How Angela Merkel solved one European crisis by promising another

The EU's deal with Turkey is a disaster-in-waiting

Does Europe need more Europe?
(Image credit: Zick,Jochen-Pool/Getty Images)

Angela Merkel is once again taking charge of the refugee crisis. And once again, it's to disastrous effect.

Last year, after a summer of stories about refugees dying in the Mediterranean or abused by smugglers, the German chancellor stepped up and said her country would welcome one million refugees. They got them. Since then, terrorists have used the migratory flow as cover to move about Europe and kill well over a hundred people in Paris. Cologne and other capitals have had high-profile, mob-like incidents of mass sexual assault in public. And the reign of Merkel — popularly called "Mutti" or Mother — has come under challenge from both left and right in Germany.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.