Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, James Goldgeier examines what the occasion meant for the Republican party, and how it has affected the U.S. presidency since.

The fall of the Berlin Wall was not the only significant international development of 1989, writes James Goldgeier. The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and the Tiananmen Square massacre in China signified the emergence of two new international challenges: failed states and illiberal capitalism, each of which has "vexed" the United States for the past two decades.

CFR's Bernard Gwertzman and Serge Schmemann of the International Herald Tribune discuss their role in reporting the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago and the enduring significance of that day.

The right-of-center Free Democrats are big winners in Germany's elections and, in coalition with Christian Democrats, will likely support pro-U.S. policies on Afghanistan and Iran, says expert William M. Drozdiak.

Using Germany as a case study, Benjamin Weinthal argues that strong business ties between Europe and Iran will pose a large obstacle if the Obama administration wishes to apply further pressure on Tehran.

Amity Shlaes argues, "Europe's stunning fiscal outlays permitted it to pursue tighter monetary policy, while the U.S. used monetary policy as a substitute for European-scale fiscal spending."

James Wilson analyzes the case of Munich-based HRE, which he says reveals much about the behavior of banks during the credit boom.

With financial firestorms erupting left and right in Europe, the global credit crisis takes a new dimension. Analysts say it might be time for coordinated interest rate cuts.

A German city debates how changing to green initiatives will effect their city.

Barack Obama will be given a euphoric reception this week when he speaks at Victory Column in Berlin.  But in this Bloomberg article, Amity Shlaes argues that the Berlin cityscape reminds us of the limits of Obama’s foreign policy and that sometimes you encounter war even when you don’t want to.

Nuclear power is too dangerous. Coal is too dirty. Gas involves too much dependence on Russia. And renewables are insufficient. So just where is Germany going to get its power from?

An ambitious cross-subsidy scheme has given rise to a new industry in renewable energy.

A roundup of which countries produced and installed the most photovoltaic (PV) or solar cells, which convert the sun's light directly to electricity, in 2008.

Michael Gerson discusses giving some Holocaust survivors back a part of their past.

Charles A. Kupchan, CFR’s top Europe expert, sees major improvements in the mood of U.S.-Europe relations, but, he cautions,  there are only “slim pickings” to show on policy issues like Iran and Afghanistan.

Germany's parliament votes will determine whether to extend Berlin's participation in the military mission in Afghanistan. This article reports that Afghanistan is on the brink of disaster, but German politicians have chosen to ignore Afghanistan's real problems.

Labor disputes threaten to undermine a decades-long effort to make the Deutsche Bahn, Europe’s largest railroad, more efficient and less dependent on the state.

Joschka Fischer reflects on his career and the lessons he learned during his tenure as foreign minister and vice chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. 

William Drozdiak, president of the independent American Council on Germany, says the White House meeting last week between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Bush indicates “they seem to have struck up a much more friendly rapport than what Bush had with her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder."

Germany’s U.S. ambassador says his country will use new leadership positions in both the European Union and the G8 to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and issues such as energy security with Russia.