The current political turmoil in Europe shows that, regardless of how sensible Chancellor Angela Merkel’s austerity prescriptions for debt-ridden peripheral Europe might be in the abstract, they resemble a German Diktat. The concern for many is not just Europe’s historic “German problem,” but also that Germany could end up exporting to the rest of Europe the same ghosts of radical politics and violent nationalism that its economic success has transcended at home.
但是，欧洲总是不能和过度自信（甚至目中无人）的德国形成妥协。最近的欧洲政坛乱象表明，不管从抽象角度看德国总理默克尔为重债外围国开出的紧缩药方是多么明智，其外表却总像是德国在颐指气使。很多人所担忧的不仅仅是欧洲历史上的“德国问题”，他们还担心德国会把其在国内被经济上的成功所克服了的极端政治和暴力民族主义出口到欧洲其他国家。