Germany

Thirty years ago today the Federal Republic of Germany of the west absorbed the ex-Communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) of the east, reuniting the country for the first time since the end of World War II.

Concerns abut a reunited Germany dominating Europe as it did in the imperial and Third Reich eras have long since given way to a Germany that operates much like the old Weimar Republic was supposed to.  Since 1990, Germany has become a responsible partner in the integration of Europe.  It singed the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 that led to the European Union and has modernized much of the economy in the former Communist GDR.  The transition has not been without problems, but overall, Germany has actually become a more vibrant and active democracy and a stabilizing force not only in Europe but in the world, having contributed to the NATO effort to stabilize Afghanistan after 9/11.  Economically, Germany has become a major force in Europe, as evidenced by the expansion of companies such as Volkswagen AG, which bought the Czech car company Škoda and turned the once-embarrassing Trabant auto factory in Zwickau (in the former GDR) into a state-of-the-art factory making electric vehicles.

And in all of this, the country's long-serving chancellor, Angela Merkel (below) has kept Germany going through trying times that have included a migrant crisis and the ongoing pandemic.  In the process, she has become an important world leader who values and promotes the virtues of liberty, and, thanks to the current state of American politics, she's now being called the leader of the free world. 

All in all, not a bad track record for a country whose reunification raised concerns three decades ago.