The German dream of centrist, stable government has been dashed by geopolitical forces and the cult of balanced budgets

Wednesday 6 November was a seismic day in the politics of the west. On one side of the Atlantic, it was confirmed in the early hours of the morning that the hard-right nationalist Donald Trump had been elected president of the US; on the other side, the government running Europe’s largest economy – Germany’s traffic-light coalition of social democrats, market liberals and greens – collapsed. It could hardly have come at a worse time.

The breakdown of the feuding Berlin alliance will leave a political vacuum in Germany for months, just when the EU needs decisive leadership. Instead, the country faces months of introspective electioneering, followed by protracted coalition negotiations, with investment and public spending on hold.

Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre

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