Jeff Rathke
@jeffrathke.bsky.social
Pres. American-German Institute; ex-diplomat; ex-CSIS; Pittsburgher
The Smithsonian is funded by Congress and heavily intertwined with the federal government, but it's not an executive branch agency. The president is not even nominally their boss. He has absolutely no lawful power to issue orders to them.
kelsey ables@kelseyables.bsky.social · last wk.New: The White House is conditioning $190 million for the Smithsonian on compliance with its executive order "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" through legally-binding footnotes in recent OMB apportionments. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
AGI is pleased to welcome Dr. Martin Thunert as a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow in fall 2026. At AGI, he will examine Canada's emergence as a strategic partner for Germany and the EU and how the United States views this emerging axis: americangerman.institute/2026/10/mart...
Martin Thunert, DAAD/AGI Research Fellow
AGI is pleased to welcome Dr. Martin Thunert as a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow in fall 2026. He is Senior Research Fellow in Political Science and American Studies at the Heidelberg …
americangerman.institute
Arrest today of former GER intel chief Hanning on espionage charges is stunning. Reports do not indicate which foreign country was involved, though officials say it wasn’t Russia. His former office head kept supplying secret docs for years-massive failure. Dimensions of this will surely widen.
Ulrike Franke@rikefranke.eu · last wk.Scandal unfolding in Germany: Police has arrested the former head of the BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, August Hanning, on suspicion of espionage. Hanning was the agency's chief from 1998 to 2005. www.spiegel.de/panorama/jus...
Pascal Lamy: China is killing the system of open global trade. "Ricardo explained that a country that is better at everything sees this advantage absorbed by exchange rate & wages, so everyone ends up specializing in what they do relatively best"
Pascal Lamy : « La Chine est en train de tuer le commerce mondial ouvert »
Voici comment l’Europe doit réagir
legrandcontinent.eu
Friedrich Merz sendet mit seinem Besuch Kiews die genau richtige Antwort auf Putins psychologische Kriegsführung und seine hybriden Angriffe: wir lassen uns nicht einschüchtern. Wir stehen für unsere Werte und Interessen ein. Und dazu gehört die Sicherheit der Ukraine.
One of the biggest consequences of Russia's war will be a changed Germany. It took a long time, but Germany is changing its approach to military force, to intelligence, to the arms industry. The result will be a huge expansion of European military power, firmly directed at Moscow.
Kori Schake 🎃@kschake.bsky.social · last wk.“Russia sees us as a major adversary because we do not accept Russia’s revisionist, expansionist policies and the war of aggression against Ukraine — because we oppose Russian intimidation of our allies in the Baltic states and elsewhere in Europe,” well and bravely said by Germany's spy chief.
How can the US and the EU spearhead a cooperative strategy on climate and economic security that can attract other like-minded countries? Join AGI's webinar on October 14 for a discussion on Climate, Economic Security, and the Global Trading System: americangerman.institute/events/2026/...
Climate, Economic Security, and the Global Trading System
Speakers: Keynote: Denis Redonnet, Deputy Director-General and Chief Trade Enforcement Officer, Directorate General for Trade and Economic Security, European Commission Frances Burwell, Managing…
americangerman.institute
Große Freude, lieber Jeff! Anne brings out the best in people.
Germany’s AfD mourns the destruction of the Nordstream pipeline as an attack on ‘Germany’s energy sovereignty’ - with Russian gas. All you need to know about AfD.
Joerg Lau@joerglau.bsky.social · 2w ago„Gegner der deutschen Energiesouveränität“ haben Nord Stream zerstört, sagt der AfD-Chef. Souveränität gibt es nämlich nur durch Unterwerfung unter russische Dominanz. Noch Fragen?
Obwohl diese Folge anderthalb Stunden dauert, lohnt sich jede Minute, um das Dilemma der CDU besser zu verstehen. Erkenntnisreiches Gespräch zw. @mariamlau.bsky.social und @annewill.bsky.social 👇
Tobias Jaecker@jaecker.com · 2w agoDie kulturkämpferische Denunzierung von Moral, das hohle "Markt vor Staat"-Mantra, AfD-Annäherungen als Polit-Pantomime: @mariamlau.bsky.social spricht mit @annewill.bsky.social über die zerbrochenen Lebenslügen der CDU - und wie es weitergehen könnte open.spotify.com/episode/1bcs...
One of the biggest AI companies is paying to "present" Politico's flagship newsletter as it touts "AI's big day in Washington." Good stuff.
Sagt über ihn, was ihr wollt, aber in dieser Frage ist er einer der wenigen, die zuverlässig richtig liegen www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...
What is the significance of state elections in Germany? More to the point, how could Merz’s rededication to the domestic agenda and the struggle for reforms at home affect Germany’s foreign policy engagement? My thoughts in @foreignpolicy.com 👇🏻 foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/24/g...
Germany Is Officially Adrift
The German chancellor’s power is ebbing at home—and the consequences will be global.
foreignpolicy.com
Wow this flight to Berlin has some very short-turnaround niche German politics content!
In Meck-Pomm fehlen jetzt um 23:13 Uhr nur noch 5 Wahlbezirke (davon 4 Briefwahl). Die CDU liegt bei 4,88 %, das BSW bei 4,83 %. Es erscheint ausgeschlossen, dass eine der beiden Parteien das noch schaffen wird. www.wahlrecht.de/news/2026/la... #ltwmv
Berlin election today: The Left clear winner ~26%, puts them in driver’s seat for coalition, unless Greens and SPD decide they’d rather ally w/CDU. AfD: distant 4th, reminder that AfD surge to 1st pl. in Saxony-Anhalt (Sep 6) and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern today not necessarily replicable nationwide.
