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What is Antifa. during the protests this term keeps coming up, yet no one is really sure what it is.  It started in Germany in the 1920's and basically means anti-fascist or in German antifaschistisch. Most Germany parties from the SPD, CDU and the Greens to other parties accept this as a point of view considering Germany's Nazi past.  Yet DW.com asks is it only referring to all those opposed to fascism in Germany or to black clad anarchists and leftists facing police on German streets. The last such confrontation with police happened in Germany in Hamburg during the 2017 G20 summit. A famous scene from that time is pictured in DW.com. There the meaning becomes complex as the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) adopted the phrase and the disinctinve two flag logo for the 1932 election campaign, in Weimar Germany's last free election, which the Nazis could not win fully but with the left parties split emerged as winner. After the formation of the GDR, the German Democratic Republic in East Germany, the interwar KPD party veterans like Walter Ulbricht came to power in GDR. GDR became part of the Soviet bloc countries during the Cold War and used antifascist in a way that was synonymous with anticapitalism. This same movement then langusihed in the Germany of the early post war years under Cologne's former mayor, Korad Adenauer. In the 1970's and 1980's the left movement revived in Hamburg and Berlin, coalescing with a antinuclear movement and widespread protests against president Reagan's stationing of nuclear missiles on German soil aimed at the Soviet Union bloc. After the reunification the protests against coal, for climate change action, and for anti-globalization. There is even an overlap with anti-Zionism. Germany's internal intelligence agency says the antifa movement is the "main field of agitation" for autonomous leftist groups, with some groups supporting "militant actions." Yet when there are broad uncontroversial protests there can be people from all walks of life, not just the anarchist or far left groups.  So that the protests in the U.S. were met with comments of antifa - Saskia Esken of the SPD saying "58 and atifa. Obviously." To which the General Secretary of the CDU said "Against fascism, and for democracy and human rights. Without violence. Obviously, for me. It's sad that the chairwoman of the SPD lacks the strength to differentiate."  To which Esken says it is only a point of view that antifa refers to, not some action. To which the the youth organization of the Angela Merkel CDU/CSU alliance the Junge Union (founded 1947) replied: " 73 and appalled" getting the final word.  Search for a dictionary and you are left with no clear meaning either. DW.com says Germany's duden dictionary only says antifa refers to the " entirety of the movements and ideologies, which oppose fascism and national socialism."    ...

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There are questions whether the Black Rock Germany "Dare Capitalism" (his book) model of CDU's Merz with a debt brake support limiting investments needed in the economy are right for Germany's future. Wash. Post says people close to him say he is direct and pragmatic but also arrogant and thin skinned. Friedrich Merz is 69 years, Konrad Adenauer was 73 years when he took office. 

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Medical insurance choices are complicated for a reason. This WSJ report says a PhD. is not sufficient to figure it out. They were designed this way to maximize profits from a government program by private insurers and capture as large of the market for the Medicare Advantage plans they offer. Heavy lobbying in Congress makes it possible to write legislation that keeps selecting coverage complicated.  The only way to clean up this mess is through universal health insurance, that is UN's SDG 3.8,  that is fair for all, which everyone can understand, and the US as an advanced technological nation can support. Reducing transparency works with heavy advertising for private insurers with Medicare Advantage Plans to capture the largest chunk of what the government spends. Medicare Advantage insurers capture $943 billion of spending on Part A & B Benefits compared to $693 for traditional Medicare. 

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Climate Reset Berlin, a coalition of climate change action groups, has introduced a referendum that brings forward climate change action goals put off till 2045. The referendum makes 2030 the new target date for 95% reduction in carbon emissions consistent with the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. Berlin is 80% dependent on fossil fuels for energy needs in 2023. Proponents say there is great potential for wind and solar energy. Opponents say that it is too costly and will take up funds now allocated for childcare and education. The outgoing Greens SPD government of Berlin opposes it, as does the new expected CDU government. The Green senator for Berlin supports it, as do other private groups. Buildings need to be renovated and private transport curbed which would cost billions of dollars. Opponents say this would bankrupt Berlin. Supporters say not enough is being done. If approved it goes into effect immediately. Supporters include the Sustainability Group at Humboldt University, Germany's national cyclists association. They say Berlin has 52 acres of available land in Brandenburg that could be used for wind energy. ...

