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Germany Battles WWII Ghosts as Merkel Urges Wider World Role

  • Merkel breaks ranks to urge talks with Assad on Syria peace
  • Schaeuble: Germany's past no excuse to shirk responsibility
German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Photographer: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images
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Europe’s dominant country is stepping out from its own shadow.

Seventy years after Germany’s defeat at the end of World War II, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is signaling a willingness to assume a bigger role in tackling the world’s crises without fear of offending allies like the U.S.