Taking Stock of Germany's State Elections: How Did Germany Get Here, and What Comes Next ?

Both the far Right and the Left saw major gains in German state elections in September, making global headlines. How has Germany, a linchpin of the European Union, come to this and what comes next? Please join us as two GW specialists on Germany, Hope M. Harrison and Hilary Silver, analyze the election results. The discussion will be moderated by Harris Mylonas, Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. Speakers: Hope M. Harrison is Professor of History & International Affairs and lived for the past year in the state of Mecklenburg-West Pommerania while on sabbatical. She is an expert on German history since 1945. Hilary Silver is Professor of Sociology, Public Policy, & International Affairs. An urban sociologist, she has been studying neighborhood life and migrant integration in eastern and western districts of Berlin.  Moderator: Harris Mylonas is the Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies and a professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs. He is also the editor-in-chief of Nationalities Papers. His research explores how states decide who belongs in the nation and what happens to those who don’t fit. He is the author of the award-winning The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and co-author, with Maya Tudor, of Varieties of Nationalism: Communities, Narratives, Identities (Cambridge University Press, 2023). He has also co-edited Enemies Within: The Global Politics of Fifth Columns (Oxford University Press, 2022, with Scott Radnitz) and The Microfoundations of Diaspora Politics (Routledge, 2022, with Alexandra Délano Alonso). He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and his policy writing and commentary have been featured in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and the Washington Post.