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President Macron calls it "the moment of truth" for Europe. The European Recovery Fund includes $500 billion in nonrepayable money to be handed out to countries hit hardest by the pandemic as a show of solidarity and support for the European community. Only one lone holdout are the Dutch, who have not earlier and today show little solidarity with the European community. It is supported by Merkel and the CDU, Macron, EU president Leyen, the head of the European Central Bank's Lagarde. This report in BBNC shows how the funds would be distributed- Italy 81 billion euros Spain  77 billion euros France   39 billion euros Poland 38 billion euros Greece  32 billion euros Germany 30 billion euros Portugal 17 billion euros France plans to put the 39 billion euros towards its own 100 billion euros recovery plan. 20 billion euros of this will go to insulating buildings and for bicycle lanes in cities in France.   ...

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Jens Thurau writes about a holiday trip to Fohr on the Wadden Sea on north German coast from Berlin by rail, on Deutsche Bahn, July 27 2025. Thurau writes about the travails of DB, the sudden announcements that the train is headed in another direction, having to get off and catch a regional train. On the return trip the train making a stop when sheep cause rail delays on the rail line further up, the train canceled an having to take aintercity regional express to Berlin. The employees struggle too as the conductor on the return trip offers vouchers from DB to passengers and his apologies. Many DB employees having to deal with customer complaints are planning to leave.  Next trip Jens plans to drive to Fohr.  DB has suffered for years with lack of investment on the 2800 mile rail network. Thanks to chancellor Merkel who never gave priority to such investment and who Jens says called the internet "uncharted territory" in 2013, the digital part of the German economy and DB, along with infrastructure has also suffered. The Scholz coalition promised but failed to deliver on infrastructure with opposition from FDP finance minister Lindner. Only in 2025 has the new coalition of Merz with SDP has the constitutional provision limiting infrastructure spending of Merkel been removed, and DB put on the way to modernizing German rail connections starting with the Berlin Hamburg line. ...

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Greece's minister for migration tells the Times that seven charities including one in London form part of a chain stretching from Somalia to Britain in which smugglers move migrants illegally.  One of the seven charities is in London and is seen as colluding with human traffickers who are putting lives of migrants at risk. Greece has 70,000 migrants living in squalid refugee centres. Of these 17,000 are on islands in the Aegean sea. Europe cannot cope with all these migrants illegally making the crossing, much less during this pandemic. It has also unsettled the countries where migrants are settled on a humanitarian basis as there is at the same time serious neglect of poverty stricken communities inside Europe who are not getting the assistance they deserve. The result is even less focus on the development needs, on infrastructure, education and healthcare of the countries in Europe where migrants are headed, with the attention diverted to the migrants issue. Economic progress in Europe and rapid development could not only improve the condition of people in all communities, it could also help finance more foreign aid development project assistance to Africa and other countries. This would if vigorously done keep people in their home countries and help fulfill their development aspirations there, which is the better way.  Chancellor Merkel of Germany should have opted for a better way by setting up a program for aspiring migrants in the countries of Africa with a generous visa program offering training and technological skills, which could then be brought back to the country in Africa where it could generate jobs and opportunities with the necessary capital from European and other financial institutions and governments. This effort made in alliance with Britain and France could be powerful in its impact. Instead a haphazard three years of migration led to internal divisions, loss of confidence in the CDU and the SDP, FDP parties in coalitions, ending up where it should have started in the first place- reducing the migration to a trickle, returning some migrants back to their countries, and focussing on bringing economic assistance and development assistance to African countries for opportunities in these countries and a brighter future so that no one would want to leave and drift on oceans in tiny boats in the first place. The condition of the people in Africa is not so hopeless that the best they can do is to send their young people to drift on boats on the high seas in the hope of refugee status. China has shown that the there is a path from famine during the years following the Great Leap Forward to the development of today. India is doing that now and can repeat that story. Japan and South Korea, Taiwan have done this after devastating wars and out of nothing. Imagine what the world would be like if all these people in Asia set out on small boats for Europe.       ...

