From Dominique Moisi, Project Syndicate:  [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel has changed profoundly while in office. Five years ago, she did not exude the natural authority that she now possesses. Today, like Pope Francis, she is clearly at ease with herself. Has there been a French president since François Mitterrand who was truly a match for a German chancellor? If France has replaced Germany as “the sick man of Europe,” it is for political reasons, above all: vision, courage, and strength on the northern side of the Rhine, and vacillation, inertia, and weakness on the southern. . . .

France’s current direction is a source of deep concern in Germany, whose evolution should be seen in France as a source of inspiration – an example to be emulated, even if the country must not fall into self-flagellation. Yet today’s debate in France over the German model reminds one eerily of the discussions that followed France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. In June 1871, just after the war ended, the French statesman Léon Gambetta declaimed: “Our adversaries have won, because they rallied to their side foresight, discipline, and science.” Germany, it seems, can still rally those eternal values.

The major difference now is that the European unification process rules out war – even economic war – between the two countries. On the contrary, in the mirror of Germany, the French must ask themselves fundamental questions. Have they made the right choices in terms of leaders and policies in recent decades?

The places of power in France do not encourage modesty. In his latest book, Days of Power, the former agriculture minister, Bruno Le Maire, writes condescendingly of the building that houses his Danish counterpart in Copenhagen, which he compares to low-income housing. With too much pomp, too many stumbling blocks, and a dearth of dynamism, France today can and should learn from Germany.

Dominique Moisi is Senior Adviser at IFRI (The French Institute for International Affairs) and a professor at L’Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).  (photo: Rex Features/Reuters/AP)  (via Real Clear World)

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