Merkel Will Enter History as the Neville Chamberlain of Our Time
The former German chancellor, like the 1930s' British prime minister, will be remembered for appeasing an aggressive tyrant.
So much to say.
Photographer: John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images
There she was again, six months after exiting the German chancellery. Relaxed but pensive after long walks on blustering Baltic shores listening to Macbeth on audiobook, Angela Merkel had so much on her mind, so much she wanted to explain for posterity. But she didn’t come to offer apologies or mea culpas.
Reflecting on decades of interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Merkel said she’d always known that commerce and dialogue alone wouldn’t turn him into a good neighbor. But what was Germany supposed to do: Ignore the largest country on its continent?