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Germany's Bundestag parliament vote eases constitutional "debt brake" March 2025. CDU's Merz and the SPD join with Greens to provide the two thirds majority to remove a constitutional debt brake put in in the Merkel years. Germany's dilapidated infrastructure from rail to other transport and public facilities, to poor childcare are a sign of how the Merkel debt brake has hurt the German economy. Four years of the Greens SPD coalition government of Scholz were wasted when the SPD and Greens wanted investment in infrastructure starting in 2021 but included Lindner of the super cautious Free Democrats as Finance Minister who opposed spending and vetoed it every step of the way. The results can be seen in Frankfurt and other cities and in the underinvestment in Deutsche Bahn rail and all over the country. Merz of the CDU and the SPD and Greens finally fix this problem starting with removing the debt brake.  What happened to Lindner and Free Democrats? They did not make the threshold of 5% for representation in the German parliament, the Bundestag in Berlin. Lindner resigned for his failure. ...

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This report in Der Spiegel shows how the efforts to act on climate change are stalled in Germany with the failure to agree on how coal fired plants will be closed in the ongoing three party negotiations. The FDP party is pro-business and no agreement is reached with the Greens and the CDU on how to move ahead with the 65% of German power plants that do not rely on renewable energy such as solar and wind. Modern gas facilities are unprofitable making this a major challenge for Germany to cut power emissions under the Paris Climate Change Agreement and German targets of the Merkel government. Spiegel points out that energy companies are not keen on keeping the old coal power plants which are now outdated and an agreement is needed.

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Peer Steinbruck is nominated as the SPD's candidate for chancellor and seen as the strongest candidate to lead Germany. He will contest the elections against Angela Merkel. Steinbruck is a candidate who is direct and speaks his mind, and is likely to challenge Merkel's policies for the eurozone more directly before the elections in 2013. He is keen on winning the election outright and forming a coalition with the Greens party. The Greens and the SPD are working together in a coalition in North Rhine Westphalia, after winning the election in Germany's largest state. During that election the CDU leader in the state had contested the election based on his austerity policies. Steinbruck has the support of former SPD chancellors Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schroeder. Merkel is personally popular in Germany but her CDU party has lost elections in key states and its partner the Free Democrats have fared poorly.

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This editorial in the WSJ, says its a surprise the protest vote in EU parliamentary elections did not come earlier, considering 11% unemployment in Europe and about 50% youth unemployment in some countries. Italy's Renzi government did well in the elections with 41% of the vote. The CDU got 30% of the vote. The French UMP party getting 20% and the Socialists 14%, a poor showing in France compared to the Natonal Front 25%. UKIP Independence party took 27% of the vote in the UK, with Labor and Conservatives a close second and third. Overall the results in Italy and Germany salvaged the situation, says the editorial, by making the pro-EU European People's Party (EPP), the largest group. It includes the UMP in France and CDU in Germany, and has 213 seats for then next 5 years, the largest group in a 753 member EU parliament.

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The Hindu provides this look at the life and career of European Union president Ursula von der Leyen. Today Leyen is one of the prominent leaders in the European Union, and leads the fight against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Leyen has visited places destroyed in the Russian invasion such as Bucha and talked to refugees, mostly women and children She has stated on Twitter after proposing a complete ban on Russian crude oil to Europe- "we want Ukraine to win this war." After a mediocre performance as Minister of Defense Leyen took the position at the EU headquarters in Brussels, where her father had served as a civil servant. Her father was  elected as Minister President of Lower Saxony province after working at EU in Brussels. Leyen went to secondary school in Brussels. Studying economics at London School of Economics before shifting to medicine, getting her degree in 1991. She followed her husband to Stanford University, and after her return to Hanover in 1996 was elected to the state parliament in Lower Saxony in 2003. She joined Merkel's cabinet as Minister of Youth and Family Affairs in 2005, deputy leader of CDU in 2010 and Defense Minister in 2013. ...

