Germany : time for soul searching - Le Monde diplomatique

/germany-time-for-soul-searching

  • Germany: time for soul searching, by Nils Röper
    http://mondediplo.com/blogs/germany-time-for-soul-searching

    “America, you’ve got it better, [...] your heart is not troubled, in lively pursuits, by useless old remembrance and empty disputes.” These words by Goethe in 1827 could hardly be more untimely. Yet, when it comes to the main talking point on both sides of the Atlantic — immigration — Goethe’s wistful envy must capture Angela Merkel’s current thinking all too well. The world’s most powerful woman is struggling as the migration crisis lays bare Germany’s national identity problem.

    The country has come to terms with its past and is praised internationally for this: many polls have #Germany as the world’s most popular country. Today’s Germans have grown comfortable, proudly waving flags when their national soccer team is playing. EU politics in recent years are a testimony to the country’s political emancipation from the sins of the past century. [#st]

    http://zinc.mondediplo.net/messages/13376 via Le Monde diplomatique