In 2015 Germany opened its borders to a million refugees. Angela Merkel suffered criticism from the Right who disagreed.

By 2017, there was a prevalent view that Wir schaffen das would be Merkel’s undoing, a “catastrophic mistake” as Donald Trump said in January that year. “The worst decision a European leader has made in modern times,” Nigel Farage told Fox News. “She’s finished.”

That quote from this article, illustrates the criticism of her policy, Wir schaffen das – which means “We will manage” but she has been proven right. A million refugees are now settling and starting companies, not all, but some. There have been no terrorist attacks in three years.

Merkel has advanced the German economy and her approval rating has returned to where it was before it took a hit from reaction to this policy. Germany becomes a beacon of hope for world peace, as settlement of refugees is a large part of bringing peace.

The other side of that coin is the defeat of authoritarian regimes, the most serious one is in Syria. The Government has been at war with a number of factions, including ISIS, not all aligned with ISIS. It has used chemical weapons and that civil war has destroyed many of Syria’s cities. It has produced many refugees and Germany took many.

It is instructive to the nationalistic shutting off that infect the UK and the USA. Rampant nationalism is the cousin of racism.