As the dust settles two weeks after the German national election, Angela Merkel confronts a new political landscape.

The result threatens to reduce her authority, push the legislature to the right on issues such as migration and national identity and limit the scope for German cooperation with France on improving the eurozone’s ability to survive another crisis.

Inevitably, this fragmented election result will make the formation of a new coalition government a laborious affair for Merkel and other party leaders. She admitted she had sort of polarised Germany with her very controversial refugee policy, after an electoral breakthrough by the populist right-wing party Alternative for Germany upended national politics and weakened her grip on power.

However, Merkel is determined to stay in office for a fourth term as she took the first steps in what could be complex negotiations over a new coalition. She is ready to lead and Europe needs her leadership. She is looked upon as a global actress, a leader of the western world, a strong and an outspoken defender of transatlantic alliances, of human rights who shows sympathy for refugees.

With the likes of Donald Trump and the aggressive and authoritarian leaders of Russia, Turkey, Hungary and Poland – and now a rearing of the far-right in Germany – Merkel has had leadership thrust upon her.

The Chancellor is a pillar of stability and certainty in a world navigating in uncharted waters. She has been thrust into the role of the West’s most outspoken defender of the liberal democratic order while engaging in realpolitik, always seeking to resolve outstanding global challenges. She will stand up, even against allies, if she sees the principles of the international order undermined.

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