Three decades ago in 1989, people in East Germany took to the streets to protest communist rule. The “Peaceful Revolution” led to the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, paving the way for German reunification the following year. But the euphoria soon wore off for many in the former East, and it’s having political consequences today: eastern Germany has become the bastion of the far-right Alternative for Germany party. Karen Donfried and Jeff Gedmin join Susan and Greg to discuss the legacy of 1989 and serious challenges facing the country’s political establishment today. Then ICWA fellow Emily Schultheis reports from Germany, where she speaks to young eastern Germans born in 1989 about their identity.

 

The Cable is a production of ICWA and the Transatlantic Democracy Working Group.

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Guests

KAREN DONFRIED

President, German Marshall Fund of the United States

 

 

JEFF GEDMIN

Editor-in-Chief, The American Interest

Founding co-chair, TDWG Steering Committee

 

Reporter

EMILY SCHULTHEIS

Fellow, Institute of Current World Affairs

 

 

Hosts

GREGORY FEIFER

Executive Director, Institute of Current World Affairs

Journalist, author of Russians: The People Behind the Power

 

SUSAN CORKE

Director, Transatlantic Democracy Working Group

Senior fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States

 

 

The Cable is produced by Rebecca Picard.

 

 

Lead image credit: University of Minnesota Institute of Advanced Studies