Wahlrecht.de@wahlrecht.de · 3w agoDie 18-Uhr-Prognosen für Berlin • Die Linke liegt vorn und wird stärkste Kraft. BSW wieder einmal auf der Kippe an der 5 %-Hürde. • Alle Hochrechnungen: www.wahlrecht.de/news/2026/ab... #aghw
Polls just closed in GER state elections (Berlin + Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) M-V exit poll-> AfD may finish slightly ahead of incumbent SPD. But SPD would have enough seats to form govt w/Greens and The Left. Merz’s CDU perilously close to 5%, nail-biter. Will increase pressure on Merz
Wahlrecht.de@wahlrecht.de · 3w agoDie 18-Uhr-Prognosen für Meck-Pomm • AfD wohl stärkste Kraft vor der SPD. CDU, Grüne und BSW knapp um Fünfprozenthürde. • Alle Hochrechnungen: www.wahlrecht.de/news/2026/la... #ltwmv
"People built the test, removed restraints, defined the objective, left a route open and decided not to stop what was happening. Calling the result 'rogue AI' does more than sensationalize it. It allows those human decisions to disappear quietly from the story" Gift link www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Opinion | The Hugging Face Hack Wasn’t What It Was Cracked Up to Be
Forget the ‘hive mind’ of AI agents ‘going rogue.’ They did what humans programmed them to do.
wsj.com
Trump says progress made toward establishing US Army base in Poland www.reuters.com/world/europe...
Trump says progress made toward establishing US Army base in Poland
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that progress is being made toward establishing a US Army base in Poland, crediting "the bold leadership" of Polish President Karol Nawrocki.
reuters.com
German politics, granular: After far-right AfD finished first in east German Saxony-Anhalt Sep 6, eyes turned to elections in eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin this weekend. Center-left SPD, led by incumbent MinPres, has overtaken AfD in latest M-V poll, surge of ~9pts this month.
Wahlrecht.de@wahlrecht.de · 4w agoSonntagsfrage zur Landtagswahl in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern • Forschungsgruppe Wahlen / ZDF: SPD 37 % | AfD 36 % | DIE LINKE 9 % | CDU 6 % | GRÜNE 5 % | BSW 4 % | Sonstige 3 % ➤ Verlauf: wahlrecht.de/umfragen/lan... 🗓️ Nächste Landtagswahl: 20. September 2026 #ltwmv
OK - great new episode of The Zeitgeist with Samina Sultan on the plummeting German FDI in the US and the other way 'round. And: new, original theme music courtesy of The Bantams! Check it out! 👇
American-German Institute@amgerinst.bsky.social · 4w agoInvestment is the backbone of transatlantic trade, but foreign direct investment between the US & Germany fell in both directions in the past year. A new podcast episode explores short- and long-term trends in the transatlantic economic relationship: americangerman.institute/podcast/epis...
Nach den unerträglichen Drohungen gegen Charlotte Knobloch war es mir ein persönliches Anliegen, die Israelitische Kultusgemeinde in München zu besuchen. Die Haltung der Bundesregierung ist ganz klar: Antisemitismus und jede andere Art von Menschenfeindlichkeit hat in unserem Land keinen Platz. 1/2
AGI President @jeffrathke.bsky.social spoke to @washingtonsun.bsky.social about the future of the transatlantic defense relationship in light of Russia's increased threat: www.washingtonsun.com/security-exp...
Security Experts Say NATO Must Plan for a Future Without the United States
As Russia appears to test NATO to see how the fractured group responds, European allies don’t know if they can continue to rely on the U.S.
washingtonsun.com
this is the bill that would give Trump authority to tariff basically any country he wants. it passed the senate with bipartisan support. ostensibly a Russia sanctions bill, but the sanctions provisions have no teeth and the new tariff authorities are enormous. www.thebulwark.com/p/senate-vot...
Senate Voting to Give Trump a Tariff Nuke
A bill supposedly aimed at Russia is really an unprecedented new tariff power grab—yet prominent Democrats are backing it.
thebulwark.com
Mona Burns@monaburns.bsky.social · 4w agoHouse Rules Cmte will markup the Senate- passed Russia Sanctions Act at 4pm today House votes expected later this week rules.house.gov/bill/119/hr-...
Alright. Time to read the new Amodei essay.
Alonzo Mourning Reacts to Miami Heat Loss
ALT: Alonzo Mourning Reacts to Miami Heat Loss
static.klipy.com
Welcome @washingtonsun.bsky.social -- it was a pleasure discussing the U.S., Europe, and NATO with Daniella Diaz for this article 👇 washingtonsun.com/security-exp...
Security Experts Say NATO Must Plan for a Future Without the United States
As Russia appears to test NATO to see how the fractured group responds, European allies don’t know if they can continue to rely on the U.S.
washingtonsun.com
The Washington Sun@washingtonsun.com · last mo.Welcome to The Washington Sun. washingtonsun.com
Trump has not directly endorsed the AfD before, so this is a new development. But he awkwardly refers to them as The Populist Party instead of using their widely known German initials…
Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · last mo.The President of the United States supports AfD.
Looking forward to @amgerinst.bsky.social webinar in 30 minutes! Topic: the AfD and the Saxony-Anhalt election that sent a shock wave through German politics. Featuring @mlewandowsky.bsky.social from Halle-Wittenberg and Eric Langenbacher! americangerman.institute/events/2026/...
Rechtsruck? Analyzing the 2026 Saxony-Anhalt Elections
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Marcel Lewandowsky, Professor for Government and Policy Research, University of Halle-Wittenberg Moderator: Dr. Eric Langenbacher, Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture...
americangerman.institute