The United States has exploited strategic networks and dependencies to its advantage in foreign policy. As the international system has transformed, more countries seek to play at the game of “weaponized interdependence.” Abe Newman and Leonard Schütte join this episode of The Zeitgeist to discuss the convergence of economic influence and national security policy internationally and how the United States’ allies, particularly in Europe, have struggled to react to this new landscape. Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guests Abraham Newman , Professor and John Powers Chair in International Business Diplomacy; Director, BMW Center for German and European Studies, Georgetown University Leonard Schütte, International Security Program Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Why are some women leaders hailed as brilliant crisis managers while others draw widespread criticism? Louise K. Davidson-Schmich’s new book Gender, Leadership, and Crisis: Possibilities and Perils for Women Leaders (Oxford University Press, co-authored with Farida Jalalzai and Malliga Och) explores how gender role expectations in crises can make or break a leader’s reputation. She joins The Zeitgeist to discuss Angela Merkel as a crisis manager and lessons for how other women leaders can frame and react to crises to generate positive perceptions. Purchase Gender, Leadership, and Crisis Read Dr. Davidson-Schmich’s 2020 article Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guests Louise K. Davidson-Schmich, Professor and Associate Chair of Political Science, University of Miami Eric Langenbacher, AGI Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program

German industry is facing headwinds: a sluggish domestic economy, instability in the transatlantic trade relationship, and unfair global trade practices. Bertram Kawlath, the president of Europe’s largest industrial association (VDMA), joins The Zeitgeist to assess trends in the global economy that are impacting European manufacturers. He discusses what Germany and the European Union are doing to boost competitiveness and economic security and how companies are adapting to artificial intelligence. Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guests Bertram Kawlath, President, European Machinery Association (VDMA) Peter Rashish, Vice President and Director, Geoeconomics Program, AGI

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. Purchase Transatlantic Fractures Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guests Stefan Fröhlich, Professor Emeritus of International Politics and Political Economy at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Jackson Janes, Resident Senior Fellow, German Marshall Fund; President Emeritus, AGI

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. Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guests Peter Rashish, Vice President and Director, Geoeconomics Program, AGI Denis Redonnet, Deputy Director General and Chief Trade Enforcement Officer, Directorate General for Trade, European Commission

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. Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guests Phyllis Berry, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, AGI Eric Langenbacher, AGI Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program

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. Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guests Eric Langenbacher, AGI Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program Wolfgang Muno, Chair of Comparative Politics, University of Rostock Transcript Jeff Rathke It’s a great day to have our listeners back with us for a new episode of The Zeitgeist. We are speaking on March 10, 2026, and I’m glad to have my colleague Eric Langenbacher with me. Eric, good morning. Eric Langenbacher Good morning on this beautiful spring day. Jeff Rathke Yes, and we have with us a special guest from Germany, Dr. Wolfgang Muno. Wolfgang, good afternoon to you where you are. Wolfgang Muno Thank you for having me. It’s nice to be with you. Jeff Rathke Wolfgang Muno is the chair of comparative politics at the University of Rostock. He has been in the past a visiting fellow here at the Institute. And what we want to talk about today is the far-right AfD party in Germany, the electoral landscape that is emerging, and what this may tell us about what to expect in the months to come, 2026 being a big election year in Germany at the state level. As people who follow German politics may remember, every year, you have a few state elections. This year there are five. These form a sort of barometer of sentiment that gives you a little bit more insight than public opinion polling, perhaps. What we want to do is talk a little bit about a state election that happened on Sunday, March 8. That was in the south-west state of Baden-Württemberg, a west German state, and extract a few lessons from that and look ahead and see what this tells us about German politics. Of course, Wolfgang, at the University of Rostock in the sort of heartland of support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, the AfD. They have been riding high in opinion polls since last year’s election. They did better than ever before in the Bundestag election in 2025; they got just over 20 percent. Now they are at 25 percent in most national polls. What do you think accounts for this increase in their support? Wolfgang Muno First of all, I would like to say that the rise of right-wing extremist, far-right, or right-wing populist parties is, of course, not a German phenomenon. It happens all over the world at the moment. We see the Rassemblement National in France, the Justice Party in Poland, Fidesz in Hungary, Vox and Schega in Spain and Portugal. We see the rise of MAGA in the United States. We have seen Bolsonarismo in Brazil, we see Modi in India. There are some similarities, but there are also some regional specifications. In Germany, for a very long time, we have seen some right parties rising but then going down. In the 60s, the NPD (National Democratic Party) was in the state parliaments in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. In the 80s and 90s, we had the Republikaner, which was a far-right republican party. We’ve seen in the 2000s the NPD again in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in Saxony, DVU (German People’s Union) in Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt.

