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Principle, Policy, and Purpose: The Balance of Values and Interests

The American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr once stated that the essence of statecraft is locating the point of concurrence between the parochial and the general interest, between the national and international common good.[1] Niebuhr emphasizes that realism implies an obligation to see the world as it actually is, not as we might like it to be. He warned that hubris can blind realism, finding expression in outsized confidence in both the power as well as the values of a country as being universal. Any country is susceptible to such temptations.

Working Against Mental Shortcuts: Learning to Value Different and Complex World Views

“This is how the Americans truly are…” is a sentence we keep hearing in Germany these days. We keep trying to summarize people from or living in certain countries as …

Thinking Through the Future of Memory

Report for the Inaugural Conference of the Memory Studies Association, 3-5 December 2016, Amsterdam As part of AGI’s work on reconciliation, we are pleased to present readers with a report …

8 Reasons Why Russian Disinformation is Successful in Germany

America and the rest of the world are still struggling to understand what led to the outcome of the U.S. presidential election of 2016. It is almost dangerous—and at the …

The Fear of Misperception: The Interdependency of Social Media and Elections

When President Barack Obama met with Chancellor Angela Merkel on November 17, 2016, the two leaders cautioned against the fake news appearing on social media platforms and the disruptions it …

Trump’s World

Donald Trump has tapped anger over eroding middle class income, loss of identity, and anti-establishment fervor in a campaign of anger that won the Electoral College vote and the presidency …

2016 DAAD Prize in German and European Studies to be Awarded to Dr. Yasemin Yildiz, UCLA

Congratulations to Dr. Yasemin Yildiz of UCLA, the recipient of the 2016 DAAD Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in German and European Studies for her outstanding academic work in the Humanities. Yasemin …

Meet the 2016 Harry & Helen Gray/AGI Reconciliation Fellows

AGI is pleased to welcome three Harry & Helen Gray/AGI Reconciliation Fellows this summer. Yeon Jeong Gu, Nina Janz, and Ivo Plšek will conduct their research on the topic of …

From the AGI Bookshelf: Why America Misunderstands the World

At a time when many people both inside and outside the U.S. are struggling to understand the dynamics of the presidential campaign and its rhetoric this year, Paul Pillar offers …

Remembering Japanese Journalist Yoshibumi Wakamiya, An Advocate for Reconciliation in Northeast Asia

Yoshibumi Wakamiya (1948-2016), prize-winning Japanese journalist and author who worked throughout a long and distinguished career to promote reconciliation between Japan and its neighbors, passed away on April 27 in …

LGBT Refugees: Perpetuated Persecution in Asylum

Life as an asylum seeker is not an easy one.  Having faced persecution and violence in their home countries and uprooted their entire lives, these migrants face political, socioeconomic, and …

From the AGI Bookshelf: Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning

Timothy Snyder’s latest book, Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, presents exactly those two narratives. His review of how the Holocaust emerged and evolved has been and remains …