Foreign Affairs

As the eurozone’s biggest economy, it was Germany’s job to stabilize the system when the first signs of financial trouble appeared. It did the opposite. The euro’s survival depends on Frankfurt finally assuming its role as leader. Read full article.

China is hardly the first great power to make authoritarian development look attractive. As Jonathan Steinberg’s new biography of Bismarck shows, Wilhelmine Germany did it with ease. But can even successful nondemocratic political systems thrive and evolve peacefully over the long run? The answer depends on whether authoritarian elites can tolerate sharing power.

Read the full review essay.

What Europe’s Manufacturing Powerhouse Can Teach America

As Americans fret about their economic decline, Germans are celebrating their country’s success as a manufacturing juggernaut. Obama’s former auto czar explains the key to Germany’s export boom — and how the United States can emulate it.