The Growing Immigration Divide: As Germany Leads, Can the U.S. Follow?
The United States emerged this winter from the longest federal shutdown in history. At the center of the standoff, was immigration. From the administration’s promise of border wall funding to …
Trump’s Ambassador in Berlin Will Push to Decriminalize Homosexuality Worldwide. Surprised? Here’s Why.
In February 2019, U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell announced that the U.S. would push to decriminalize homosexuality globally. Sexual relations between two people of the same sex is criminalized …
What Transatlantic Organizations Can Do to Strengthen German-American Relations
The ongoing German public diplomacy initiative “Wunderbar Together,” celebrating German-American friendship, appears to belie the present tensions between the two countries. The state of German-American diplomatic relations has hit a …
Stop Talking about Saving the Transatlantic Relationship and Bretton Woods Order
Elite-minded liberals on both sides of the Atlantic—myself included—have often made the mistake of wondering “how to save the transatlantic, Bretton Woods order?” For all its good intentions, this is …
Populists Keep Winning the Messaging War in Europe Over Migration
European leaders gathered twice last year to try and develop an EU-wide approach to the still-divisive issues of migration and the integration of refugees, and both times they failed to reach …
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Getting Over the Cold War. Why German-American Relations Need a New Narrative
According to the planners of Germany’s current year-long public diplomacy campaign, Deutschlandjahr USA, Germany and the United States are “Wunderbar Together.” Under this—some would say catchy, some would say naïve—slogan, …
How a Public Relations Framework Can Help Us Rethink Transatlanticism
PR is often discounted as salesmanship or deception. But PR at its essence is about explaining something—an idea, a product, or a policy—in compelling terms. Drafting a public relations strategy …
Ovation Diplomacy: The Shortsightedness of President Trump’s Foreign Policy
Speaking in Brussels on December 4, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a name to the philosophy guiding President Trump’s foreign policy: “principled-realism.” Secretary Pompeo likes to think of …
The U.S. and Germany Are Losing Cultural Ambassadors: Students Studying Abroad
Last month, the Institute of International Education and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs released their Open Doors 2018 report, which assesses the role of …
Global Memory Clashes Or the End of Serenity
Coming to terms with the past has become one of the very core features of German political identity in the second half of the twentieth century. In fact, actively dealing …
The Dilemmas of Promoting Gender Equality in Times of Polarization
The political landscapes in both countries are characterized by increasing polarization. In the U.S., a man became president who makes a spectacle of himself through derogative language and who tends …
A European Army: The Wrong Choice for Germany Among Greater Defense Woes
French president Emmanuel Macron’s call for a European army at the beginning of November was met with some justified eye-rolling on both sides of the Atlantic. Chancellor Merkel and defense …
Germany’s Road Ahead: Four Years into the Munich Consensus
It seems that Germany has come a long way since February 2014 when decision-makers proclaimed the “Munich consensus.” In it, then-federal president Joachim Gauck, then-foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (who has …
The CDU Faces Pressure to Move Right—That Could Backfire
Today, Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is meeting in Hamburg to choose a new leader—a decision with massive ramifications for national and European politics. This moment represents the first opportunity …
