AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
Why Germany’s Angela Merkel is the last hope for western ideals.
So, as Barack Obama prepares to leave office, we may now know what the next “leader of the free world” looks like.
No, I don’t mean that slightly overweight American bully, with his orange hair, who seemingly sleeps in his navy blue business suit. I mean someone completely different.
With Donald Trump’s unlikely election as the next U.S. president, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany — a scientist by training, fluent in Russian and born 62 years ago in communist East Germany — is increasingly being seen as the last leader left in defence of the post-Second World War international order.
That was evident on Thursday in Berlin. The dramatic, somewhat emotional final meeting between Merkel and President Obama was a poignant and historic encounter.
When they first started working together in 2009, after Obama was elected, there were personal and political frictions. But that gradually transformed into a smooth partnership between the two leaders, and between the United States and Germany.
In their final news conference, it was as if Obama was handing the mantle of western leadership to the German chancellor.
They both talked about their history of “shared values,” the importance of close co-operation between the United States and Europe and the need “to stand up to Russia” when international security is at stake.
But they were not only talking to their respective national audiences. In essence, they were aiming their sharp remarks at Trump himself.
Trump’s election — declared in the early morning hours of Nov. 9 — is seen in much of Europe as a watershed, and there is considerable foreboding. Nowhere is this more deeply felt than in Germany’s capital, Berlin.
It was on Nov. 9, 1989, when — not far from where Obama and Merkel were speaking on Thursday — the Berlin Wall separating East and West Germany came down. And it was on Nov. 9, 1938, when — on Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass” — Nazis accelerated their rise in Germany by attacking Jewish synagogues, homes and shops.
In Germany, the ghosts of the past are never forgotten.
If Trump’s election on Nov. 9 also proves to be a historic turning point, in what direction will it take the world?
Trump’s foreign policy proposals during the presidential campaign, although often incoherent and contradictory, point to a dramatic change to the international world order in place since the end of the Second World War. He wants to abandon the global trading system, divide the western security alliance and scrap the nuclear treaty with Iran.
The anti-establishment, often-racist populism that fuelled Trump’s victory is also rampant in Europe. It was at the core of Britain’s surprising Brexit vote in June and will likely lead to the defeat of French President François Hollande in elections next spring.
As for Merkel, she has been in office for 11 years and, if she chooses to run, will stand for election again next September.
Although she earned considerable international respect for her handling of the refugee crisis, she has suffered a political backlash within Germany. There was some speculation that she would step down.
But the challenge of Trump ironically strengthened her position and she is expected to announce — perhaps as early as this weekend — that she will run again.
Much of the worry in Europe focuses on Trump’s odd infatuation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In his campaign, he spoke often of being able “to do a deal” with Putin. That leaves most European leaders appalled.
As if to prove their fears, it is striking how Putin dealt with Trump this week. On Monday, Putin and Trump spoke by telephone. The Kremlin said the two leaders agreed on the need for joint efforts to fight terrorism.
But on Tuesday morning, only hours after the call, Russia launched its long-awaited offensive across Syria, with particular aim at the besieged city of Aleppo.
It is widely believed that Russia and the Syrian regime are trying to exploit Trump’s victory by demolishing the opposition forces backed by the United States and Europe.
This pattern of events, perhaps a hint of what is to come in this new era, probably took few western leaders by surprise. And certainly not Obama or Merkel.
Susan Delacourt will return next week.