Editing Free World (section)

===Germany=== 
[[File:Angela Merkel Juli 2010 - 3zu4.jpg|thumb|right|[[Angela Merkel]] served as the [[Chancellor of Germany]] from 2005 to 2021]]

When [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] declared the [[Chancellor of Germany|German Chancellor]] [[Angela Merkel]] [[Time Person of the Year]] for 2015, they referred to her as "Europe's most powerful leader", and the cover bore the title "Chancellor of the Free World".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-angela-merkel-choice/ |title=Why Angela Merkel is TIME's Person of the Year |first=Nancy |last=Gibbs |date=9 December 2015 |access-date=29 November 2015}}</ref> 
Following the election of [[Donald Trump]] to the US presidency in November 2016, ''[[The New York Times]]'' called Merkel "the Liberal West's Last Defender",<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/world/europe/germany-merkel-trump-election.html |title=As Obama Exits World Stage, Angela Merkel May Be the Liberal West's Last Defender |last1=Smale |first1=Alison |first2=Steven |last2=Erlanger |date=12 November 2016 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> and a number of commentators called her "the next leader of the free world".<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=29 November 2017|date=21 November 2016  |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/11/21/how-angela-merkel-a-conservative-became-the-leader-of-the-liberal-free-world/ |title=How Angela Merkel, a conservative, became the 'leader of the free world |quote=Now, she is being hailed as the 'leader of the free world' on social media and by some commentators as the Obama era nears its end, Britain is beset by upheavals over plans to leave the European Union and France faces its own break-the-mold populist surge.}}</ref><ref name="Politico 17 November 2016">{{cite web|work=Politico |url=http://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-angela-merkel-the-last-leader-of-the-free-world/ |title=Angela Merkel's new job: global savior |date=17 November 2016  |quote=The fear of a xenophobic populist in the White House has liberals everywhere looking to Berlin for moral guidance. They tout Angela Merkel as the new torchbearer for human rights. They call her the next leader of the free world. |first=Konstantin |last=Richter}}</ref> Merkel herself rejected the description.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://time.com/4598467/angela-merkel-donald-trump-liberal-democracy/ |magazine=Time|access-date=29 November 2017 |date=12 December 2016 |title=Why Angela Merkel Isn't Ready to Be the 'Leader of the Free World' |first=Simon |last=Shuster |quote=Many commentators even began referring to Merkel as the new leader of the free world, a title that she dismissed as 'grotesque' and 'absurd'.}}</ref> An article by [[James Rubin]] in [[Politico]] about a White House meeting between Merkel and Trump was ironically<ref name="Zeit March 2017" /> titled "The Leader of the Free World Meets Donald Trump".<ref>{{Cite news|first=James P. |last=Rubin |url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/the-leader-of-the-free-world-meets-donald-trump-214924|title=The Leader of the Free World Meets Donald Trump |work=Politico|access-date=29 November 2017}}</ref>

