ANGELA MERKEL has steered Germany and Europe through difficult years. Although it may come as news to some, she will leave a country more at ease with itself than at any time since the republic was set up in 1949. Germany rests on solid foundations, from its universities and basic research, to its world-beating Mittelstand and undisputed engineering prowess. Its researchers invented the first diagnostic test for covid-19 and the first vaccine to use the messenger-RNA technology. Its democracy is robust, it sits at the hub of a strong network of alliances, and its European and global brands are stronger than ever. Few of the deficiencies this special report has sought to highlight seem irremediable.