Merkel calm mother of German prosperity
There is little doubt over the outcome of the national elections in Germany on Sunday. There has been little doubt for months. As long as the Rhine flows, the Black Forest stands and Lake Constance shimmers, Angela Merkel will remain chancellor.
It is written. She will win a fourth term, the longest-serving leader of the post-war era after Helmut Kohl.
In a world of upheaval, her survival is remarkable. The last 18 months have brought epochal reversals of fortune: Donald Trump’s white nationalism, Brexit and the end of David Cameron, Emmanuel Macron’s triumphant pragmatism.
In Germany, it is as if the smoke and din of the larger world have been shut out. In Germany, there is calm, consensus and Angela Merkel.
After a dozen years in office, Merkel is an emblem of a prosperous, contented Germany. More tactician than strategist, more opportunist than ideologue, she has ably navigated the shoals as a woman (though not a feminist) in national politics.
Germany is the largest, richest and most influential country in Europe. Merkel is known as Mutti, or mother. Once derogatory, it is now a term of endearment.
She heads the Christian Democratic Union. On social issues, such as gay marriage, it is conservative. Merkel is a centrist. In the world of Trump and Vladimir Putin, she is also a progressive. Her finest hour was the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015. As other countries in Europe were closing their borders, she opened hers.
You might say she had no choice. You might say that in a country with a low birth rate and a falling population, it made economic sense. You might know she eventually made a deal with Turkey to stem the flow.
Politically, though, it was dynamite. Two years on, a million or so refugees have settled in Germany reasonably well. She insisted it was the right thing to do, despite the dangers. She is the heroine of Europe.
What is so striking about Merkel is her self-effacement. She plays the political game without the statutory ego that afflicts its practitioners everywhere.
As a physical chemist, she is deliberative and methodical, reducing politics to particles. As a girl, it is said, she spent an entire swimming lesson at the end of the diving board, contemplating the dive. Only at the end, after considering depth and distance, did she take the plunge.
Of course, the past is never past in Germany. Unlike Russia, Austria and Japan, though, the country faces it squarely in its monuments, memorials and museums. It honours public memory.
It is one of many things Germany does right: It runs a clean, efficient economy with generous social benefits and labour innovation. It embraces quiet, fast trains, energy conservation, a vibrant culture and livable cities. Berlin is unlike anywhere on earth.
Quality matters. Germans care. Its foreign service is exemplary.
You see this in Sabine Sparwasser, Germany’s new ambassador to Canada. She is smart, seasoned, elegant and imaginative. Having served here twice before, she is married to a Canadian. Her affection for Canada is genuine.
She once told me – I have known her for years – that her career in diplomacy is a personal act of redemption for Germany’s past. She had nothing to do with that past, of course, but as a young woman starting out, she so wanted to be proud of her country, like the British and the French are.
Oh, she can be proud of Germany today. She can be proud that it is led by the world’s most enduring, successful democrat. Years from now, they will call this the Age of Merkel. — Andrew Cohen is a journalist, professor and author.