Germany
As Western Europe's richest and most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed the country in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EC and NATO, while the communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German reunification in 1990. Since then Germany has expended considerable funds to bring eastern productivity and wages up to western standards.
Germany is one of the world's largest economies, a founding member of the European Union (EU), a North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) member, and a member of the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized nations. It joined the common European currency, the euro, on January 1, 1999, and Frankfurt is the seat of the European Central Bank.
Angela Merkel, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), was sworn in as Germany's first female chancellor in late November 2005, taking over from Gerhard Schroeder who had held the post since 1998. General elections two months earlier produced a very close result. After lengthy talks, agreement was reached that Merkel would be chancellor in a "grand coalition" involving the CDU, its CSU allies and the SPD. Merkel's key task was to revive the economy. Her plans to cut taxes for high earners and to liberalize employment law were shelved during coalition talks. The policy deal agreed included tax increases, a rise in the retirement age, spending cuts to reduce the budget deficit and an investment program to tackle unemployment which was hovering at around five million.
In recent years business and political leaders have become increasingly concerned about Germany's apparent decline in attractiveness as a business location. They cite the increasing preference of German companies to locate new manufacturing facilities long the strength of the postwar economy in foreign countries, including the United States, rather than in Germany, partly in order to be nearer to export markets and partly to avoid Germany's high taxes and labor costs, restrictive regulations, and other problems.
There are currently no known direct threats to expatriate visitors or residents in Germany.
Germany remains largely free of terrorist incidents. However, like other countries in the Schengen area, Germany’s open borders with its western European neighbors allow the possibility of terrorist groups entering and exiting the country with anonymity. Terrorist cells with Middle Eastern links have been shown to be operating in Germany, both as support networks to the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States, and as cells dedicated to targeting U.S. interests within Germany.
Germany sees a number of demonstrations annually on a variety of political and economic themes. Prior police approval is required for public demonstrations in Germany, and police oversight is routinely provided for participants and passersby. These demonstrations are usually peaceful and orderly, but hooligans, most often young intoxicated “skinheads,” have been known to harass or even attack people whom they believe to be foreigners, members of rival groups, or members of different races.
