Germany Reignites Debate on Multiculturalism, Integration

Making News

One-Quarter of Ballots Nullified for Fraud in Afghan Elections ()

Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission has thrown out almost 25 percent of the 5.6 million votes cast in last month's parliamentary election. The issues are fraud and corruption, including citizens forced to cast votes at gunpoint. Alissa Rubin is Kabul Bureau Chief for the New York Times.

Guests:

• Alissa Johannsen Rubin: Kabul Bureau Chief, New York Times, @alissanyt

Main Topic

Germany's Identity Crisis ()

Memories of the Holocaust made Germany sensitive to ethnic discrimination after the Second World War. The country's demand for cheap labor has produced a Turkish minority two million strong in a nation of 80 million. New immigration laws allow Germany citizenship, but the Turks are living in ethnic ghettos, featuring women in veils and street signs in Turkish.  Chancellor Angela Merkel says "multiculturalism" is a failure and that it's time for a change. Have the Turks refused to assimilate, or are they unwelcome? A best-selling anti-Islamic book has raised fears of a right-wing nationalism that's all too familiar given Germany's Nazi past.

Guests:

• David Crawford: Berlin Correspondent, Wall Street Journal
• Christian Hoffman: Director of an international scholarship program for Muslim students
• Josef Joffe: Publisher and Editor, Die Zeit
• Matti Bunzl: Professor of Anthropology and History, University of Illinois

Links:

• Crawford on Hitler exhibition that challenges Germans
• Hoffman on the struggle for Muslim integration in Germany
• Bunzl's 'Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia: Hatreds Old and New in Europe'

Reporter's Notebook

Pentagon Suspends 'Don't Ask Don't Tell,' but Appeals Order ()

The Pentagon has ordered military recruiters to accept applicants who volunteer that they’re gay or lesbian. But the applicants also have to be told that could change. It’s all about the likely appeal of a judge’s order that 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. One of the best known soldiers discharged when his homosexuality became known is former Army Lieutenant Dan Choi. Yesterday in Times Square, he re-enlisted. John Schwartz is domestic correspondent for the New York Times.

Guests:

• John Schwartz: Legal Reporter, New York Times