California’s High Speed Rail Should Look Like Germany’s

Stations Can Be Vital Public Spaces That Provide Space for People to Gather, Shop, and Be Entertained

Will California’s high-speed rail system be German enough?

That question is not a joke, as I learned last month while riding Germany’s popular high-speed rail. In fact, it’s a more important question than the ones Californians have been myopically asking for years about the costs, funding, and construction deadlines of the state’s controversial project.

The value of high-speed rail does not lie in the cost or speed of trains, but rather in the ability of such projects to anchor deep connections—between transportation hubs, between cultural attractions, between cities, between job sites. And …

By Joe Mathews | November 5, 2015

Learning in the Midst of a Humanitarian Crisis

In Its Struggle to Respond to a Massive Surge of Refugees, the EU Needs a More Collaborative and Global Approach

by Joe Mathews | October 23, 2015

Europe’s current refugee crisis offers many good examples for how to better deal with the 19 million refugees around the world—and a host of hard lessons about mistakes to avoid, …

Germany Is No Stranger to Refugee Crises

The Country's Current Reaction to the Influx of Newcomers Suggests that Lessons from the Past Have Been Learned

By Gregor Thum | October 21, 2015

“If we now have to start apologizing for showing a friendly face in response to emergency situations, then that’s not my country.” With these words, German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended …

Europe Cannot Be Run From Berlin

As Issues Like the Refugee Crisis Continue to Affect the European Union, Its Members Still Struggle to Find Solidarity

By Hans Kundnani | October 21, 2015

Since the euro crisis began, it is has become commonplace to speak of a “German Europe” emerging from it. In one sense, the description is apt: As the largest creditor …

Germans Need to Understand that the Refugee Crisis Is Not About Them

The Desire to Atone is Admirable, but It Isn't the Same as Real Empathy

By Fabian Wolff | October 21, 2015

There are two types of people in Germany right now: refugees and people talking about refugees. Recently a friend of mine was telling a group of us about his volunteer …

Don’t Blame Germany for Greece’s Debt Crisis

No Country Has Done More to Democratize and Raise Europe's Living Standards

by Andrés Martinez | August 3, 2015

Germany knows a thing or two about being punished for bad deeds, but in recent weeks the country has been the poster child for the old adage that no good …

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