[S] Transatlantic Relations in Years of Crises and Elections - WS 2025/26

This seminar examines transatlantic relations in an era of Zeitenwende—a turning point defined by overlapping crises, contested elections, and shifting power balances. In 2026, from the U.S. midterms to local votes in France and Saxony-Anhalt, domestic politics increasingly intertwine with foreign, economic, and security agendas. The emerging triad of re-armament, potential re-carbonization, and re-alignment captures the competing imperatives reshaping both sides of the Atlantic. Amid democratic backsliding, economic dislocation, and deepening east–west divides, the liberal order faces mounting internal and external tests. At the same time, new non-state actors—from tech magnates to post-liberal transnational movements—diversify diplomacy, governance, and cooperation. Through theoretical debates and regional case studies—from the American Midwest to Eastern Germany—students will explore how inner transformations reverberate outward, redefining the substance and direction of U.S.–European relations in an age of polycrisis.