A Full Standstill Ahead? The Prospects for Another Grand Coalition in Germany

Deutsches Haus at NYU, the American Council on Germany, and NYU’s Center for European and Mediterranean Studies present the panel discussion: “A Full Standstill Ahead? The Prospects for Another Grand Coalition in Germany” among Thomas Jahn, Christian Martin, and Steven E. Sokol.

Almost six months after the general election, Germany is still without a new government. While Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats have entered coalition talks, the outcome of these talks is far from certain. And whatever the outcome, the deal would still be subject to approval by the SPD’s party members.

This distinguished panel will address some of the questions that abound. Will Angela Merkel finally be able to form a stable government? Will another Grand Coalition further strengthen the extremes? What do these developments mean for German politics? What do they mean for Europe? And, what are the implications for the strategic challenges that are facing Germany, such as demographic shifts and technological change?

Panelists:

Thomas Jahn was born in the United States and studied politics and economics in Cologne and Tokyo. After spending several years at the magazine Capital, he began working as the New York correspondent for Handelsblatt in New York in 2011.

Dr. Christian Martin is a professor of political science at the University of Kiel, Germany. He currently holds the Max Weber Chair in German and European Studies at New York University. Martin has studied political science at the University of Konstanz and holds a doctorate from there (2002). Martin was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Konstanz and at the Max-Planck-Institute in Jena (2003-2004). He was an assistant professor at the University of Hamburg (2004-2008) and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Northwestern University (2008-2011). Martin’s research interests focus on the political conditions and consequences of globalization and regional integration. He has published on the effects of globalization for electoral participation and, most recently, on the incentive to adopt more proportional voting systems in a highly globalized environment. His current research project is on backlashes against globalization and EU integration.

Dr. Steven E. Sokol holds a Doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University as well as an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. He has also studied at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Freie Universität in Berlin. Dr. Steven E. Sokol became President of the American Council on Germany on May 1, 2015. He served as President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh from July 2010 until April 2015. Prior to that, he was the Vice President and Director of Programs at the American Council on Germany for nearly eight years. In addition to his work at the ACG, in 2003, he launched the Political Salon, a forum that regularly convenes younger and mid-career professionals in New York City to discuss pressing foreign policy issues and global concerns.

Events at Deutsches Haus are free and open to the public. You must register through Eventbrite in order to attend. As space at Deutsches Haus is limited, please arrive ten minutes prior to the event to ensure you get a good seat. Thank you!