German commentators agreed with Merkel's assessment,<ref name="Zeit March 2017">{{Cite news |date=22 March 2017|access-date=29 November 2017 |work=Die Zeit |title=Nein, die Führerin der freien Welt ist Merkel nicht |trans-title=No, Merkel is not the leader of the free world |first=Matthias |last=Naß |url=http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2017-03/angela-merkel-besuch-donald-trump-usa-europaeische-union |quote=Als 'absurd und grotesk' hat sie den Gedanken zurückgewiesen, die Führung des Westens könne vom amerikanischen Präsidenten auf den deutschen Regierungschef übergehen. Eigentlich eine pure Selbstverständlichkeit, aber vielleicht wären andere für die Schmeichelei empfänglich gewesen. ['Absurd and grotesque' is how she rejected the idea that leadership of the West could be transferred from the American president to the German head of government. Which goes without saying, really, but others might have been more receptive to such flattery.]}}</ref> and [[Friedrich Merz]], a [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] politician, said that a German chancellor could never be "leader of the free world".<ref>{{Cite news |access-date=29 November 2017 |publisher=WeltN24  |date=12 June 2017 |title=Ein Bundeskanzler kann nie 'Führer der freien Welt' sein|trans-title=A German chancellor can never be 'leader of the free world  |first=Torsten |last=Krauel |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article165426400/Ein-Bundeskanzler-kann-nie-Fuehrer-der-freien-Welt-sein.html|quote='Ein deutscher Bundeskanzlerkann nie "der Führer der freien Welt" sein' ... |newspaper=Die Welt}}</ref> In April 2017, columnist [[James Kirchick]] stressed the importance of the [[German federal election, 2017|German elections]] (on which "the future of the free world" depended) since America had "abdicated its traditional role as leader of the free world by electing Trump, the United Kingdom was turning inward after the referendum [[Brexit|decision to leave]] the European Union, and France was also traditionally unilateralist and now had an inexperienced president"; he called Merkel "something less than leader of the free world ... but something greater than the leader of just another random country".<ref>{{cite news |date=6 April 2017 |access-date=29 November 2017 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|title=Op-Ed: Germans need to recognize that the future of the free world depends on their election|first=James |last=Kirchick |url=http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-kirchick-merkel-20170406-story.html}}</ref> References to America's abdication of its role as leader of the free world continued or increased after [[Donald Trump]] questioned the unconditional defence of [[NATO]] partners and the [[Paris climate accord]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/is-this-angela-merkels-moment-to-lead-trumps-move-to-pull-out-of-paris-accord-is-further-riling-europe|title=Matthew Fisher: Merkel's moment to lead? Trump's exit from Paris accord further riles Europe|work=National Post|access-date=29 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Vennochi|first1=Joan|title=Merkel, not Trump, rules on the world stage|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/05/31/merkel-not-trump-rules-world-stage/aM9Z3nqpRCAuwlWheb2K4K/story.html|access-date=29 November 2017|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=31 May 2017}}</ref>

[[Jagoda Marinić]], writing for ''[[The New York Times]]'', noted that "Barack Obama all but literally passed on the mantle of 'leader of the free world' to Ms. Merkel (and not Mr. Trump), and most Germans feel empowered by that new responsibility" and that Germany "is coming to understand its role in standing up for liberal democracy in a world turning more and more authoritarian."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/opinion/trump-is-saving-germanys-liberals.html|title=Opinion - Trump Is Saving Germany's Liberals|newspaper=The New York Times|date=25 June 2018|last1=Marinic|first1=Jagoda}}</ref>

