Leadership Analysis: Angela Merkel
Introduction
Angela Merkel was born on July 17, 1954 to a Lutheran pastor and teacher in Hamburg, in what was then West Germany. When her father received a post at a church in East Germany, the family relocated across the border. Merkel would spend much of her childhood travelling freely between the two separated nations, as a result.
School Life & Early Political Inclinations After an education in Templin, Merkel went on to study physics from 1973 to 1978, then studied Chemistry at the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Ladreshof from 1978-1980. In addition to receiving a doctorate for a thesis on quantum chemistry, she became fluent in Russian and published several chemistry papers. Most East German youth took part in the Free German Youth movement, a socialist-based youth movement that sought to indoctrinate children to East Germany’s political system. She would also represent the FDJ in her secondary years as a member of the group’s district board.
Political Life With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Merkel stepped into a full-time role in politics, becoming the deputy spokesperson for the Lothar de Maiziere pre-unification government. Post-reunification, she herself was elected to the Bundestag as a representative of her East German district, Stralsund-Nordvorpommern-Rugen, which she would represent until her ascendancy to the Chancellorship. From that point, she served in ministerial positions, including Minister for Women and Youth and Minister for the Environment and Nuclear Safety. During this time, she was taken into the mentorship of Chancellor Helmut Kohl. After Kohl’s defeat in the general election of 1998, Merkel moved on to a position as Secretary-General in her party, the Christian Democratic Union. During her tenure, she significantly expanded the influence and purchase of her party through several elections. A significant turning point for her came when she was forced to turn against Kohl, who had been implicated in a financing scandal, and pave a new road for the party away from his influence. This led to her being elected the chair of the CDU, the first woman to hold this position. As her reputation in Germany grew, suggestions began to emerge that she challenged Chancellor Gerhard Schroder for the Chancellorship. However, despite her increasing popularity, she generally faced opposition from within a faction of her own party, the Bavarian Christian Social Union— a predominantly Catholic organization, that was opposed to her Protestant identity. The CSU’s own leader, Edmund Stoiber, was put forth as the candidate and lost in the general election. After this defeat, Merkel was able to move into the leadership of the entire conservative opposition in the Bundestag.
Chancellorship
In May of 2005, Merkel was nominated by her party to finally challenge Gerhard Schroder. On November 22nd 2005, Merkel was elected to the office of Chancellor of Germany as a result of building a coalition with the Social Democratic Party in the aftermath of a stalemate in the general election. During her first term, Merkel broke several precedents. She sought to move against energy dependence on Russia, but faced sizable opposition within Germany. She also joined fellow European leaders in both sanctions and diplomatic isolation against Iran, who was suspected of militarizing their nuclear energy program. Merkel also made strides toward deepening, diplomatic relations with Israel, opposing Palestinian statehood and making a state visit to Israel; this relationship, however, grew tense when Israel continued to allow for settlements beyond the Green Line, the demarcation line between Israel and territories occupied during the Six Day War. (Press, 2009) Merkel took a particularly controversial stance on two critical domestic issues – immigration and multiculturalism. In the fall of 2010, she gave a speech stating that the concept of multiculturalism had “utterly failed” as a practice, even going so far as to state that the German identity was a “Christian” one. Given Germany’s ever-increasing Muslim population and the issues of multiculturalism affecting many nations across the world, this move was seen by many within and beyond Germany as divisive and dangerous, while many in Germany lauded the stance. (Evans, 2010)
European Financial Crisis Perhaps Merkel’s greatest challenge, however, came on the financial front. Along the largest economy in the Euro Zone, Germany was thrust to the forefront as the European Sovereign Debt Crisis took hold of the Euro Zone beginning in 2008. As the economic giant in the room, Germany was depended upon to both lead and fund economic policy that could turn around the crisis. As the collapse of the Irish system, followed by the Greek system led to fears that a continuing chain reaction would take down all of the Euro Zone, Germany was one of the key players forced to step up and negotiate a way through the crisis. Germany also needed to fund the bailout to a large extent. Merkel faced increasing resistance within Germany as it became increasingly obvious that Germany would take a sizable financial hit as a result of the crisis. By the time it became evident that not only a second bailout of Greece would be necessary, but that Germany would also need to fund over one quarter of a permanent bailout fund for the Euro Zone to replace the temporary fund, more and more Germans began to take offense at the country's economic burden.
Conclusion
In 2010, she was recognized as being “The World’s Most Valuable Leader”, under her leadership Germany’s economy has grown at an annual rate of nearly 9%, which is far greater than that of the United States (www.social-europe.eu)
In recent years, Merkel and her once popular party have begun to lose popular support in Germany. In August of 2011, a poll conducted by ARD public television in Germany showed that 74% of Germans were “unhappy with the government’s performance” and that Merkel’s party itself had sunk to a 36% approval rating.
Meanwhile, a coalition on the left side of the political spectrum between liberal and green parties was projected to sway at least 51% of the population in their direction if the election were held at the time of the polling. This marked downturn in Merkel and the right is ascribed by many to the downturn in the European economy and the fact that Germany has had to take a large part of the financial responsibility in the country. (AFP.com, 2011) In 2012 Merkel, was recognized as one of the most influental people in the world. Her leadersip has helped Germany to play a dominant role in the 17-nation euro zone. Unlike the United States her well thought out plan has helped to keep people working during fiscal crises and ensured that there would be a retirement plan for all people. (Times.com, 2012) Final Thoughts Since a young girl Merkel has overcome many obstacles, the idea of conquering what seemed impossible was a recurring theme in Merkel's youth. In school, she was always at the top of her class, with one notable exception: She once failed physics. Yet it was physics that she went on to choose as her first career. Merkel's determination to do what she seemingly couldn't, or what others perceived she couldn't, is a telling side of a person who has risen to become one of the most powerful German leaders in the postwar era and unquestionably the most powerful woman in the world at this time. Merkel appears to be very pragmatic and methodical at all times, while thinking long term for the future of Germany and Europe as a whole. She not only wants Germany and its people to advance but she wants to solve the potential long term problems before they can even began and leave a scar on her people. She doesn’t take risks, all of her decisions and moves are based purely on facts. She will dissect every little policy, detail and historical fact before she makes a decision that will affect the people that she leads. If she cannot come to a concrete answer she will not implement the policy. Merkel believes in listening to the people however after hearing all the suggestions, requests and complaints she makes the best decision to suit the needs of the people overall. She doesn’t believe in revealing her plans never mention visions or ideologies prematurely because she believes that your opposition would use it to try to take you down or overturn the plans you may have. It seems that her science background has helped her to be analytical in her approach to way that she handles her chancellorship and although she uses nontraditional methods of management she is doing an excellent job which has earned her a third term in Germany.

Works Cited
AFP.com. (2011, August 5). German Opposition Hits 11-year High in Polls. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from Agence Free Presse: http://www.zimbio.com/Chancellor+Angela+Merkel/articles/tvb0mRYv0RF/German+opposition+hits+11+year+high+polls
Evans, S. (2010, October 17). Germany's charged immigration debate. Retrieved November 4, 2013 from BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11532699
Press, A. (2009). Merkel: Israel Must Stop Settlement Building. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from The Jewish Federations of North America: http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=202704
Time.com. (2012, April 18) The World’s Most Influential People 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2013 from Time Magazine Online http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2111975_2111976_2112098,00.html #ixzz2k0hfaLGi
Social-Europe.eu. (2010, August 18) ‘The World’s Most Valuable Leader’ Retrieved November 4, 2013 from Social Europe http://www.social-europe.eu/2010/08/angela-merkel-the-worlds-most-valuable-leader/