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Jeff Rathke

@jeffrathke.bsky.social
510 followers 308 following 301 posts

Pres. American-German Institute; ex-diplomat; ex-CSIS; Pittsburgher

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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 21h
Great discussion on changing nature of international trade arrangements, future of US and EU policies, and areas of potential commonality and friction. Watch, and hear views from the EU's top trade enforcement official, former Asst. USTR, and leading experts in GER, EU, USA! @amgerinst.bsky.social
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taz @taz.de · 15/10/2026
Magdeburger Landtag jetzt Außenstelle des Kreml? AfD und BSW haben in Sachsen-Anhalt ihren ersten gemeinsamen Antrag durchgebracht - und fordern darin ein Ende der Ukraine-Hilfen 👉️ taz.de/!6221580
Oben links das taz-Logo in Rot, daneben der Schriftzug „die tageszeitung“ in Schwarz. Darunter eine gelbe 3D-Karte Deutschlands auf graublauem Hintergrund. Im Zentrum der Karte ist ein Gebiet mit den drei horizontalen Streifen der russischen Flagge (weiß, blau, rot) überlagert. Rechts daneben der große weiße Schriftzug: „Putin erobert erstes Nato-Gebiet“. Darunter kleinerer weißer Text: „Sachsen-Anhalts Landtagsmehrheit aus AfD und BSW fordert ein Ende der Sanktionen gegen Russland und den Stopp der Ukraine-Hilfe“.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Merz on China: “We will widen the toolbox, we will open the toolbox, we will show the toolbox and we will make use of the toolbox if needed” www.ft.com/content/da78...
ft.com
Germany’s Friedrich Merz vows to fight on: ‘We are the firewall’
Defiant chancellor tells the FT he is determined to drive through unpopular reforms and equip Europe for an age of upheaval
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
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Janis Kluge @jakluge.de · 08/10/2026
Official picture from Putin's birthday party. Source: Kremlin t.me/news_kremlin...
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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
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.
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American-German Institute @amgerinst.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
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...
americangerman.institute
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 …
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
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.
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Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
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"
legrandcontinent.eu
Pascal Lamy : « La Chine est en train de tuer le commerce mondial ouvert »
Voici comment l’Europe doit réagir
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Norbert Röttgen @nroettgen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
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.
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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 05/10/2026
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.
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American-German Institute @amgerinst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
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/...
americangerman.institute
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…
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Mariam Lau @mariamlau.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Große Freude, lieber Jeff! Anne brings out the best in people.
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Wolfgang Blau @wblau.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
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.
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
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 👇
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Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
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.
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Joerg Lau @joerglau.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Sagt über ihn, was ihr wollt, aber in dieser Frage ist er einer der wenigen, die zuverlässig richtig liegen www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Wichtiges Stück von @michaelthumann.bsky.social
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
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...
foreignpolicy.com
Germany Is Officially Adrift
The German chancellor’s power is ebbing at home—and the consequences will be global.
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Wow this flight to Berlin has some very short-turnaround niche German politics content!
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Wahlrecht.de @wahlrecht.de · 20/09/2026
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
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
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.
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
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
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Jeff (Hot Type) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"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-...
wsj.com
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.
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John R. Deni @johnrdeni.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Trump says progress made toward establishing US Army base in Poland www.reuters.com/world/europe...
reuters.com
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.
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
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.
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
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! 👇
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Johann Wadephul @aussenminister.diplo.de · 15/09/2026
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
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American-German Institute @amgerinst.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
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...
washingtonsun.com
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.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
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...
thebulwark.com
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.
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Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Alright. Time to read the new Amodei essay.
static.klipy.com
Alonzo Mourning Reacts to Miami Heat Loss
ALT: Alonzo Mourning Reacts to Miami Heat Loss
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
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...
washingtonsun.com
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.
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
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…
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
