KISSINGER ON MERKEL

Dr K weighs in on Germany's new chancellor. There's a fair amount of boilerplate to wade through, but the bottom line is optimistic:

[T]he Merkel government marks the advent of a third postwar generation: less in thrall to the emotional pro-Americanism of the 1950s and '60s but not shaped by the passions of the so-called '68 generation... Matter-of-fact, serious and thoughtful, she will strive to be a partner for a set of relationships appropriate to the new international order -- one that refuses to choose between France and the United States but rather establishes a framework embracing both.