2024 was a landmark year in election history with more than half of the world’s population—or over four billion people—going to the polls; and the results of these votes, not least in the United States, have already proven to be very consequential. The February 23 federal elections in Germany are coming at a pivotal time for the country, in the midst of economic stagnation, the rise of populism at home, and a very dangerous international context. The School of International Service (SIS) welcomes three panelists to discuss the results and likely aftermath from Germany’s election: Professors Michelle Egan, Professor Garret Martin, and Professor Stephen Silvia. Michelle Egan will moderate this conversation, followed by an audience Q&A.

At SIS, our scholars possess a deep well of expertise on the politics and the contexts of countries around the world. With our Global Elections Initiative, we have embarked on a project to promote discussions; stage events; create web content; and generally, keep our focus on key national elections around the world and dive deeper into the trends, opportunities, and challenges they reflect. We’ve established the SIS Global Elections Tracker as a new resource for keeping apprised of politics at the national level—to promote active engagement and analysis.

Co-sponsored by SIS, the Transatlantic Policy Center, the Department of Foreign Policy and Global Security and the Department of Politics, Governance, and Economics

Bios

Michelle Egan is Professor and Jean Monnet Chair at the School of International Service and Co-Director of the Transatlantic Policy Center. She has received fellowships from the Wilson Center, the German Marshall Fund, and Council of Foreign Relations. She has conducted research on transatlantic relations, European politics and British foreign policy and trade policy. She has published three single authored books and three edited volumes including the award-winning Single Markets (OUP) as well as multiple articles and book chapters, blogs, and op-eds. She has appeared on BBC World News, CNN International, NPR Marketplace, and NPR The World as well as other media outlets.

Karin L. Johnston is the Research Director at Women In International Security (WIIS) and adjunct professor at American University and the School of Public Policy, University of Maryland-College Park. She is an experienced policy analyst and project manager with government, non-profit, and academic experience in international security, foreign and security policy analysis, stabilization/security sector reform, U.S.-European relations, and gender, peace, and conflict analysis. Dr. Johnston was a recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s Franklin Fellowship and served in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, focusing on the Bureau’s security sector portfolio and stabilization strategies.
Dr. Johnston has written on German policy decision-making and the politics of military intervention, international public opinion and media and politics, and U.S. and transatlantic foreign and defense policy. As the WIIS Research Director, Dr. Johnston published Enhancing Security II: Women’s Participation in the Security Forces in Latin America and the Caribbean (2023), a project that produced data on military and police security forces in 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Her most recent publications include The U.S. 2022 National Security Strategy: Balancing Cooperation and Competition in the Next Decade (February 2023), Cooperation and Competition in the Arctic (March 2023), and China, Latin America, and the United States: Geopolitical Impacts and New Challenges (January 2025).

Garret Martin is a Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer, and the Co-Director of the Transatlantic Policy Center, in the School of International Service. He has written widely on transatlantic relations and Europe, both in the field of history and contemporary affairs, and focuses in particular on security, US foreign policy, NATO, European politics, European foreign policy and defense, Europe, the European Union, France and the UK. He is a frequent media commentator, providing analysis and interviews, among others, to NPR, the BBC, CNN, Voice of America, USA Today, WUSA, ABC News Australia and France 24.

Stephen Silvia is Professor in the School of International Service and a member of the Politics, Governance & Economics Department. He teaches international economics, international relations and comparative politics. He researches comparative labor employment relations, and comparative economic policy, with a focus on Germany and the United States. He is also the author of the recent book “The UAW’s Southern Gamble: Organizing Workers at Foreign-Owned Vehicle Plants” (2023) as well as of “Holding the Shop Together: German Industrial Relations in the Postwar” (2013).

What next for Germany, the EU, and Transatlantic Relations?