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On Defense, France Bites the Bullet, But Avoids Strategic Insolvency May 7, 2013
Iceland’s Recovery Saga Presents Opportunities for Brussels, Washington—and Beijing May 6, 2013
Which Way Forward for Europe’s Hybrid Regimes? May 2, 2013
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Events
GMF celebrates its 40 year history and Founder and Chairman, Dr. Guido Goldman at Gala Dinner May 09, 2013 / Washington, DCGMF held a celebratory gala dinner at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, Wednesday May 8.
In this podcast, GMF Vice President of Programs Ivan Vejvoda discusses last month's historic agreement to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
Anchor Elaine Reyes speaks with Andrew Small, Transatlantic Fellow of the Asia Program for the German Marshall Fund, about Beijing's potential role in brokering peace between Israel and Palestine
Press Release
GMF experts tracking German federal elections
September 02, 2009
As Germany votes on September 27, GMF experts are available for comment in Berlin, Washington, and Brussels and GMF's Constanze Stelzenmüller is blogging the elections at http://blog.gmfus.org/.
Experts available for interview or commentary:
Constanze Stelzenmüller, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, Berlin
Karen Donfried, Executive Vice President, Washington
Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Senior Director, Policy Programs, Washington
Heike MacKerron, Senior Director for Europe, Berlin
Ronald D. Asmus, Executive Director, Transatlantic Center and Strategic Planning, Brussels
Michael Werz, Transatlantic Fellow, Washington
CONTEXT: Germany, a key European ally of the United States, is holding national elections on September 27. The incumbent, Chancellor Angela Merkel of the right-of-center Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is facing off against her current grand coalition partner, Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, of the left-of-center Social Democratic Party. The main other parties in the race are the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), the Greens, and the Left Party.
Polls show Chancellor Merkel's CDU has a steady 10% lead together with her preferred coalition partner, the business-friendly FDP. However, her party suffered significant setbacks in a recent election in three of Germany's sixteen Länder (states), while the Left Party made unprecedented inroads, galvanizing a sleepy national campaign. Issues to watch:
• Will there be a clear governmental majority on September 27, or will there have to be protracted coalition negotiations (as in 2005)?
• Will the CDU be able to govern together with the FDP? If yes, the liberal Guido Westerwelle is likely to become the country's next foreign minister; a center-right government might also attempt to renew stalled economic and social reforms. If not, the likeliest alternative appears to be a re-run of the unpopular grand coalition
• Will the SPD break its vow not to work with the Left Party on the national level, following the example of several regional party groupings? If not, it would have to form a "traffic light" coalition with the Liberals and the Greens; if yes, it is still likely to need the Greens to achieve a parliamentary majority
• September 27th will also see two more regional elections, in Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein - important for the composition of the Bundesrat (second legislative chamber), which has extensive co-decisionmaking powers, making it key to the success of reform
