Choosing A Chancellor: from Bavaria to Berlin?
The abrupt departure of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) from the race to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor leaves several potential CDU candidates vying for the opportunity. The immediate focus has been …
Merkel’s failed succession plan sets Germany adrift in 2020 and beyond
A tremor shook German politics on Monday, with effects that will reach well beyond the country’s borders. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s presumptive heir, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, announced that she would step down from the …
The Fall of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Earlier today, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) announced that she will not be the chancellor candidate in the regularly scheduled Bundestag election in fall 2021 and that she is stepping down as …
The New German Math
The chaos in Thuringia is another sign that the German party system is fragmenting, with dangerous consequences both for Germany and for its role in Europe. The new German political …
Recent Authors
Support the insights you need into the German-American relationship.
Support Our Work
Will There Be a German Trump?
Germany has been a model country for decades overcoming a dark past. Contemporary Germans have learned the lessons of their history and have resisted the temptations of a resurgent nationalism …
The German SPD and the Curse of Corbynisation
On December 12, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party slipped to inglorious defeat in what was Britain’s third general election in four years. Labour’s worst result since 1935 leaves the party no …
Negotiating for the Future: Lessons for American Diplomacy from German Unification
With Robert Zoellick and Horst Teltschik On December 9, 2019, AICGS presented a lecture by Robert Zoellick on “Negotiating for the Future: Lessons for American Diplomacy from German Unification.” Mr. …
A Farewell to Power: Germany’s Social Democratic Party After the Election of a New Party Leadership
The Social Democratic Party, Germany’s oldest democratic party which emerged from an early German labor movement, survived the challenge of communism after World War I, was forced into exile during …
How “Geopolitical” Can the New European Commission Become?
The new European Commission that took office in Brussels on December 1 has been heralded by its President, former German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen, as a “Geopolitical Commission.” …
Social Democracy in Search of Its Identity
Despite untamed global capitalism and growing inequality within advanced economies, the traditional left continues to be in sharp decline. Social democratic parties lost significant support in almost all Western democracies, …
Maneuvering Around the Middle: Party Politics in 2020
In the last two weeks, four political parties in Germany have gathered at their annual conferences to start positioning themselves for the next federal election, currently scheduled for 2021. In …
