Merkel’s Diplomatic Legacy

By Hu Hong

In October 2018， German Chancellor Angela Merkel already announced that she would not participate in the elections taking place this year in September and would step down at the end of her fourth term.

As her 16-year-long leadership tackled the promotion of gender equality， the curbing of climate change， and several Donald Trump-induced tribulations， Germanys forthcoming post-Merkel era raises much discussion among politicians and academics alike. What will be her legacy？

Rising global role

Germany has gradually grown into a major player in multilateralism and global governance during Merkels chancellorship.

The culture of restraint， a preference for multilateral solutions， dialogue and a rejection of military force as the ultima ratio， or last resort， had strongly featured in Germanys diplomacy since the end of World War II.

The turning point emerged in February 2014 when decision-makers proclaimed the Munich Consensus. In this document， Joachim Gauck， then German President， then Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier， and then Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced that the country was ready to assume more responsibility in international security affairs. The country then gained increasing recognition in the international arena as being more proactive.

Though Germany did not succeed in facilitating the process of making itself a permanent member of the UN Security Council （UNSC）， it did achieve a lot in terms of multilateral diplomacy. The Paris Agreement， the Iran nuclear deal， as well as the Minsk Agreement between Russia， Germany， France and Ukraine to cope with the Ukraine crisis in 2015， all were Germanys contributions under Merkels headship.

Against the backdrop of both the Brexit and former U.S. President Trumps reluctance in dealing with international affairs， Germany further became a forerunner among Western countries in participating in global governance. While holding the rotating presidency of the Group of 20（G20） and being a non-permanent member of the UNSC， it played a leading part in shaping international agendas.

Synergizing its own core interests with global governance， Germany has been advancing cooperation on issues concerning Africa， immigration， gender equality and climate change. It has sought to spearhead international efforts to promote multilateralism. During this process， the role taken on by Merkel， once viewed by Western media outlets as “the last defender of liberal and democratic values，” should not be underestimated.