22 September 2021

POLITICO: Merkel's big shoes

ELECTING A GLOBAL LEADER: With less than four days for the leading candidates to convince Germans they have what it takes to replace Angela Merkel, here’s a reminder of what people across the world have come to expect from a German chancellor:

They have to be able to play in the same league as not just the U.S. and French presidents but also authoritarian leaders such as those running China and Russia. And they need the skills to cooperate with other leaders but also to stand up to them at times.

World ❤️ Merkel: A new survey, published a short time ago, suggests there are big shoes to fill. A majority of respondents in almost every country surveyed by the Pew Research Center said they have confidence in Merkel to do the right thing in world affairs. That was the case in Canada, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., the U.S., Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan — Greece being the only country that had its doubts.

Global competition: In most places surveyed, trust in Merkel has never been higher than at the moment she prepares to leave office. She enjoys the highest confidence ratings of the five world leaders that people were asked to express views on, receiving much higher marks than Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping, which might have something to do with the fact that only democratic countries were surveyed. But Merkel also does quite well compared with Emmanuel Macron and, in many countries, Joe Biden.

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