Germany retreats to old certainties

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, might have been excused had she decided to skip the Group of 20 meeting in Pittsburgh later this week. The German general election takes place on Sunday – just 48 hours after the summit. Ms Merkel’s decision to go to Pittsburgh is both cool and calculated. It sends a signal to the German electorate that she is relaxed, above the fray, an international leader more concerned with representing her country to the world than with mud-wrestling domestic opponents in the last days of a campaign.