Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

friedrich merz

​Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, at a polling site in the Queens borough of New York City, USA, on November 4, 2025.
What We're Watching

What We’re Watching: Some Americans head to the polls, German U-turn on Syrian asylum policy, Russia may have to find new oil buyers

Chancellor-designate Friedrich Merz (CDU) is standing in the Bundestag election for Chancellor. CDU leader Friedrich Merz has failed the first round of voting in the Bundestag election for Chancellor.
What We're Watching

Friedrich Merz fails to secure chancellorship in shock vote

Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz did not become Germany’s chancellor as planned on Tuesday after at least 18 members of his coalition either abstained or voted against him.

Inaugural session of the German lower house of Parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin
What We're Watching

Germany's new parliament faces historic challenges

On Tuesday, newly elected members of the Bundestag took their oaths and their seats at a historic moment for Germany. Friedrich Merz of the center-right CDU/CSU remains in talks with the center-left SPD in hopes of forming a government in the coming weeks.

Friedrich Merz, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Alice Weidel
Europe

Can Friedrich Merz be the leader Germany – and Europe – needs?

As expected, Friedrich Merz is set to become the next German chancellor after his conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) won one of the tightest and highest-turnout elections in the country’s postwar history.

Germany's close election limits its ability to lead Europe
Quick Take

Germany's close election limits its ability to lead Europe

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Germany’s election results are in, with the far-right AfD party expanding their vote share to second place. Ian Bremmer looks at what the outcome means for the future of Europe and the transatlantic alliance.

​German conservative CDU candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a campaign event in Vechta, Germany, on Feb. 19, 2025.
What We're Watching

Election-eve shifts in Germany?

The CDU/CSU is very likely to win, making Friedrich Merz the country’s new chancellor. But he’s likely to lead a coalition government with a weak mandate, in part because he has vowed to reject any cooperation with the AfD.

​Friedrich Merz
What We're Watching

Talk vs. tariffs: Two strategies to tackle Donald Trump

As US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, leaders in the world’s two largest trading blocs — China and the EU — are revealing their starkly different strategies for dealing with his “America First” trade policies.