The German government could no longer ignore that it was the target of a full-on propaganda attack, including very public trolling by the Russian foreign minister.
Germany
Germany’s crooked path over the past century is a tale of depravity followed by penance and redemption. When I was growing up, Germany’s division seemed like just punishment for the crimes of Nazism.
When I arrived in Germany as an exchange student in 1990, nobody could fully grasp the implications of the country’s sudden reunification. Today we know the European Union’s extraordinary expansion eastward would have been unthinkable without it.
Even though I know it better than any other European country, Germany still amazes me with its conservatism. An emphasis on tradition translates into attention to quality and a healthy skepticism toward technology. But it also means inflexibility and a reluctance to change.
How Angela Merkel Became the Last Best Hope for European Liberalism
The influx of refugees isn’t a “German problem.” It is the deepest crisis in the EU’s existence — and a fight for the liberal values that define it.
Germany: Reunited for 25 Years and It Doesn’t Always Feel So Good
Today’s dividing lines are between Germans who have accepted the reality of globalization and those who deny it by shrouding themselves in nationalism.
Why It’s So Hard for Germany to Lead on the Migrant Crisis – or Anything Else
In Germany, even the semantics of the word “to lead” — fuehren — are loaded because of associations with Adolf Hitler.
A European Disaster
A refugee crisis is exposing the cracks in a continent that was supposedly whole and free.
Germany’s Assumptions About Peace and Power Are Out of Sync With Reality
Before the fighting broke out in Ukraine, Germany behaved like a big Switzerland, with no obvious interests abroad apart from developing new markets for its exports.
Moscow Uses Tanks, Berlin Words in World War II Commemorations
In an irony of history, Germany is now the one country that has the moral authority to bridge the contradictions in remembering World War II.
Germany Finally Seeing Vladimir Putin for Who He Really Is
Ready or not, Angela Merkel has become the West’s unlikely leader of the pro-Ukrainian cause.
Germany’s Anti-Immigrant PEGIDA Isn’t a Vladimir Putin Plot. It’s Scarier.
What’s most striking about the movement is not the radicalism, but the ordinariness, of the people it attracts.
The Charlie Hebdo Effect
While politicians call for tolerance and calm, an increasing number of Germans see a gap with their elected officials, especially on hot-button issues like immigration.
