Preparing to leave after 16 years full of achievements and failures
Merkel forces her male counterparts to abandon their arrogance and avoid falling into their provocations
Opinion and think tanks have described Merkel as the protector of the "liberal international order".
From the source
She takes pictures with refugees.
From the source
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel was not planning to run for a fourth term as chancellor, but the reason for her retraction was the victory of former US President Donald Trump in the White House in 2016. Eight days after the end of the US elections with Trump's victory, outgoing US President Barack Obama flew To Berlin to bid her farewell, and during dinner at the luxurious Adlon Hotel, he pleaded with her to run for another term in order to unite the West and the world in the face of Trump's possible policy, and four days later Merkel announced her candidacy.
Many believe this is the brightest aspect of Merkel's legacy, when she retires this fall after 16 years in office, as no other leader like her has worked so tirelessly to keep domestic, European and global politics from unraveling, but there seems to be a lot going on. From the highlights and failures in her career.
Protector of the "liberal international order"
Think tanks have described Merkel as the protector of the "liberal international order".
Some journalists have chosen more attractive titles, including "defender of the free world," and believe that Merkel rescued pluralism and international cooperation from the global onslaught of nationalism and chauvinism.
Frankly, Merkel has never endorsed this label.
The only time she tacitly agreed to her was during a graduation speech she was invited to at Harvard in 2019, where she addressed a large audience of America's progressive elites, and although she never mentioned Trump by name, she urged graduates to "break down the walls of ignorance and parochialism." and “to take joint action in favor of a multipolar and inclusive world.”
Back in Germany, the Germans remained at a loss.
Rarely did they hear their counselor speak to them with such simplicity and affection.
The Merkel they know is a chemist who lives in the world of mathematics and runs inside the virus communities, they call her "my death", or (the mother), and she reminds them to wear masks, or to abide by legislation.
It was often the case for them.
At home, Merkel is the leader of the "post-championship German" period, after the shocks suffered by Germany in two world wars, both of which she lost.
Other German leaders may look to appeal to their fellow citizens, but Merkel aims to numb Germans and make them forget everything they have been arguing about.
split
There is a split in perceptions of Merkel inside and outside Germany.
Anglo-American journalists in particular have described the chancellor as a super-powerful mastermind, whose iron will influences Brussels, the G-7 or G-20, and during ministerial meetings or leaders wherever that may be.
On the contrary, her citizens generally see her as leading from the centre, i.e. "leading social change".
She rarely said what she was thinking unless she had to.
A veteran of German politics, like Merkel, a former East German, told me that such behavior is common among people who have grown up in the arms of a communist dictatorship and fear that their opinions will later get them into trouble.
But there is another explanation for why Merkel often leads from the center - or from behind, if you prefer, since on most issues she does not have strong opinions.
One of the main criticisms from within the CDU was that she is not really conservative, and that she is convinced her party's leadership of the turtle-like "Social Democracy".
perfect leader
This characteristic made Merkel an exemplary leader in the governing arrangements in which she remained. During three of her four terms, or 12 of her 16 years in the chancellorship, she found herself in alliances with the centre-left Social Democrats.
The American equivalent of that arrangement is administration shared by Republicans and Democrats, as we can't imagine, but for someone with the ability to hold opposites together, the challenge is interesting, but no one outside has noticed all these contradictions;
So a critique of Merkel's legacy should start with the things she neglected — the reforms — and the things she doesn't bother with.
No real economic reform took place in Germany during her reign, but rather under the era of her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder. At a time when the German economy was called the “sick economy of Europe,” Schroeder liberalized the labor market, which led to an increase in job opportunities, but it led Also to the emergence of a large sector of low wages.
Separately, German employers and unions have agreed to keep wages low for years to come, especially in the export sectors.
This economy that Schröder reformed is what Merkel inherited in 2005. On the plus side, it has led to a long-term employment boom that some economists have called the “second economic miracle” (the first occurred in the immediate postwar years).
On the negative side, wage controls themselves not only made German industry more competitive, but also distorted the eurozone and even the global economy. If Germany kept the German mark, its currency would appreciate.
