Matthias Matthijs is an associate professor of international political economy at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
Leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Martin Schulz makes a phone call during a party congress on December 9, 2017 in Berlin.
(John MacDougall/AFP)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a press conference at the headquarters of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Berlin on September 25, 2017, one day after general elections.
Merkel woke up to a fourth term but now faces the double headache of an emboldened hard-right opposition party and thorny coalition talks ahead. / AFP PHOTO / Tobias SCHWARZ / ALTERNATIVE CROP (Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - JUNE 07: (From L to R) President of the European Council Donald Tusk, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker pose at the group photo at the summit of G7 nations at Schloss Elmau on June 7, 2015 near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. In the course of the two-day summit G7 leaders are scheduled to discuss global economic and security issues, as well as pressing global health-related issues, including antibiotics-resistant bacteria and Ebola. Several thousand protesters have announced they will seek to march towards Schloss Elmau and at least 17,000 police are on hand to provide security. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
