A few supporters have gathered in front of the podium in the small eastern German town of Gera, as Björn Höcke, a far-right politician of the German right-wing extremist party AfD, addresses the crowd. He excites those present with his uniquely sounding, slightly old-fashioned, patriotic rhetoric. Waving his hands, the politician shouts, “Everything for…” and […]
Tag: Germany
Mr. Gorbachev, Did the Wall Actually Fall?
When the Berlin Wall was torn down with angle grinders and shovels on November 11, 1989, the people of Germany had one of two entirely different experiences. In the West, life continued. The borders were a little bigger, and the Allied presence lessened a little, but they lived on. But in the East, everything changed. […]
Where Will Universal Jurisdiction Go from Here?
In mid-January, Germany drew headlines when a Koblenz court found Syrian colonel Anwar Raslan guilty of torture, murder, and sexual violence. A few months before the conviction of Raslan, a French court determined that legal action against a member of Syrian state security, Abdulhamid C., could not proceed. A common theme unites the two cases: […]
Changing Climate, Changing Politics: the Presence of the Environment in Germany’s 2021 Election
Germany doesn’t elect its leaders based on charisma. Descriptions of Angela Merkel, like many adjectives thrown around German affairs, consist of stoic, calm, and unemotional, both in her politics and her public presence. Part of this is due to Germany’s political system, one in which the charismatic, ceremonial head of state, the president, is an […]
Fiscal Education: The Case for Increased German Spending
If Germany, the largest economy in the Eurozone by more than $1 trillion, is the engine of European growth, then it seems that the engine is now beginning to sputter. Similar to much of the rest of the developed world, German economic growth has been negatively affected as tumultuous political and economic events, like Brexit […]
NATO: Losing Sight of the North Atlantic?
President Trump’s campaign trail rhetoric focused heavily on presenting a tough, assertive image of American power. Indeed, he broke new ground in toughness — not only did he take traditional US opponents to task, but traditional allies as well. At a July 2016 campaign rally in Wisconsin, Trump had harsh words for the North Atlantic Treaty […]
Electoral Breakthrough or Electoral Persistence? Forecasting AfD’s Future in the German Parliament
The Western world breathed a sigh of relief after the triumph of the young independent centrist Emmanuel Macron over Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-wing National Front, in the French presidential election. His victory was hailed as a sign that the emerging tidal wave of populism that had culminated in the Brexit Vote and […]
Europe: At the Crossroads of Crisis
This article is the second of a three part series aiming to demistify the Syrian refugee crisis. Part one can be found here. As the largest democratic nation in close proximity to Syria, Turkey has been at the forefront of the international refugee crisis. Over the past five years, Turkey has accepted over 2.5 million […]
The Deal of the Decade
Many thought this day would never come. In an interesting turn of events, negotiations between the United States and Iran over a developing nuclear deal are currently underway. Secretary of State John Kerry has led negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif over a deal in which sanctions on Iran would be lifted on […]
Britain De-Unionizing
Britain is closer than ever to walking out of the E.U. Source: conservativehome.com After narrowly dodging a political bullet when the 2014 referendum for Scottish independence failed to pass, British Prime Minister David Cameron found himself caught in yet another European political struggle, this time on a larger scale. Now, Cameron faces newfound political […]