BERLIN — Until this month, a far-right, openly ethnonationalist party had never come so close to winning an absolute majority in an election in the Federal Republic of Germany. Now that it has, and with similarly pro-Russian forces on the rise in France, all Europeans must prepare for the worst.…
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MUNICH — For decades, the Federal Republic of Germany’s political stability rested upon an implicit, highly successful social contract: high-value, precision manufacturing would provide secure, well-remunerated jobs, robust export revenues, and broad-based national prosperity. In turn, stable political institutions would translate these economic dividends into enduring social cohesion. Today, relentless…