The End of an Era: Angela Merkel - German Foreign Policy Part II

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By Ruth Kae

In 2018, Angela Merkel was named the fourth most powerful person in the world by Forbes magazine, following after Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, and in 2019 the most powerful woman in the world, before Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank. Although it should be avoided to link Merkel's role in international politics with her gender, it should be noted that she has worked her way up to a leading role in the male-dominated scene for 15 years. Thus she has become a role model for many young women not only in Germany. 

Since 2005 Merkel has faced, besides the financial crisis in 2008 and the refugee crisis in 2015, numerous challenges that have shaped the relationship to other important international players such as the US. 

Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Donald Trump at a NATO meeting in London, 2019 (Al Drago | New York Times)

After the relationship with the US was damaged because Germany refused to join the Iraq war in 2003, Angela Merkel managed to renew and improve relations, when she was elected in 2005. Merkel is one of 500 members of the “Atlantic Bridge”, a private, non-party and non-profit association to improve the cooperation between Germany and the United States not only politically but also economically. The personal relationship between Merkel and the current president has always defined the collaboration of the US and Germany and was and continues to be an important factor for the success and cooperation of NATO. While President Barack Obama supported Merkel's decision during the refugee crisis in 2015 by calling her courageous and naming her his “closest international partner these last eight years” at the end of his term, the relationship between Trump and Merkel has been more strained from the beginning. One of Trump's strongest points of criticism was about Germany’s role in NATO and its financial reliability. Because Germany’s military spending is with 1.3% of the GDP still under the agreed 2%, Trump openly accused Germany of being controlled by Russia, which is Germany’s partner in the pipeline project, North Stream 2. In an interview at the NATO summit, Angela Merkel reacted to Trump’s criticism and calmly explained that Germany has the freedom to and will make its own decisions. With Joe Biden being elected to be the 46th President of the United States and Angela Merkel's resignation in 2021 it will be interesting to see how transatlantic relations will develop.

Another important relationship regarding Germany’s foreign policy is the one between Merkel and the French President. Since the beginning of her term, Angela Merkel has worked together with four different presidents: Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande and Emmanuel Macron.

After the devastating destruction of the Second World War and the hereditary enmity between the two neighbours, Germany and France reconciled and established a special Franco-German friendship. Since then one of the most important tasks of German (and French) foreign policy has been to maintain this relationship. 

Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron at a political function in Italy. (elysee.fr)

After only two years of working together, Angela Merkel thanked Jacques Chirac for his efforts to cultivate the Franco-German collaboration at his last visit to Germany before the end of his term. In 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative politician was elected as Chirac’s successor. After a “frosty beginning”, Merkel and Sarkozy developed a special relationship which led to them being given the nickname “Merkozy”. Although the two people in this “odd couple” have had two very different styles of leadership, they cooperated, made compromises and tackled challenges like the financial crisis in 2008 together. From 2012 to 2017 François Holllande’s relationship with Merkel was characterized by ups and downs. Although the German newspaper the "Spiegel" described their relationship to be below the freezing point and according to rumors Merkel had hoped for Sarkozy's re-election, when it mattered Hollande and Merkel worked together, showed unity and supported each other, for example after the attacks on the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" in January 2015. In 2017 President Macron, a centrist politician, was elected and brought a new perspective into the relationship with the conservative Angela Merkel. Political tensions between France and Germany intensified in the course of discussions about a European army, which is one of Macron's goals for the EU. Germany has shown restraint in joining this project and Merkel has criticized Macron’s statement about NATO being brain dead. While political disagreements between Merkel and Macron exist, they get along well and she assures: “It was always like this. President Macron isn’t the first French president I have worked with, after all”. Together with France, Germany is seen as the motor of the EU. With nationalism rising in EU member countries like Hungary and Poland, the chaos around BREXIT and the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU faces great challenges and is, therefore, more than ever depending on cooperation and a leading sign from the Franco-German alliance.

The world has changed over the last 15 years and the lines between domestic and foreign policy have become blurred. The election of the next chancellor will not only determine the course of German domestic policy but also what role Germany will play in international relations. Since Merkel has acquired a respectable role in the EU and also in relations with the USA and Russia, it will be a challenge for her successor to live up to the legacy.

Part I: The End of an Era: Angela Merkel - Legacy and Successor Part I (here)

Part III: Angela Merkel’s successor and legacy (coming soon)

Ruth is a political writer for La Tonique.