In reference to Germany's foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel's response to Turkey, Mark Leonard says Germany is using its "massive economic power" to forge its foreign policy. Following the jailing of a German human-rights activist, Gabriel warned German tourists about the risk of arbitrary arrest in Turkey and "advised German firms to think twice" before they invest in a country where the rule of law is weak.

The author says, Germany's "global posture predates Gabriel." While Berlin bailed out the badly hit countries during the euro crisis, it held the purse strings and sought to enforce German work ethics, urging southern Europeans to tackle their oversized public sectors, rampant tax evasion and long lunches etc. Subsequently it evoked strong anti-German sentiments in Greece.

Unlike a century ago, the new German power is no longer about deploying military force to impose its will on other countries. There is no need to "send troops abroad" when it can use its economic might to subdue one's counterpart.

Since Brexit and Trump's election, Germany is effectively alone to assume the mantle of Western leadership. Germany's self-assertiveness has allowed the government to use its "economic strength to advance larger strategic goals," adopting different approaches in "its policies toward Russia, Turkey, China, and the United States."

As the global economic power shifts from west to east, and the US under Trump is no longer reliable, this has played to Germany's strengths. Countries such as China and India are looking to build up their manufacturing sectors, and are full of praise for Germany's specialty - capital goods.

Germany's European dominance has given the nation a new sense of identity after decades of Nazi guilt, and provides liberation from the "never again tenet" – never again a Holocaust, never again fascism, never again militarism.

After the Second World War, Germany rose from the ashes. It emerged as an economic power and has since served as a moral compass for humanitarianism. It explains Germany's contribution to the European project and its fervour to keep it afloat.

Berlin sees Russia's aggression as a threat to Europe's stability and "persuaded the rest of the European Union to agree to unprecedentedly tough sanctions against Russia to deter further aggression."

After the G7 summit in Sicily in May, Merkel felt compelled to urge Europe to “take our fate into our own hands.” It was a "surprising foreign-policy change" given her excellent relationship with the US under Obama. Nevertheless her "willingness to confront Trump" goes down well with much of the world.

Not only is Merkel highly intelligent, she is also remarkably pragmatic. Being defender of the Paris Climate Change agreement, she vowed to uphold it, despite Trump's withdrawal. Although Xi Jinping has become an ally, she “has no illusions about China, but she sees it as a partner on climate, trade, and the politics of order.”

Once she is sworn in for the fourth term in September, she will focus on - among others - the European defence union and an evaluation of Germany’s "relationships with the US, Russia, and other European powers." No wonder why many Germans are willing to keep her in office. They hope that she, together with Macron, will steer Europe through troubled waters.

