Competing Agendas in Bucharest
In this week's At Issue, Executive Director Dr. Jackson Janes reports from Bucharest on the NATO summit and discusses the winners and losers of this week's events. While each actor at the summit has his or her own agenda, Dr. Janes writes, can these competing agendas be used to create shared opportunities?

To read this essay, please click here.

 

In mid March, Angela Merkel was the first German chancellor to address the Israeli Knesset, marking Israel's sixtieth anniversary. AICGS Senior Fellow in Residence Dr. Lily Gardner Feldman analyzes Merkel's speech before the Knesset and the overall results of the visit in her essay, "Germany's Celebration of Israel at Sixty: A Skillful Blend of Old and New."

To read this essay, please click here.

 

In the newest AICGS Podcast, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) speaks with AICGS Executive Director Dr. Jackson Janes about the security issues facing Germany today. This Podcast is available in German only.

To access this AICGS Podcast, please click here.

 

On February 25, AICGS held a workshop on "The European Theatre: German-American-Russian-EU Relations," which was undertaken with the generous support of The German Marshall Fund of the United States. At this workshop, participants discussed German and American perspectives on issues in the European theatre and the relationship between the EU, Germany, the U.S., and Russia. As a result of this conference, we offer several essays from conference participants on the various issues that were examined.

To read Dr. Iris Kempe's essay, please click here (PDF).

To read Dr. Michael Rühle's essay, please click here (PDF).

To read Jan Techau's essay, please click here (PDF).

To read Dr. Frank Umbach's essay, please click here (PDF).

 

Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders' recent publication of his long-awaited video criticizing the Koran has set off a firestorm of controversy, drawing harsh rebukes from a wide range of sources. However, Wilders is not a "right-wing populist," as some have claimed, writes former AICGS Fellow Henryk Broder. Broder looks at the incident from a wider perspective and argues that Wilders is being sacrificed on the altar of appeasement policy. This essay originally appeared in Der Spiegel Online on March 30, 2008.

To read this essay in German, please click here.

To read this essay in English, please click here.

 

On April 9, 2008, AICGS will host a discussion with DAAD/AICGS Fellow Dr. Asiye Kaya on "We Are Different Muslims: Migration and Changing Cultures of Belonging: The Case of Alevis from Turkey in the United States and Germany." How do immigration policies affect the positioning of Alevi immigrants within American society? How do the lives and attitudes of Alevi in the U.S. compare to those of Alevi in Germany? In her seminar, Dr. Kaya will address these questions with a base of empirical data collected in Germany and the United States.

To RSVP and for more information, please click here.

 

Please join us on April 22, 2008, for a discussion and debate between two leading specialists on China and China-Europe relations, Professor Dr. Eberhard Sandschneider of the German Council on Foreign Relations and Professor David Shambaugh of The George Washington University. This discussion will explore the basis of U.S.-EU convergences and divergences in policies toward China. Please note: seating is limited for this event and will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

To RSVP and for more information, please click here.

In the midst of the U.S. primaries, America's European allies are preparing for transatlantic relations under the next U.S. president in 2009. How do these allies view the race for president? AICGS has compiled a page of foreign media coverage for a global perspective which will continue through the November election and will be updated frequently.

To access this page of links, please click here.

 

AICGS welcomes its new Supporting Members who have joined the Institute since March 25, 2008:

• Mr. Anthony S. Correale
• Dr. Sarah Comley
• Professor Joseph S. Gordon

They join a growing group of individuals, companies, and foundations who are deepening their engagement in the German-American partnership through the Institute's expanding membership program.

To learn more about the AICGS membership program and the various levels of membership offered by the Institute, please click here (PDF).

 

On February 25, 2008, AICGS hosted a workshop on "The European Theatre: German-American-Russian-EU Relations," in Brussels, Belgium. This workshop focused on the German, American, and European perspectives on issues such as Russia, NATO, the EU, and energy security and examined how the German-American relationship can be used to solve these issues.

For a summary of this event, please click here.

 

On the occasion of the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008), AICGS hosted a high-level German-U.S. dialogue on March 4, 2008, on climate and energy policy with experts and policymakers from Germany and the United States. The event's first panel examined the lessons learned from previous climate policies and proposed future action based on these prior lessons, while the second panel analyzed the economic costs of climate policy.

For a summary of this event, please click here.
 

On February 22, 2008, AICGS hosted a workshop on "Ethics, Science, and Politics: The Debate about Stem Cell Research in Germany and the United States." The workshop, made possible by the generous support of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, looked at the religious and ethical concerns raised by stem cell research and the relationship between science and the ethical and political dimensions of this research.

For a summary of this event, please click here.