Merkel
Angela Merkel served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021, making her one of the longest-serving leaders in modern European history.
A physicist by training, she became the first woman to hold Germany's highest office and was widely regarded as the de facto leader of the European Union during her tenure.
Her name became synonymous with cautious, pragmatic governance and crisis management, particularly during the Eurozone debt crisis and the 2015 refugee crisis.
Central European nation
- BundestagGerman federal parliament
- coalitionTemporary alliance for action
- cabinetEnclosed storage furniture
- federalismDivided governmental authority system
Berlin · governance · parliamentary · Kohl · chancellery · ministry · administration · tenure
Practical problem-solving philosophy
- centrismMiddle-ground political stance
- stabilityResistance to displacement
- longevityDuration of existence
- farewellLeave-taking expression
retirement · memoir · influence · leadership · trailblazer · first female · steady hand · crisis manager
Russian authoritarian leader
- ObamaForty-fourth president's family name
- TrumpAmerican political surname
- XiGreek letter, fourteenth
- G7Leading economies' summit group
G20 · NATO · transatlantic · sanctions · Minsk · Ukraine · negotiation · multilateral
Scientist of matter and energy
- doctorateHighest academic credential awarded
- quantum chemistryApplying wave mechanics to molecules
- East GermanyFormer communist German state
- researchSystematic fact-finding effort
analytical · methodical · rationality · dissertation · laboratory · empirical · data-driven · Leipzig
Belgian capital
- eurozoneMonetary union sharing currency
- BrexitUK leaving European Union
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
- GreeceBalkan peninsula nation
bailout · summit · negotiations · treaty · integration · sovereignty · bloc · Schengen
Levant country, capital Damascus
- asylumShelter from persecution
- migrationMovement to new territory
- 2015A calendar year
- bordersLines separating regions
humanitarian · resettlement · integration · quota · Erdogan · influx · crisis · deportation
Germany
Central European nation
- BundestagGerman federal parliament
- coalitionTemporary alliance for action
- cabinetEnclosed storage furniture
federalism · Berlin · governance · parliamentary · Kohl · chancellery · ministry · administration · tenure · reelection
pragmatism
Practical problem-solving philosophy
- centrismMiddle-ground political stance
- stabilityResistance to displacement
- longevityDuration of existence
farewell · retirement · memoir · influence · leadership · trailblazer · first female · steady hand · crisis manager · austerity
Putin
Russian authoritarian leader
G7 · G20 · NATO · transatlantic · sanctions · Minsk · Ukraine · negotiation · multilateral · statesmanship
physicist
Scientist of matter and energy
- doctorateHighest academic credential awarded
- quantum chemistryApplying wave mechanics to molecules
- East GermanyFormer communist German state
research · analytical · methodical · rationality · dissertation · laboratory · empirical · data-driven · Leipzig · technical
Brussels
Belgian capital
- eurozoneMonetary union sharing currency
- BrexitUK leaving European Union
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
Greece · bailout · summit · negotiations · treaty · integration · sovereignty · bloc · Schengen · euro
Syria
Levant country, capital Damascus
borders · humanitarian · resettlement · integration · quota · Erdogan · influx · crisis · deportation · reception
- World LeadersChurchill, Winston Churchill, Eisenhower, Gorbachev, Thatcher
- German LeadersBismarck, Ebert, Hindenburg, Hitler, Kohl
- German PoliticiansOtto von Bismarck, Kohl, Schmidt, Schroeder, Bismarck
- Volga German ColoniesFrank, Grimm, Kraft, Anton, Louis
- GermanyBerlin, Munich, Hamburg, Germany, German
- German FiguresOtto von Bismarck, Bach, Beethoven, Albert Einstein, Goethe
MerkelDonald Trump
Vladimir Putin · Boris Johnson · Brexiteer · Jair Bolsonaro · Hugo Chávez