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South Korea's LG Energy Solution is pushing forward with its aggressive investments in electric vehicle batteries by going public, raising $11 billion through South Korea's largest listing on January 27. LG Energy has made large investments in the US and is dominant in Europe. CEO Kwon Young-soo told a recent news conference that its strength is that "we have global buyers and global production facilities in the US and Europe, which CATL doesn't have." Saying that LG Energy is not Chinese is a big pitch, and LG Energy is taking advantage of the current trade war between the US and China.  China's CATL or Amperex is the largest maker of electric vehicle batteries with 30% of all batteries sold, compared to LG Energy's 20%. Yet CATL is concentrated in the China home market. The next three companies are in order Japan's Panasonic, China's BYD, South Korea's SK Innovation, and Samsung SDI. The South Koreans plan $15 billion in investment in the US. They see the fact that they are not Chinese a big advantage in meeting European and US automaker needs. ...

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Geert Wilders says he he is withdrawing support of his party PPV which won 23% of the vote in the last election from the Dutch coalition government because his 10 point plan for immigration was not being implemented. It calls for border closures for asylum seekers, deporting dual nationals who have committed a crime, and the military controlling Dutch borders. Wilders says "no more asylum centers. Close them." Germany is putting through strict immigration laws under the CDU leadership of chancellor Merz including control of borders, border checks, deporting dual nationals who have committed a crime.  This policy is being followed by the DJT administration in the US. There is little public patience with migrants after the experience in the US and Europe. What has changed is that centrist parties, Catholic/Protestant centrist parties such as CDU/CSU in Germany or business centrist parties such as Republicans are partnering with socialist parties such as Social Democrats in Germany, and many Democrats in the US with the clear goal of controlling borders. In the UK and in Denmark socialist parties such as Starmer's Labor in UK and Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats in Denmark have clear goals to strictly close borders and send back migrants to home countries. ...

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How reckless actions that ignored public sentiment on illegal migrants have led to a surge in Germany and the US of foreign born populations, It jumped in Germany from 7.5% in 1990 to 21% by 2025 and in the US from 10% in 1990 to to 16%  in 2025. This means as shown by NYT graphs the US went up by 60% and Germany went up by a shocking 300%. This is why young Germans voted for the AfD. Merz's CDU has rejected Merkel policies and has imposed a series of actions to put in border controls, stop migrants.  Putting such stress on working class communities is an affront to people when they face crime as has happened in recent years, and when cost of living issues, covid pandemic have already caused much stress. Here the NYT reverses its position on migration and speaks of the dangers of such migration, the stress on woking class communities where migrants settle, on the public services and resources stretched to their limit. It now says Merkel made a huge mistake and ignored public sentiment leading to the situation where extreme opinions endanger democracy and young people in Germany prefer the AfD to the CDU and SPD, or the Greens. ...

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The new management structure of EADS giving management more decisionmaking authority, and the efforts to tackle the problem of slow growth and low profitability in the Cassidian defense division based in Germany. The German government is intent on keeping jobs in Bavaria, a stronghold of the CDU, where Cassidian is based. More than half of the 23,000 employees of Cassidian work in Bavaria.

