American-German Institute

04/29/2026

New Podcast Episode: Transatlantic Fractures and the Future of U.S. Relations with Europe

The United States is reevaluating its place in the world, not only because of President Trump. The metamorphosis in American politics is affecting U.S. foreign policy profoundly, as well as America’s allies. A new book co-authored by AGI President Jeff Rathke, Transatlantic Fracture: The Erosion of U.S.-European Relations in an Unstable Order, explores these changes. Jeff Rathke talks in this episode with his co-authors Stefan Fröhlich and Jackson Janes about the shifts in the transatlantic relationship, how Europe is adjusting to the changing world order, and how the fractured partnership could re-form in the future.

Listen: https://americangerman.institute/podcast/episode-145-transatlantic-fractures-and-the-future-of-u-s-relations-with-europe/

04/09/2026

New Podcast Episode: Economic Resilience as Economic Security

The world’s leading economies are putting economic security at the top of their policy concerns. Among them, the European Union is taking a risk-based approach that seeks to deter weaponizable dependencies while still pursuing efficiency in its trade, regulatory, industrial, and technology policies. How do economic security considerations affect the global economy and the transatlantic economic partnership? In this episode of The Zeitgeist, European Commission Deputy Director-General for Trade and Economic Security Denis Redonnet discusses how the EU leverages its leadership and partnerships to ensure a resilient European economy.

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The world’s leading economies are putting economic security at the top of their policy concerns. Among them, the European Union is taking a risk-based approach that seeks to deter weaponizable …

03/25/2026

New Podcast Episode: Germany’s Political Barometer

Two state elections in western Germany this month resulted in one win for Chancellor Merz’s Christian Democrats and two poor outcomes for the Social Democrats. The Alternative for Germany, meanwhile, performed better than ever before in a western German state election. What do these results reveal about the state of German politics after one year of the Merz government? Jeff Rathke, Eric Langenbacher, and Phyllis Berry discuss how the results could impact critical negotiations to spur economic growth and other reforms in the pension and healthcare systems, as well as what political decisions now will affect this fall’s regional elections in the east, where the AfD is at its strongest.

Listen:

Two state elections in western Germany this month resulted in one win for Chancellor Merz’s Christian Democrats and two poor outcomes for the Social Democrats. The Alternative for Germany, meanwhile, performed better …

03/11/2026

New podcast episode: The AfD and the 2026 State Elections

Five state elections will be held in Germany in 2026. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) enters this “super election year” in a strong position: it is the largest opposition party in the federal government, it continues to poll close to 25 percent nationally, and it has the potential to earn the most votes in the two eastern state elections in September. Dr. Wolfgang Muno joins this episode of The Zeitgeist to discuss what is contributing to the AfD’s popularity, if recent nepotism scandals could dissuade voters from the party, and how a potential AfD-led state government could impact Germany’s democracy.

Listen now:

Five state elections will be held in Germany in 2026. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) enters this “super election year” in a strong position: it is the largest opposition party …

02/24/2026

AGI is now accepting applications for the 2027 DAAD/AGI Research Fellowship Program.

The DAAD/AGI Research Fellowship Program, funded by a generous grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), brings scholars and specialists working on key issues of central importance to the German-American relationship to AGI for research stays of up to six consecutive months each. Fellows will expand and strengthen their networks and contacts to scholars, policy experts, practitioners, and officials in Washington, DC, and throughout the United States. Junior scholars and specialists are especially encouraged to apply.

Applications for calendar year 2027 are due August 1, 2026.

