Yet now, just months later, the panic appears to have been premature. The German public displayed responsibility and, if the polls are correct, its pro-European consciousness has surged in light of threats from both East and West. According to the latest surveys, the far-right party will, after all, enter the Bundestag for the first time, and may even be the third-largest party, but it’s not expected to pose a threat to Frau Merkel. [...]
When President Barack Obama left the stage, Chancellor Angela Merkel looked isolated, almost fragile, but at home and on the international stage. But with sangfroid, she succeeded in taking back the reins. During her 12 years in power, Merkel has succeeded in adopting in succession the approaches of the political movements and trends that threatened her, thus neutralizing them. She coopted elements from the left’s social policy, the liberals’ privatization plans and the clean energy of the Greens, along with the law-and-order of the extreme right. [...]
Europe is surrounding itself with walls, disconnecting both from the refugee influx and from the vicissitudes of American political life. Trump is like King Kong, an American hulk who’s fortunately stuck on the other side of the pond, fighting with bare hands against hurricanes and weird rulers in Asia, while Europe screws up its face. In the end, Trump has actually strengthened Europe, brought it back to its senses and united it around liberalism and a common identity.
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