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The Stimson Center looks at the closing of an era of Conservative politics in Japan which ended in 2025 after the death of Shinzo Abe and the 2 year premiership of Kishida. Interview is conducted by the Stimson Center of a senior Japanese political figure with 30 years of experience in the Foreign Service, and the author of the only English language book on Shinzo Abe, reflecting the paucity of research on Japan. Shinzo Abe was premier for a short time in 2005-2006 and for a full term in 2012. He made changes to Japan's SDF, its partnership with India, Australia in the Quad, and his economic policy which increased women's participation in the economy. For the first time in post war Japan there was a new sensde of confidence under Abe and he is missed sorely in Japan today. Yet as this senior Japanese politician says, Japan has changed the way the US and Europe have changed, and nationalist politics are replacing old Conservative politics of the LDP. In a way also how the deindustrialization of US, Europe and Japan has also taken place discrediting that era. Takaichi Sanae is itself a representative of the new era, as she did not hesitate to say Japan would get involved if China attacked Taiwan. Her popularity is at 62% and she has called a snap election, as she came in to replace Shigeru Ishiba in October 2025 and was not directly elected PM. Yet in the long view this is also a misconception because neither the Stimson Center or the interview participants had a keen sense of who Abe really was and Abe's grasp of the history of the Kamakura period of Buddhist Japan and China, India, of the 12th century before the foreign invasions from the north. One of Shinzo Abe's biggest legacies is the relationship that was close to his heart, the relationship with India and prime minister Modi. This week chancellor Merz of the Federal Republic of Germany was at the kite festival with PM Modi in Ahmedabad and at the Sabarmati Ashram of Gandhiji. The same degree of warmth shown by the German leader and Modi reflecting Vivekananda's time in Germany, was seen long time back between Modi and Abe. The bullet train project Mumbai to Ahmedabad and the ones that follow across India are a testimony to the warmth shown by Abe for India, and his knowledge of history from the Buddhist period in India when by the 12th century in Japan in Dogen's time Tenjiku (India) was the sacred homeland of Buddhism. Today India has revived the Buddhist traditions and centers of Buddhism, the universities and research centers for Buddhism from that period in Indian history. Buddhism started in India near Nepal in what is now Bihar state at Sarnath and Kushinagar, and spread through China to Japan and Korea. The whole continent of Asia would reflect Buddhist ideals and ideas without the intervening period of Vedic culture in India and China's Mongolian and Manchurian northern invasions, and the periods of European colonialism. Today Buddhism and The Bhagavad Gita are itself strung like pearls on a string as the Gita itself says, part of the long spiritual traditions of three nations- India, China and Japan, and of the many others Vietnam and Korea. ("All these worlds have their rest in me as many pearls on a string." -Mascaro tr. of Bhagavad Gita, Penguin). As Asian nations and peoples come to their own inner selves, find their inmost self, this is the culture that really pervades all of Asia. ...

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This speech by chancellor Merz to the German parliament the Bundestag, marks a major turning point for Germany since reunification in 1990. This is where chancellor Merz took up the task of Germany shouldering responsibilities in the world for its economic role and for it's role in defence of Europe. Hardly 2 months in office the Merz coalition with finance minister Kingbeil and defense minister Pistorius both of the SPD, and foreign minister Wadephul of the CDU, is setting a new direction for Germany, in a historic moment. Merz says Germany needs to be strong and reliable from now on. Huge new investment for the first time since 1990 sets the path to modernization of the Germany economy and German infrastructure, German defense. Not surprisingly Merz comes not from the professional class of politicians but from business as head of German investment fund for Black Rock. He brings a clear headed common sense approach and has the support of the Social Democrats and the Green Party in its investment program to rebuild the German economy. The media focuses on AfD yet it misses the point that fully 57% of voters back Merz and Kingbeil, that the AfD reached its high point at 20.8 percent of vote with the offset of the Left parties at 16 percent of voters and with Merz's policy on stopping all illegal migration. Merz moved quickly to remove the constitutional debt brake set by Merkel and had parliament pass a budget that supports modernization of infrastructure on a big scale. ...

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Germany's aging rail system, the Deutsche Bahn, will get a makeover with a 86 billion euro inverstment over 10 years. FOr years it has suffered from delays, broken bridges, older trains, and lack of modernization. As the economy slows down infrastructure investment which has suffered from the Tech years, is now back in popularity with the public mood shifting across Europe and the U.S. A current five year plan budgeted just 5.6 billion euros per year and is replaced with a ten year plan with 86 billion euros so that it sends a signal for the economy, but more importantly creates planning security for investments, and makes building sites cheaper to run. As a sign of the times trains running 6 minutes were considered as "on time" in recent years. Merkel's CDU was not pursuing infrastructure investment during the austerity decade 2008-2018. As finances are being cleaned up in Europe and the U.S. and the banking mess clears, the shrinking of banks such as Deutsche Bank as a vivid and educational example, and the mood of the public shifts away from the flashy Tech years, there is a sense of the value in the public mind of the investments in infrastructure that benefit all, that prevailed in the post war years. ...