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/...
americangerman.institute
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...
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Florian Flade @florianflade.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
News💥BKA-Lagebild: Schon 160 Sabotage-Verdachtsfälle im laufenden Jahr. Und 24 neue Spionage-Verfahren bei der Justiz eingeleitet. Außerdem mehr als 700 Drohnen-Vorfälle registriert. Mit Jörg Diehl @manuelbewarder.bsky.social Roman Lehberger www.tagesschau.de/investigativ... #Sabotage #Spionage
tagesschau.de
Vertrauliches BKA-Papier enthüllt: Deutschland ist massives Ziel von Spionage und Sabotage
Bundesweit gab es in diesem Jahr bereits mehr als 160 Sabotageverdachtsfälle. Zudem wurden mehr als 740 verdächtige Drohnensichtungen gezählt. Das geht aus einem internen BKA-Lagebild hervor, das NDR,...
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Thorsten Faas @wahlforschung.thorstenfaas.de · 28/08/2026
Nochmal wg taktischem Wählen... Sascha Huber u ich haben dazu 2013 eine kleine experimentelle Studie gemacht. Ergebnis damals: Wer eine Prognose mit FDP unter 5% zu sehen bekam, wählte häufiger FDP als Vergleichspersonen mit Prognosen >=5%. Das galt insbes. für Wähler mit CDU-Erstpräferenz.
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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Looking back to surges of elite anti-Semitic or anti-Slavic sentiment in Germany and Austria between 1848 and 1932, a key factor was how upward social mobility of once marginal communities fuelled a vicious response from established groups fearful of losing their monopoly on positions and power
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Auswärtiges Amt @diplo.de · 19/08/2026
Deutschland bekräftigt seine Unterstützung für den unabhängigen Internationalen Strafgerichtshof und für das Völkerstrafrecht. Damit ziehen wir auch eine Lehre aus der deutschen Geschichte. 1/2
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Ian Bond @cerianbond.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
How long before Trump reduces US defence support for Europe, on the basis Putin is "unthreatening & respectful"? Trump's treatment of South Korea shd be another warning to Europeans that as long as he is in the White House, the US will not be a reliable ally: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
Trump reduces military exercises with South Korea, citing good ties with Kim Jong Un
The president cited the cost of the drills and said he did not want to send a signal that is "totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea. He also criticized South Korea for not helping him on I...
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American-German Institute @amgerinst.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
After visits to the White House by Benjamin Netanyahu and Volodymyr Zelensky this week, AGI President @jeffrathke.bsky.social joined @ronzheimer.bsky.social to discuss President Trump's foreign policy approach in the Middle East and Ukraine:
ronzheimer.podigee.io
Trumps Plan für den Iran, Ukraine & Putin. Mit Jeff Rathke
Donald Trump trifft Benjamin Netanjahu und Wolodymyr Selenskyj in Washington – doch welche Strategie verfolgt der US-Präsident im Nahen Osten und im Ukraine-Krieg wirklich? Paul Ronzheimer spricht…
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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 30/07/2026
The German government is working on a plan on what to do if regions vote in extreme-right AFD governments which may not allow NATO troop movements or may otherwise want to impede defence policies and Russia deterrence. www.n-tv.de/politik/Sorg...
n-tv.de
Sorge vor AfD-Wahlerfolgen - Bund arbeitet an Nato-Notfallplan
Im September werden in Sachsen-Anhalt und Mecklenburg-Vorpommern neue Landtage gewählt. In Umfragen liegt die AfD klar vorn. Die Sorge vor einem Wahlerfolg führt in Berlin laut einem Bericht zu konkre...
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Wow: "...no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership."
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NPR @npr.org · 30/07/2026
In an unprecedented step, European nations said they would boycott the World Cup unless FIFA reverses a controversial deal to sell minority stakes to the marquee soccer tournament. n.pr/4h1Niz1
n.pr
European soccer leaders to boycott the World Cup in an unprecedented step
In an unprecedented step, European nations said they would boycott the World Cup unless FIFA reverses a controversial deal to sell minority stakes to the marquee soccer tournament.
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American-German Institute @amgerinst.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
How can the US and its partners rebalance asymmetries as China has pursues policies of one-way dependencies? In a new podcast episode, @chadpbown.com discusses his book, How to Win a Trade War, and paths forward for the transatlantic economic partners:
americangerman.institute
Episode 152: How to Win a Trade War
The global economic landscape is contested between China and the United States, with America’s partners such as Europe also playing important roles. China has pursued policies of one-way…
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 28/07/2026
Trump had meetings with both Zelenskyy and Netanyahu at the White House today and neither was opened to TV cameras. A little odd for a guy who normally loves publicity.
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Konflikte & Sicherheit @konflikt-sicher.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Deutschland will seine Fähigkeiten für weitreichende Präzisionsschläge deutlich ausbauen. Der heutige Bestand gilt als qualitativ stark, aber klein und einseitig (nur ~600 Taurus ALCM). Entscheidend sind ein ausgewogener Mix aus Lenkflugkörpern und ein klares Einsatzkonzept. esut.de/2026/07/fach...
esut.de
Deep Precision Strike Waffen
Deutschland investiert in den kommenden Jahren erheblich in Waffensysteme für weitreichende Präzisionsschläge, sogenannte Deep Precision Strike-Systeme. Neben einem quantitativen Aufwuchs ist auch ein...
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Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
German officials are working behind the scenes to identify Chinese economic vulnerabilities that they could exploit if the EU finds itself in a trade war with Beijing Berlin is informally mapping China’s weaknesses by analysing trade flows, supply chains and company-level data
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Andreas Rinke @andreasrinke.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Sollte Deutschland eine einheitliche Strompreiszone haben? Bayern/BaWü finden ja - der Norden eher nein. Die EU auch eher nein...... Artikel im @handelsblatt
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Jeff Rathke @jeffrathke.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Chancellor Merz's cabinet reshuffle was sparked by resignation of Caucus Leader Jens Spahn, but the Chancellor's handling of additional changes is sparking real unhappiness inside his own party 👇
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