But as part of the currency union, the German economy actually fell in comparison to the others, and as a result the country's current account surpluses became the largest in the world for several consecutive years.
Everyone from Brussels to Washington was angry.
Disorder management
When it comes to managing turmoil, Merkel has a track record of failure in this aspect, beginning in her first term, when crises began to pile up.
The financial crisis set in in the US in 2008, and a year later it engulfed the eurozone, nearly forcing Greece out of the monetary union, and causing bitter divisions between the EU's north and south.
Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014, a year later more than a million refugees from the Middle East walked through the Balkans to Germany, and now COVID-19 is spreading.
In many of these crises, Merkel played a large role involving different people, groups or countries.
During the euro crisis, for example, Merkel embodied to southern Europeans and conservative Germans all the policies they had kept loathing.
The European Mediterranean countries portrayed her as someone calling for extreme austerity for people who desperately need a living.
German conservatives denounced her for violating European rules for pumping the German tax euro into the endless sinkhole of the Mediterranean.
We note today that Merkel has not actually solved the euro crisis, and this crisis may be repeated, and no financial or banking union has been completed during her reign, largely due to the German veto.
This failure negatively impacts her legacy, as she often manages situations rather than fixes them.
Fixed mode
But the situation never collapsed, no country left the monetary union, and Greece, Spain and other countries affected by the crisis reconciled with Merkel and the North.
Moreover, German politicians today approved the bailouts that have already taken place, even agreeing to support Merkel in the first issuance of EU common bonds later this year, a previously banned initiative seen by some Europeans as the seed of fiscal union.
So at the European and domestic levels, Merkel put things together, and what she thought all along was how much pain or humiliation each interest group could bear, and how to find a new balance of concessions.
In an alternative scenario without Merkel, the eurozone may now have collapsed.
It has performed similarly in the ongoing confrontation between the West and Putin.
In talks in Minsk and elsewhere, Merkel - often with the French and Ukrainian presidents - has prevented possibly worst Russian aggression against Ukraine, and has kept the divided European Union united behind sanctions against Russia.
Merkel, a fluent Russian-speaking former East German, is the only Western leader Putin, a former KGB agent who learned German while in Dresden, respects.
Merkel's decision in 2015 not to close the borders to incoming immigrants appears to have divided Germans deeply. Many welcomed the migrants huddled at Munich train station, and others were stunned and frightened by the foreign influx.
Within a year, disagreement within her conservative bloc nearly brought down her government.
Merkel also divided the European Union, as she did not coordinate with partner countries during the refugee crisis.
Since then, Hungary, Poland and a few other countries have been angry about it, blocking immigration reforms in Europe and many other things.
As usual, Merkel gradually changed tack and began to tighten immigration policy, issuing stricter rules on asylum, integration, deportation, and more. But the question remains: What seemed to make her react to the refugee crisis in 2015?
I don't think that's out of her character. Merkel has a moral compass whose true north is decency, the daughter of a Lutheran priest, and a religious woman, though she doesn't brag about it.
I remember a meeting when someone asked her what she was reading, and she replied: A book about mercy.
She also feels, like many of her fellow citizens, that post-Nazi Germany has a moral and historical duty to help people fleeing war.
After 16 years, Merkel will have experienced during her tenure five British prime ministers, four American and French presidents, and countless summits.
In a way, Merkel has outlasted all her rivals and opponents, both domestic and foreign.
And she did more than that, taking control of that bloated ego, a habit of males at negotiating tables, forcing her male counterparts off their perches and avoiding relegation to their provocations.
One of the lessons of Merkel's era for emerging leaders is to keep their ego in check. When others can't control themselves, they can't control power.
The most vital character trait—which voters should often look for in candidates—is lack of arrogance.
This is well assured by Merkel, who is the least arrogant world leader today.
• After 16 years, Merkel will have experienced during her presidency five British prime ministers, four American and French presidents, and countless summit conferences. Today, she is the least arrogant of the world's leaders.
• Merkel, a fluent Russian ex-East German, is the only Western leader that Putin, a former KGB agent, who learned German while in Dresden respects.
Andreas Kluth is an opinion columnist for Bloomberg.
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