The BSW (formerly the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, now Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason) had early successes after its founding in 2024, winning seats in the European Parliament and three state parliaments in eastern Germany. The BSW appeared poised to exploit a left-populist, anti-migration message and become a fixture on the political landscape. However, the BSW’s fortunes turned in 2025; they missed the threshold to join the Bundestag by less than 10,000 votes (the party has challenged the result in court), and Sahra Wagenknecht stepped down as party leader in November. Nevertheless, the party has the potential to influence two state elections later this year in eastern Germany. With the party’s federal position in limbo, Jan Philipp Thomeczek joins The Zeitgeist to discuss the evolution of the BSW and their struggle to maintain relevance in 2026. Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guests Eric Langenbacher, AGI Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program Jan Philipp Thomeczek, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Potsdam

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 Tobias Meyer discusses the state of the transatlantic economic partnership, the future of global trade, and the outlook for European competitiveness. Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guests Dr. Tobias Meyer, CEO, DHL Group Peter Rashish, Vice President and Director, Geoeconomics Program, AGI

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. Host Jeff Rathke, President, AGI Guest Justyna Gotkowska, Deputy Director and Head of the Security and Defence Department, Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) Transcript Jeff Rathke I’m very pleased to have our listeners with us for the first episode of The Zeitgeist in 2026. Thanks for joining us. And today we have as our guest, Justyna Gotkowska. Justyna, thanks for being with us. Justyna Gotkowska Jeff, thank you for having me. Jeff Rathke Justyna Gotkowska, for those of you who don’t know her already, is the deputy director of the Center for Eastern Studies, a Polish think tank that is focused on security and defense and other issues related to Central and Eastern Europe. She is also an expert on German defense and security policy, and I thought this would be a great opportunity for us to talk about German-Polish relations, how they are evolving, and what that means in the context of the challenges for European and transatlantic security. If we start from that point, maybe just 60 seconds to set the stage. We are speaking on January 9, and I think it’s important to point out the date, because so much has been happening already this year. We have, just in the past week, seen the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan President Maduro and uncertainty about the way forward in Venezuela. We’ve seen a ramping up of the Trump administration’s pressure on Denmark about the status of Greenland and Donald Trump’s desire to incorporate Greenland into the United States. We’ve seen a meeting this week in Europe of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, which involved an announcement by the United Kingdom and France about their willingness to station their armed forces in Ukraine after a settlement or a ceasefire in that conflict, and Germany being willing to be part of that, although at least at this stage not with German troops in Ukraine. And we’ve seen solidarity from the six leading European countries, not only the UK, France, Germany, but also Poland, Spain, and Italy, solidarity with Denmark about the fact that Greenland’s status could only change with the consent of the people of Greenland and Denmark and that Greenland is part of Denmark. And then lastly, perhaps, the meeting of the so-called Weimar Triangle, Poland, France, and Germany, this week, a meeting that took place in Paris among the foreign ministers, and a reminder of the importance of those three in setting Europe’s course. Oh, and by the way, just this week also, the EU decided to move ahead with their free trade agreement with Mercosur, which would create the largest free-trade zone in the world, although one where there was some divided opinion, including Poland, which was overruled or outvoted in supporting that agreement. With the Trump administration pursuing its interests ever more vigorously and audaciously, you might even say, this activist phase, what does this mean for Poland, for Europe, and in particular, Poland’s relations to its key European partners? That’s where we stand.