It looks like Nicolas Sarkozy’s pet foreign-policy idea has been sporked, good and proper; his idea of a “Mediterranean Union” is now officially an ex-parrot, after it failed to get German support. As we’ve been saying right back to 2005, the key fact of European politics at the moment is that Angela Merkel has achieved [...]

God knows I’ve been snarky about German lefties before. Look, not everyone who disagrees with you is a Nazi. Lectures are not a form of rape. Osama bin Laden is not on the side of eco-feminism. (The last one is a true story, although Austrian rather than German.) But it’s very true that the modern [...]

It’s been said in the past - indeed, it used to be conventional wisdom - that unlikely right-wing governments were more likely to make peace, because they enjoyed credibility and a tough reputation. More obviously, conservatives long enjoyed a reputation for “fiscal credibility”, which supposedly helped them to control inflation by giving the impression that [...]

Remember that book by Matthias Matussek we fisked some time ago? Well, a telling quote from it was that Weltverbesserungsmassnahmen - measures to improve the world - were supposedly a very German notion. I’m not sure about this - I suspect they are more a (very broadly) left-wing notion, although one that must include the [...]

Fresh from asking G. W. Bush to put an end to Guantanamo, Anglea Merkel is now in Moscow. High on the list will be both Iran, and democracy in Russia. Quite timely really that someone who grew up in East Germany and can read the riot act to him in her most charming Russian should [...]

As Emmanuel rightly noted, “the other big winner of the (EU) summit is of course Angela Merkel”. As he also goes on to note, “the Süddeutsche Zeitung may be overdoing it with a “the Angela-summit” title, but Merkel has emerged, somewhat unexpectedly considering her lack of experience at the European level….”.
Well, it seems that [...]

Many thanks to David for offering me a chance to raise my profile just before the second edition of the Satin Pajama Awards with a two-weeks guest-blogging stint here at AFOE.
For the 99% of you who don’t already know me, I usually display my limited knowledge of economics and politics at my own blog [...]

This much is uncontroversial: in late 2003 the CIA kidnapped Khalid al-Masri, a Lebanese-born German citizen, and carried him off to a prison in Afghanistan for interrogation. In the end they released him when they realised that his only crime was to have the same name as some other man they wanted to get [...]

Angela Merkel sets an ambitious and optimistic note in her opening speech, going back to the ‘postwar reconstruction’ theme raised in her election campaign. Fine words, and why not, but unfortunately it will need more than good intentions to get to grips with Germany’s present day problems:
Angela Merkel on Wednesday called for a “second reconstruction” [...]

FT says a deal will be reached shortly, and Merkel will be chancellor. Schr�der is out.

Ms Merkel’s expected victory in the battle for the chancellorship is likely to be announced on Monday, following a meeting on Sunday evening in Berlin between Mr Schr�der and Ms Merkel, according to the SPD politicians, who spoke on condition [...]