In fact, the campaign against the Economic Minister Peter Altmaier shows that Merz is specifically angling for that position himself. However, Altmaier is one of the closest trustees of Merkel, and any attack on him is indirectly an attack on her. The Werteunion (a caucus of socially conservative and economically libertarian CDU/CSU members) are probably the most outspoken on their desire for the Chancellor to leave her post early.

This is a pickle for AKK. While Merz has been able to keep his ambitions on the down-low, his supporters have shown much less restraint.

On one hand, the close relationship that the both of them share. On the other hand, the knowledge of political and constitutional hurdles to the Chancellorship, exacerbated by Merkel's dogged determination to stay in her post barring any significant reason to call new elections. With the only alternative being to try passing a motion of no confidence against Merkel, it seems that Merkel will hold on to her Chancellorship until the end of her term in 2021.

Merkel will not give up so easily

This is where it gets infuriating for Merz: as long as Merkel remains Chancellor, his plans remain unfulfilled. AKK can attempt to promote Minister Merz all she wants, but she still has to be the Chancellor before any of this can come to pass. It is therefore unsurprising that AKK has been raising the pressure on Merkel to clear her post as quickly as possible.

And although Merz departed the party meeting prematurely, he was far from politically exhausted; his ambition to become someone of note again held strong. Many believe that Merz still seeks the Chancellorship, but he is minimally aiming for a ministerial post, and as quickly as possible, for he will be 64 years old in autumn.

Merz was the leader of the CDU/CSU Bundestag group from 2000-2002, and had disappeared from active politics in 2009. Yet, he smelled the chance to make the political comeback of his lifetime - and as nothing less than the successor of the very individual who had ousted him, Angela Merkel (she had competed with him successfully for leadership of the party). However, in December he narrowly lost the vote for party leader to AKK in a runoff election (a third candidate, Health Minister Jens Spahn, had been eliminated in the first round).

First, we have Chancellor Angela Merkel. She holds AKK in such high regard (politically and personally), that she gave AKK a sudden promotion from the Minister-President of the Saarland, to the General Secretary of the CDU. This was a clear sign in early 2018 that AKK was to be the successor to Merkel - and indeed, it has turned out to be the case. However, as Merkel made plans for her abdication of her leadership of the CDU, person #3 of the plan suddenly appeared: Friedrich Merz.

So, let's go in order:

Why is it worth it to think about all this, when Brexit is threatening the EU, the US President is causing a global collapse, and a comic is head of state in the Ukraine? That's because all this is decisive for the way the CDU, and by extension the German government, will progress.

To get to the point: Merkel appreciates AKK above all, but seems to be unable to do so for Merz; on the other hand, AKK and Merz have (according to info from the Spiegel) arrived at some form of arrangement.

The constellation of the three CDU politicians, Annagret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Angela Merkel, and Friedrich Merz are ever so slightly different, though; they are not related, only two of them are friends, and they all hold starkly different offices and functions. However, a complicated three-way conflict is due to develop.

Triplets are very complicated. Three siblings, three close friends, three who are responsible to their organizations: oftentimes, they fight in assorted combinations of 2v1.

The awkwardness of the CDU's reaction to the Youtuber Rezo's bashing has quickly transformed itself into a personal failing of AKK's. "We will naturally react very differently, much faster, if it were to happen today," she said. Indeed, much has been said in the Federal Executive Board about not letting a similar incident happen again. "The CDU wishes to remain a centrist party for the people, even in the digital age. This means that all citizens must be included in the dialogue, and when more and more people turn to a digital medium, we cannot say that we ignore it because analog was better." She admitted cordially that even her son had criticized her extensively over how she had handled Rezo.

Another important personnel matter was finalized on Monday morning in the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus: the appointment of a new CDU party whip. Unexpectedly, the position was not granted to a lackey of AKK, but rather Stefan Hennewig, who's extremely versatile with of social media campaigning on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, a field which the CDU has traditionally done poorly in.

