REFUGEE CRISIS: Der Spiegel: How Merkel Has Gambled Away Her EU Power. “With her refugee policies, Chancellor Merkel has isolated Germany to a greater degree than any of her predecessors. The Balkan Route has been closed down against her will and many EU leaders believe her overtures to Turkey are delusional. . . . But what Merkel’s people describe as rectitude, the rest of Europe sees as an attempt to spread the costs of her noble-minded blunder across the entire European Union. The fences that have now been built do not just prevent refugees from moving through the Continent — they’re also symbolic of resistance to German presumption.”