
Cluster Headache
What one headline from Munich reveals about Germany a year into the war in Ukraine The 2023 Munich Security Conference produced several significant storylines. In general, Western leaders demonstrated unity …

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 …

Self-Assurance—To What End?
Many commentators have concluded that this year’s Munich Security Conference was mostly about the West’s self-assurance. The gathering’s motto (Re:vision) points in a similar direction insomuch as the authors of …

Episode 76: Energy, Trade, and Security—Germany’s Expanded Zeitenwende with FDP Caucus Leader Christian Dürr
On this episode of the Zeitgeist, our guest is FDP Bundestag Caucus Leader Christian Dürr. He and AICGS President Jeff Rathke discuss how Germany has reset its energy policy, the …

AICGS Profiles: Boris Pistorius
Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius currently serves as the German Federal Minister of Defense. Appointed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz on January 17, 2023, Pistorius succeeded Christine Lambrecht following her …
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Episode 75: What Germany’s Solution to its Tank Dilemma Tells Us about the Zeitenwende?
On this episode of the Zeitgeist, AICGS President Jeff Rathke talks with Dr. Liana Fix, Fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss ongoing challenges in Germany’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 …

Feet to the Fire
Critique, Accountability, and Evolution in Germany’s Emerging Security Policy Debate If, after his Zeitenwende speech on February 27, Chancellor Olaf Scholz believed he had done enough to cement his legacy …

Episode 72: Germany’s Foreign Policy Reorientation—A Zeitenwende Conversation with Roderich Kiesewetter MdB
On this episode of The Zeitgeist, AICGS President Jeff Rathke sits down with Roderich Kiesewetter, ranking member of the CDU/CSU faction in the Foreign Relations Committee of the German Bundestag, …

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 …

Angela Merkel’s Russia Legacy
A Tightrope Walker Reaches the End of the Rope Former Chancellor Angela Merkel made her first public appearance since leaving the Chancellery recently with an extended interview in the famed …
Nicole Koenig, DAAD/AICGS Research Fellow
AICGS is pleased to welcome Nicole Koenig as a DAAD/AICGS Research Fellow from May through June 2022. She is Deputy Director of the Jacques Delors Centre at the Hertie School …

Episode 56: War in Ukraine: How are the United States and its NATO Allies Responding?
A Conversation with Ambassador Julianne Smith, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Russia’s war in Ukraine has entered a new phase, after the Ukrainian forces’ spirited and effective resistance forced Russia …