Another major country has flipped politically to the conservative column. After three years of a drifting center-left coalition government, voters elected a conservative (small c) Christian Democratic Union CDU government in Germany’s parliamentary elections. Yet what was expected to be a massive win for the likely new chancellor, Frederich Merz, became a bit disappointing when his party gained 28.5 percent of the vote.

The outgoing Social Democrats (SPD) under Olaf Scholz were handed a “bitter defeat” with a 16.4 percent vote share while their coalition partner, the Greens, slipped to 11.6 percent. Ominously, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to 20.8 percent, double its tally of four years ago. The socialist Left Party gained 8 percent.

Given that no party holds 316 seats to form a majority in the 630-seat Bundestag in Berlin, now comes the tough task of cobbling together a coalition. Significantly, the winning CDU and their Bavarian sister party, CSU, refuse to cooperate or form a government with AfD.

There were three key issues in the German election: the economy, Ukraine, and illegal migration.

The Economy

Germany’s once-vaunted gross domestic product numbers have been grim and lagging; between 2019 and 2024, while the eurozone has grown 4 percent and the USA over 10........

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