Merkel, after 11 years at the helm, now looks increasingly like the only bulwark of stability and liberal freedom among Western allies. "Merkel... has suddenly become the most important leader of the free, democratic and liberal world," said the left-leaning TAZ daily. The historian and columnist Timothy Garton Ash agreed in an editorial for Britain's Guardian newspaper: "I'm tempted to say that the leader of the free world is now Angela Merkel." Merkel, 62, does not have Obama's oratorical flourishes but her voice is increasingly forceful on the world stage. Merkel is probably now the "strongest leader in the liberal world but she can't do this alone", said Daniela Schwarzer, director of the DGAP think-tank.

Source: Bangkok Post November 16, 2016 07:47 UTC