Germany Has Plunged Into Unprecedented Political Chaos

Germany has long been a pillar of stability for the European Union. While many other EU countries have been beset by unstable politics and fractious parties, Germany — especially under Angela Merkel — has carried on forwards with barely a scandal or political drama to be seen.

Until now that is.

In the weeks following last month's German federal election the country has suddenly come to the realisation that it cannot form a government. In the past, grand coalitions of several major parties would work together to form a broad centrist consensus, upon which the country's political direction was built. Now, however, following the shocks of the Euro-crisis, the refugee crisis, Brexit, Trump, and many other small things, German politics has frayed. Large parties, including that of Chancellor Merkel, are losing popularity, and in their place radicals on the far-left and (more disturbingly for Germany) the far-right are gaining support.

Paul Hockenos' article for Foreign Policy looks at how this consensus unravelled and what this means for the future of Germany. It breaks down the internal politics that may very well lead to the end of Merkel's leadership, and the potential for Germany's politics to begin resembling those of its EU neighbours.

As a non-German living in Germany, I do have to wonder, however, if Germany's aura of political stability and risk-averse political culture played a role in creating this crisis. By thinking 'it could never happen here', Germans have failed to account for the messiness of democratic politics. Thus it may be better to see this 'crisis' as a normalisation of the country's politics, rather than an aberration.