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Germany is going through a second year of slight economic contraction. The newly elected government of chancellor Merz has setup a $1 trillion fund to invest in infrastructure and defense. This will increase the debt to GDP ratio from 62% much lower than other advanced economies to 75%, and could give the German economy a rebound with $500 billion for fixing aging infrastructure. Germany's unemployment rate stands at 6.3% in March 2025. The economy weathered a energy crisis with the cutoff of energy supplies from Russia during the term of chancellor Scholz. Infrastructure, child care, was neglected under Merkel and previous administrations as it was in the US under Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. The 2009 financial crisis, the eurozone debt crisis and the pandemic, Ukraine crisis from 2009 to 2024 have provided headwinds for action to renew Germany till now. A $1 trillion new fund and removal of the constitutional brake under the newly elected parliamentary majority of the CSU/CDU, the SPD and the Greens is the first step with $500 billion earmarked for fixing aging infrastructure, digitization of the economy, and other investment. The unemployment situation is deteriorating in the auto industry which was poorly managed and is now being hit with US tariffs of 25% on imported cars made by BMW, Mercedes and VW. ...

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The CDU and the SPD agree on rules for 30% of supervisory Boards in Germany, similiar to Board of Directors in the U.S., to be made up of women.

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This Spiegel report looks at how far Germany has come in tackling the refugee crisis one year later in September 2016. It looks at the progress in several areas- housing, integration through language training, jobs and the labor market, school age children, crime, deportation, political scene and elections. Maintaining public support in the face of incidents such as the ones in Cologne and some terrorist incidents, the protests in cities such as Dresden, was tackled by negotiating a treaty with Turkey to turn back new refugees, and by letting countries in southeastern Europe such as Hungary to close routes used previously. Internal agreement with the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the CDU, led to a reduction in refugees granted asylum for each month in 2016. About 220,000 migrants were newly registered in the first half of 2016. Germany's EASY registration system shows 92,000 migrants registered in January and the number dropping to 16,000 in July.  Here are some of the figures on progress as cited by Spiegel. On BAMF, the Federal Office of Migration and Refugees- It has increased staff from 2300 employees in early 2015 to 8000, with many new offices opened, significantly more efficient than before. Housing- about a million refugees have found housing. Thousands of empty beds in emergency shelters and 1000 repurposed gyms are no longer needed. Smaller cities and towns have done better than large cities like Berlin, with hangars at Tempelhof Airport still housing refugees. Barbara Hendricks, Federal Environment and Building Minister of SPD party, has tripled funding for subsidized housing to 1.5 billion euros for 2018. Hendricks wants to repeal a constitutional amendment that shifts housing responsibility to states, so that the federal government is actively involved. Integration- BAMF head Weise estimates a shortage of 200,000 slots in language and integration courses. About 80,000 Afghans are not eligible for the programs. So far estimates by KMK representing education ministers of the 16 federal states, shows 325,000 children and young people integrated into school system in 2014 and 2015. Spiegel estimates 12,000 teachers were hired for this, and an additional 20,000 are needed says GEW. 58,000 daycare spots are needed for children arrived in 2015, and 9400 additional daycare personnel are needed. Wages have been raised. Jobs- The Federal Employment Office says 322,000 refugees were registered and seeking jobs in July 2016. Crime- Police crime statistics show 4% increase but when the asylum and visa related offenses are taken out the crime has not increased as it has appeared in the media. The events in Cologne had started a debate on this issue after teenagers harassed women near the Cathedral square. BKA Federal Criminal Polic Office says 1031 assaults on refugee accomodations happened in 2015, 665 in 2016. Incidents of Islamic terrorists happened in Wurzburg and Ansbach, and authorites have become more vigilant.  Deportation- the central register of foreign nationals has about 220,000 people who have to leave Germany. Because of wars in home countries 172,000 are still in Germany. Political scene- CDU and CSU sister parties have disagreements on immigration policy. There is fear about the country changing. Yet the new children in schools are only about 2% of the school children in Germany. As immigrants are mostly young people who will be required to take language training and integrate in schools and workplaces, the situation is different from the first wave of workers coming in from Turkey in early postwar period. Also lessons have been learned and integration is being required.   So has the most difficult period in this immigration crisis been put behind for Germany? It appears that this is the situation. Germany's economy was strong during the "wilkommen refugees" and it has helped the country deal with it better. The volunteer support certainly helped. State, city, and business leaders responded. What about the claims of Islamization. Because so many of the refugees are from a relatively progressive country such as Syria, and many from urban literate areas, combined with a policy of integration, this could prove to be a different experience for Germany. Because many left because of religious sectarianism or corrupt governments the immigrant mentality as a whole barring some exceptions, is likely different, seeking integration in a different modern culture that prizes the individual and respects his development. Over time and sooner than many realize, Merkel may be proved right when she says- "Germany will be Germany, with everything that is near and dear to us." When it comes to politics the CDU and CSU are taking the "homeland" theme as their own. Across the Atlantic Germany's example is being followed- as the number just a trickle about 4000 refugees admitted in 2014, has been increased to 110,000 for 2017 by president Obama, showing the power of the example in the face of adversity and skepticism. German culture and society tended to be insular and the experience of this type, difficult as it has been, and not something that was actively sought out, may have a positive effect. Particularly with the scarred immigrants who may want to embrace the new culture and not look back at what they left behind.   ...

