Germany's Identity Crisis

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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.

Credits

Guests:

  • David Crawford - Berlin Correspondent, Wall Street Journal
  • Christian Hoffman - Director of an international scholarship program for Muslim students
  • Josef Joffe - Die Zeit / Hoover Institution / Freeman Spogli Institute - @DieZeit
  • Matti Bunzl - Professor of Anthropology and History, University of Illinois

Host:

Warren Olney