The CDU and Social Media

The Chairwoman of the CDU repudiated any form of cooperation with the AfD. In response to the murder of the Minister-President of Kassel, Walter Luebcke, and its connection to members of the AfD, she said: "The death of Luebcke was a great shock for us all, and a turning point for Germany." She recognized that the murder was not a crime of passion, but was premeditated by evidently right-wing extremist views, and with the fate of Walter Luebcke staring at them in the eye, nobody could work with the AfD.

"These are disturbing times for Annagret Kramp-Karrenbauer. On monday evening, after a long day of committee meetings in Berlin with important clarifications, she sat down on Ständehaustreff, a live talk show hosted by the Rhenish Post in Berlin.

Since the first thing that came to mind when he mentioned this was the defence sector and arms procurement, it's already kinda evident that the European nations already kind of do this. For the most part, European equipment is manufactured by a multitude of European defence contractors.

This might run into some issues as greater European oversight on businesses within Europe would entail some reaching past the national governments. In particular, the less economically developed nations of Europe would be hard hit should the EU begin to take a hard line on enforcing regulations.

Interesting statement. Macron articulates a desire to eventually reconcile the UK back to Europe.

This is a very notable statement. Firstly, France has been intervening in the military affairs of Africa for a long time, particularly those of the Francophone nations. Secondly, Macron is essentially setting Africa as the battleground of influence between Europe and China. Post-colonial Africa seems to be one of the last significant almost entirely non-aligned regions in the world, and Macron seems to be seeking to reassert European influence on Africa - but in a humanitarian, and non-colonial way.

It is incredibly unlikely that this will garner as much support among the EU states as it should. Just off the top of my head, Poland, Hungary, and Spain would not be entirely amenable to neutral European experts overseeing their elections.

Most arguments that are made in the Brexit discussion are with regards to the status of the UK in the European Common Market, a massive customs union that provides a large consumer base. Most people see this to be one of the most singularly unifying and practical benefits of European membership.

Macron won his campaign on a very pro-Europe platform, and during his tenure he has demonstrably worked very closely with Angela Merkel to ensure that Europe acts in tandem. This is particularly key because Germany and France tend to command separate factions in EU politics.

Macron defines Europe in a geopolitical sense, as a collective of countries who on their own have little to no sway on the global stage and who are only able to survive because of European unity. However, this is only true as long as all the European countries act in unison, which evidently isn't happening since he's here seeking exactly that. It's also highly unlikely Europe will act as a single entity unless it's fully federated: it's proven that elements within EU lean towards the great powers of the day (US, CN, RU).

European leaders, especially those of France and Germany, like to hearken to the history of Europe as a war-torn continent, only brought to peace by the establishment of partnership between its two greatest belligerents. But realistically speaking, if you take away the European Union today, would Germany and France be back at each others' throats?

While Europe has shown itself unable to respond to the threats of the modern world and has been unable to capably care for the needs of its citizens, Macron is making the claim that in spite of this, it is a folly to leave Europe. It's a strange claim to make - Europe has failed to do the things it needs to, but leaving Europe is irresponsible and destructive.

Simultaneously claiming that European unity is strong, while saying that they don't have the things that would result naturally from unity. Hm.

Interesting that in a speech supposedly promoting European strength and independent will, she mentions the alliance as "trans-atlantic" - subtly keeping the US in the equation.

Proposal to spearhead efforts to promulgate democracy and liberal values around the world.

Vision of a united Europe as a major player on the global stage.

I doubt that any person has a natural desire for domination, similar to any desire for submission. It's just one of those things that it'll be impossible to find any answers for.

Not entirely accurate. The area of philosophy and neuroscience in which transgender studies lie has no one specific answer to why someone is transgender. The most commonly accepted and cited studies tend to show the symptoms which validate trans identities (read: the classic trans brain scan studies), but there is no one theory that seems to be able to accurately explain what exactly causes someone to be transgender.