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WSJ analysis of NatCen data from whatukthinks.org show much has changed since the last general election in Britain. Boris Johnson's popularity is at a negative 20% and Theresa May's at negative 35% in July 2019. By the time of the general election May's popularity was at negative 1%.  Another major change is that the popularity of Leave has dropped.  By July 2019 the situation is reversed Remain now has 52% support and Leave is at 48% support. During the referendum it was just the reverse.  Also significant is that some of the claims of Leave's Mr. Cummings that were used in the campaign such as $436 million going to the EU in Brussels that would be diverted to National Health Service are now not credible. The migration issue has also become less important as migration into the EU is now down to a trickle and Germany has reversed its policies to trying to keep migrants at home in Africa through aid and other means. The migration issue was played up in the campaign. Germany was seen as pursuing the austerity policies that hurt the working class as these policies made headlines daily for Greece and other countries during the period of Britain's referendum. In 2019 Germany is taking a less active role in the European Union and the leader of the CDU Kamprauer has openly called for Britain to remain in the EU alongside other Germans from all walks of life. In short the mood is now different in Europe as there is disillusionment with leaders from the far right or the far left and the centrists on the right (Merkel)and the left (Blair) who had used politics to stay in power instead of tackling the tough problems of wages, middle class decline, infrastructure and family friendly policies. The Irish backstop is now in the picture when Brexit comes up as Mr. Johnson wants to drop it. The Irish backstop is the term for the agreement reached with the EU so that Ireland's return to peace with open borders ending Catholic vs Protestant conflict would not be disturbed by Britain's leaving the EU. This could also swing voters who are undecided to maintain what has been achieved so far. The Labour party leaders who were fed up with the austerity policies of the European Union driven by Ms. Merkel and the CDU now have a situation where the issue of Brexit can be seen not in terms of the past- austerity, dependence on Brussels for Britain's economic future and working class decline. Other issues such as unity of the UK, the end to austerity policies in the EU and in the U,S. with the Trump economic policy of dropping deficit targets in budgetary outlays, also signal a different climate for the Labour party in which to campaign for remaining within the EU and continue Britain's policy of working to improve conditions for the working class and middle class after the Blair/Clinton/Merkel years.    ...

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A grass roots movement that is taking shape in the Social Democrats SPD party since 2018 that is likely to reshape the party around critical issues. A surge in memberships in the party is bringing more young people into the party. Many are joining to bring momentum like that of Jeremy Corbyn into the SPD. Jeremy Corbyn revived Labour by winning 40% of the vote in the 2017 election. He also won the leadership of the Labour party with the help of young people who became Labour party supporters by paying a small fee of $4.15. In 2015 these young activists took part in the leadership contest electing Corbyn. For the SPD the election results under a series of leaders are one long road downhill to support today at about 14%, a shocking figure for the party of Willy Brandt, a figure in the SPD from 1964 to 1987 of the stature of Konrad Adenauer who helped build a new post war Germany. There is no where to go but uphill and little to lose in shifting away from the coalition with the Christian Democrats which has hurt the SPD and the working class. Even a $14 minimum wage was rejected by the CDU in 2019 as the coalition begins to collapse and activists elect a new leader who like Corbyn for Labour in Britain can revive the SPD around critical issues and clear policy for ordinary working class Germans. ...