, and shifting conceptions of national identity that shape perspectives and policy responses.
Reset

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: Alois Rainer

Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Regional Identity Alois Rainer is a member of the Bundestag from Straubing, Bavaria, and serves as Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Regional Identity (Bundesminister für …

“Dear Occupants of Dohrmannstrasse 1”

A House, a Stream, and Two Telephones Looking back, Gary Sternberg could not believe he did it. He simply had been compelled to do so. On August 5, 2019, he …

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Episode 154: Germany’s Autumn: The Regional and International Constraints on National Politics

Approval ratings for Chancellor Merz and his government are at historic lows, the war in Ukraine is in its fifth year, and instability abroad has led to economic challenges at …

Pressekonferenz der AfD-Landtagsfraktionen, „Hände weg von der Staatsbürgerschaft“ Kampagne

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, …

Episode 153: The Greens’ Next Steps

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 …

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, …

Simon Morris-Lange, DAAD/AGI Research Fellow

AGI is pleased to welcome Simon Morris-Lange as a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow in August and September 2026. Dr. Simon Morris-Lange is Head of Research at Allianz Foundation in Berlin, where …

Reopening Germany’s Surrogacy Debate

A recent public revelation about a member of the Christian Democratic Party’s (CDU) leadership having a child through surrogacy unleashed a political storm in the party and has dramatically illuminated …