Learn more:

The DAAD/AGI Research Fellowship Program, funded by a generous grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), is designed to bring scholars and specialists working on key issues of central importance …

02/09/2026

New publication: The Transatlantic Relationship and the Future Global Trading System

Today’s challenges to the global trading system are exacerbating a dynamic that is at least a decade old. Since the failure of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations to make progress at the World Trade Organization’s biennial meeting in December 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya, the balance of economic power in the world has continued to shift. China, no longer the developing country it was when it joined the WTO in 2001, is now a large and globally competitive manufacturing economy, while countries like India and Brazil have also gained in relative influence. The period of globalization (or hyperglobalization) that defined the roughly twenty-five years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Doha Round’s failure in 2015 has given way to a new “post-idealist” era that is characterized by a weaker multilateral system, greater skepticism among voters toward trade liberalization, and an increasing use of trade policy tools to achieve economic security.

In this report, Peter Rashish examines whether current institutions like the World Trade Organization can adapt to this shift or if new institutions and rules will be needed—and what role the transatlantic relationship will have in shaping the global trading system of the future. While close cooperation between the United States and the European Union has been the key driver of innovation in the trading system, U.S. and EU trade policies today are defined as much by their differences as their commonalities. Whether the global trading system undergoes a transition, mutation, or rupture in the next decade will depend to a considerable degree on the capacity of the transatlantic relationship to exert joint agency in a more diverse and competitive world.

Read the report:

Today’s challenges to the global trading system are exacerbating a dynamic that is at least a decade old. Since the failure of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations to …

01/28/2026

New Podcast Episode: The Transatlantic Relationship in a Transforming Global Trading System

How have increased geopolitical competition and changing trade policy objectives affected the transatlantic relationship, and what are the shared priorities for German and U.S. business? On this episode of The Zeitgeist, CEO of DHL Group Dr. Tobias Meyer discusses the state of the transatlantic economic partnership, the future of global trade, and the outlook for European competitiveness.

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How have increased geopolitical competition and changing trade policy objectives affected the transatlantic relationship, and what are the shared priorities for German and U.S. business? On this episode of The Zeitgeist, CEO of DHL …

01/14/2026

New Podcast Episode: The German-Polish Relationship amid Changing European Security Challenges

The European security landscape is shifting. The United States is pressuring Europe to manage the defense of its region, and many NATO allies have growing doubts about the long-term reliability of the U.S. security guarantee, even as Russia continues aggression at NATO’s doorstep. German Chancellor Merz has articulated the goal for the Bundeswehr to be the strongest military in Europe. How does this ambition sit with one of Germany’s most important European partners—Poland? Justyna Gotkowska joins The Zeitgeist to discuss how Poland is adjusting to these changes. She discusses Polish views on German-Polish relations, how Poland is reassessing its security partnerships, and the fault lines within Polish defense and strategic thinking.

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The European security landscape is shifting. The United States is pressuring Europe to manage the defense of its region, and many NATO allies have growing doubts about the long-term reliability …

12/17/2025

New Publication: (De)Romanticizing Uncertainty at the Transatlantic Science-Policy Interface? Insights from a U.S.-German Case Study

by Finja Augsburg

At national levels, devaluation and strategic instrumentalization of science have become increasingly difficult to ignore. Internationally, long-standing structures of scientific cooperation face mounting threats from funding cuts, diverging strategic agendas, and isolationist trends among countries that once collaborated closely. Science, a central pillar of democracy, finds itself under pressure in a post-pandemic world shaped by crises, in which many of the most polarizing questions revolve around socio-scientific issues (SSI). SSI refer to societal challenges rooted in science, characterized by the absence of clear-cut solutions for policymakers and society, as in the case of climate change. Uncertainty lies at the heart of these issues, presenting navigational challenges for national and international science–policy and science–society dialogue on addressing high-stakes questions such as: When might the next pandemic emerge? Which regions are most at risk of extreme weather? Will rising sea levels cause destructive flooding in coastal areas? If yes, when and how severe? Investments in addressing these questions could play a central role in protecting the economy and public safety, yet efforts have faced significant constraints, particularly since the beginning of the second Trump administration in the United States.

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Insights from a U.S.-German Case Study On November 21, 2025, South Carolina became the first U.S. state to sign a Joint Declaration of Intent with Germany, formalizing a new economic …