The surprising election by Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) of two new leaders-- Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken-- who have been strongly critical of the already-shaky “grand coalition” with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU has thrown the future of German politics into question—again. At the same time, the Greens and the far-right AfD are growing in popularity and vying for power. Is the German political system going through a “slow-burning revolution”?
Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) recently elected two new leaders, Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken. Both are strongly critical of the already-shaky “grand coalition” with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU and this surprising election result has thrown the future of German politics into question—again. At the same time, the Greens and the far-right AfD are growing in popularity and vying for power. Is the German political system going through a “slow-burning revolution?"
This week on Out of Order, two of GMF’s resident explainers of German politics, Jan Techau and Sudha David-Wilp, dissect the latest drama out of Europe’s largest economy-- why it’s just starting to get interesting at home and how it will affect Germany’s role in Europe and the world.