Merz clings on as Germany’s political center crumbles

Subscribe now with a one-month trial for only $1, then enjoy the first year at an exclusive rate of just $99.German state polls yield historic defeat, familiar paralysisDiego Faßnacht reports that the CDU’s historic losses in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin have deepened Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s political crisis without producing a clear alternative. Germany remains trapped between coalition paralysis. Takaichi buries Abe’s Russia rapprochementScott Foster reports that Sanae Takaichi has abandoned Shinzo Abe’s effort to improve ties with Moscow, aligning Japan more firmly with Ukraine while escalating military signaling near Russia. The shift sacrifices a potentially useful energy relationship as Middle East supply risks intensify. Duma elections reinforce the political status quoJames Davis reports that Russia’s wartime Duma elections against the backdrop of Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow preserved the existing political order while bringing more veterans into the governing system and laying the groundwork for an eventual succession.