Europe's Lonely Liberal Hegemon

Europe's Lonely Liberal Hegemon

Merkel opened the doors to the refugees Hungary didn’t want because she accepted Germany’s role as Europe’s default liberal political hegemon — redemption and moral superiority were not driving factors. Germany’s willingness to act as a temporary “protection giver of last resort” reflected its desire to avert a humanitarian disaster at the heart of the EU and buy the Continent time to come up with a multilateral solution to the crisis. It was always clear that this move would come at a high cost. Merkel is under no illusions that the German electorate is any more virtuous than those of its European neighbors. But she was willing to invest her political capital and temporarily bear the political costs at home. In doing so, she has pursued unsentimental realpolitik.

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