Germany Enters Dangerous, Uncharted Waters

After weeks of tottering on the edge, Germany this week fell into full-blown political crisis.

On Sunday, the Free Democrats pulled out of discussions to form a coalition government. This caused the four-party negotiations to collapse.

Germany is in uncharted waters politically. This situation is unprecedented. The nation hasn’t experienced this much ambiguity and political instability since the Weimar years of the 1920s.

Der Spiegel wrote this week that this “is an unprecedented moment of uncertainty for a country that prizes stability and predictability above all else.” It is also reported that it is “difficult to overstate the impact of the collapsed talks.”

Right now Germany’s president is trying to persuade the parties to resume coalition negotiations. There is the slight possibility of a grand coalition between the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats. But it seems the most likely option is that Germany will have another national election.

Again, this is unprecedented!

If Germany has another reelection, the earliest it could happen would be February or March. Following that election, Germany would probably need a month or two to negotiate a coalition government. So the way it looks right now, Germany is not going to have a stable, functioning government until at least May or June 2018!

This is a big deal.

German is a world power and other nations depend on its leadership. Germany has a voice in every major conversation in Europe and the European Union. It’s key to the Brexit negotiations. Germany plays a role in any Western interaction with Russia. Now here we are in a situation in which Germany is pretty much incapable of leading and influencing, at least in a meaningful way.

I have four general observations.

First, and perhaps most obviously: This is almost certainly the end for Angela Merkel.

This is almost an accepted reality now, and people are talking about who might become Germany’s next chancellor. Whoever it is, this person will have enormous influence in Europe and globally. The Trumpet, as our regular readers know, is keeping a close eye on Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.

Second, Germany is no longer the predictable, stable nation we’ve come to depend on.

More specifically, Germany is no longer the predictable, stable nation the German people have come to depend on. The Germans, as Der Spiegel noted, do not like instability and uncertainty. The more anxious they become, the more vulnerable they are to extreme ideologies.

Which leads me to my third point, and that is that Germany is effectively leaderless at a time of significant cultural and social change inside the nation.

Anti-immigrant, anti-government sentiment is welling inside Germany. Germans are increasingly unhappy with the way the nation is being managed. Many feel threatened—by migrants and by economic uncertainty.

And as long as Germany’s leaders are trying to figure out the government, no one is paying much attention to addressing the fears of the German people. This will make Germany even more prone to extreme parties and extreme views.

And this leads to my fourth observation, which is that this political crisis is, in many ways, a distraction from a much deeper national crisis.

Germany is in this position politically because the German people in September’s election expressed tremendous disdain for the mainstream parties. The German public is unhappy and increasingly fearful and anxious. This political crisis is simply a symptom of this much more worrying problem.

And this is the issue we are watching closely!

Conditions in Germany right now are ripe for the emergence of extreme politics, extreme ideologies, and some extreme solutions.

This is what Bible prophecy tells us we can expect, and it’s also what history tells us we can expect.

This crisis is actually a huge opportunity for the right kind of leader. Germany is crying out for a certain type of leader: someone with strong views and strong leadership; someone with serious, meaningful solutions; someone who can soothe the nation’s fears and anxieties and bring some stability to its politics.

Who is this man? It looks as if we are about to find out.