Other commentators—in the United States and Europe—rejected the appellation "Leader of the Free World":<ref>{{Cite news |access-date=29 November 2017 |date=8 July 2017|newspaper=The Economist |title=The Merkel doctrine: Germany is not the new leader of the free world |url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21724832-angela-merkel-may-sound-tough-donald-trump-her-country-still-depends-america-germany |quote=Once Mr Kohl's protégée, the chancellor of his reunified Germany is sometimes dubbed the "leader of the free world" in the Anglo-Saxon media. Yet such epithets get things wrong.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 July 2017 |access-date=29 November 2017 |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |first1=Christiane |last1=Hoffmann |first2=Peter |last2=Müller |first3=Gerald  |last3=Traufetter |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/angela-merkel-s-anti-trump-alliance-crumbling-ahead-of-g-20-a-1151439.html |title=Isolating Trump: Merkel's G-20 Climate Alliance Is Crumbling |quote=The German chancellor may have become the hero of liberals and democrats around the globe, but she is unable to fulfill the expectations placed on her as the putative "leader of the free world," at least not when it comes to power politics. Even Merkel's psychological deftness in dealing with the posturing potentates of the world isn't enough to make up for the fact that Germany is not a global power when it comes to foreign and security policy. America, it seems, will remain the world's power broker for the time being.}}</ref> some argued that there is no single leader of the 'free world';<ref name="FT 17 July 2017">{{cite news |date=17 July 2017 |newspaper=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4f4aeb70-6aca-11e7-b9c7-15af748b60d0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/4f4aeb70-6aca-11e7-b9c7-15af748b60d0 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Discard old ideas of a leader of the free world: Never mind Trump or Merkel, global problems demand a collective approach |first=Anne-Marie |last=Slaughter |quote=The idea of one 'leader of the free world" will soon come to seem very quaint indeed.'}}</ref><ref name="CNN 10 July 2017">{{Cite web |title=Who is the leader of the free world? |date=10 July 2017 |access-date=29 November 2017 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/10/opinions/no-world-leader-g20-opinion-hockenos/index.html |quote=The G20 underscored more emphatically than ever before that there is no one leader of the free world anymore.}}</ref> others queried whether Merkel ''remained'' the "leader of the free world" and the champion of liberal values.<ref>{{Cite news |access-date=29 November 2017 |date=25 September 2017 |first=Jonah |last=Shepp |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/09/is-angela-merkel-still-the-leader-of-the-free-world.html |title=Angela Merkel Won Reelection, But Is She Still the Leader of the Free World?}}</ref> Questioned about Merkel's standing following her performance in the [[German federal election, 2017|German elections in September 2017]], former US Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] opined that Merkel was "the most important leader in the free world".<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 September 2017|access-date=29 November 2017|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-angela-merkel_us_59c7c12ce4b0cdc77331ddff |title=Clinton Says Angela Merkel Is The Most Important Leader in the Free World|first=Yashar |last=Ali}}</ref> However, after Merkel's party suffered losses in the 2017 election and there were delays in forming a government, the claim that Merkel is the true leader of the free world was referred to as a "joke",<ref name="Vanity Fair November 2017">{{Cite news|access-date=29 November 2017|date=20 November 2017|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|first=Henry |last=Porter|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/the-collapse-of-angela-merkel-germany-leave-europe-on-the-brink|title=Angela's Ashes: Will the Collapse of Merkel's Germany Leave Europe on the Brink?|quote=With the election of Donald Trump, the joke has been that Merkel, not the sitting U.S. president, is the leader of the free world ...}}</ref> described as a media phenomenon,<ref name="ABC News November 2017">{{Cite news|access-date=29 November 2017|date=21 November 2017|publisher=ABC News|first=Sarah |last=Hucal|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/germanys-political-coalition-crisis-stokes-fears-rise/story?id=51299557 |title=Germany's political coalition crisis stokes fears the far right could rise |quote=Months after being hailed by media as the new leader of the free world, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing the greatest political crisis of her 12 years in office.}}</ref> and otherwise called into question.<ref name="Guardian November 2017">{{Cite news|access-date=29 November 2017|date=21 November 2017|first=Natalie |last=Nougayrède |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/21/germany-political-crisis-uncertainty-europe-macron|title=Germany's crisis means uncertainty for Europe. But it won't be fatal |newspaper=The Guardian|quote=If Merkel was supposed to be the leader of the free world in the era of Trump and Brexit then what might the future look like without her?}}</ref><ref name="Washington Examiner, December 2017">{{Cite news|access-date=26 December 2017|date=5 December 2017|first=Tom |last=Rogan|author-link=Tom Rogan |url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/is-germany-the-new-leader-of-the-free-world-not-a-chance/article/2642645|title=Is Germany the new leader of the free world? Not a chance.|newspaper=The Washington Examiner|quote=... the idea that Germany is somehow going to rise to displace the U.S. in global leadership is utterly ludicrous. It lacks the means, intent, and credibility to do so.|at=Opinion}}</ref><ref name="Bloomberg View, December 2017">{{Cite news|access-date=26 December 2017|date=19 December 2017|first=Leonid |last=Bershidsky |author-link=Leonid Bershidsky |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-19/maybe-the-free-world-doesn-t-need-a-leader|title=Maybe the Free World Doesn't Need a Leader|publisher=Bloomberg|quote=Merkel, however, probably doesn't fit the bill. Weakened by the last election, she has found herself embroiled in the longest coalition talks in Germany's post-World War II history. Even if she's back on top by Easter, global leadership will be pretty far from her mind as she settles into what's likely to be her last term in power. She doesn't even have an obvious successor in her party. Besides, she has always shown much more interest in shaping the European Union to Germany's benefit than in leading the world, free or otherwise. |at=Opinion}}</ref>

When Merkel retired as chancellor, [[Hillary Clinton]] wrote that "she led Europe through difficult times with steadiness and bravery, and for four long years, she was the leader of the free world."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/hillary-clinton-appears-to-mock-donald-trump-in-her-tribute-to-angela-merkel/ar-AARE4xv|title=Hillary Clinton appears to mock Donald Trump in her tribute to Angela Merkel|website=MSN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-twitter-angela-merkel-last-day|title=Hillary Clinton jabs Donald Trump on Angela Merkel's last day: 'Leader of the free world for 4 years'|first=Charles|last=Creitz|date=8 December 2021|website=Fox News}}</ref>