The driven: Merkel and refugee policy

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The Driven: Merkel and Refugee Policy , subtitle: Report from the Interior of Power , is a non-fiction book by the German world journalist Robin Alexander published by Siedler Verlag in 2017 . A film was made by ARD in 2019 under the eponymous title Die Grittenen .

Emergence

Robin Alexander has been observing Angela Merkel's politics as the world's political reporter since 2010. For a long time he toyed with the idea of ​​a book about the style of government of the Chancellor. In order to illustrate their "constant crisis mode", he initially thought of a description of their actions in the euro crisis . However, the refugee crisis offered him the opportunity to present his theses even more concisely.

The audio book version from John Verlag was recorded by Helmut Winkelmann .

content

In the book in particular the background and processes in the area of ​​the weekend 12./13. September 2015, when the federal government made an attempt to close the border between Austria and Bavaria for all people without a passport or visa, one week after Angela Merkel had issued an exception regulation that the border should not be closed. Alexander describes in a plausible way why there was no such general border closure after all.

Alexander in his book that Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet of CDU / CSU and SPD , unlike previously represented in the media, during the refugee crisis in Germany in 2015 had originally considered as part of the border closure and having regard to the third country regulation also Refuse asylum seekers at the border. On September 12, 2015, Merkel and the then head of the Federal Chancellery Peter Altmaier , Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière , CSU Chairman Horst Seehofer , Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and SPD Chairman Sigmar Gabriel agreed in a conference call to introduce border controls the following day. The corresponding draft of the order to the federal police had already been submitted and contained the instruction to the police headquarters to reject migrants without the necessary papers "also in the case of an asylum application ". Police officers from all over Germany had already been transported to the border by buses and helicopters that night. Dieter Romann , the President of the Federal Police Headquarters , who had prepared the details of the planned border closure organizationally and logistically, played an important role in this .

The following day, after legal concerns, Merkel demanded from de Maizière commitments that such a general border closure would stand in front of the courts and that there would be no publicly difficult to convey pictures of the operation. He then held consultation with his officials and the coalition partner SPD. In the last votes shortly before the planned date, among others between de Maizière and Gabriel, the wording of the order to the federal police had been rewritten to the effect that "third-country nationals without residence-legitimizing documents and with a request for asylum are to be allowed to enter", so that too Asylum seekers from so-called safe third countries or countries of origin could still enter:

“So the German border will remain open to everyone this weekend. The 'exception' of the opening of the border turned into a month-long state of emergency because no one had the political strength to end the exception as planned. The border remains open, not because Angela Merkel consciously decided it or someone else in the federal government. In the crucial hour there is simply no one who wants to take responsibility for the closure. "

In the last chapter, one year later, Alexander takes stock of the 2017 federal election campaign . He cites quotes from Merkel, Seehofer and Gabriel, which on the one hand emphasize the great humanitarian achievement, on the other hand demand that an unregulated border opening like 2015 should never be repeated. Alexander summarizes these statements in a paradoxical formula: "An outstanding achievement that must never be repeated."

paragraph

The book was widely received and was already a bestseller shortly after publication : The Börsenblatt recorded a jump “from zero to number one”, the book report documented three weeks at number 1 on the bestseller list hardcover non-fiction books and a total of eleven weeks in the top 10 Spiegel bestseller list (edition 13/2017, hardcover non-fiction books ), the book reached first place for three weeks, then another three weeks in second place.

reception

In the Huffington Post , CDU young politician Ahmed Agdas emphasizes that the book is “written in an exciting way” and describes “the dramatic months of German-European politics, also understandable for the layman”. In doing so, the author "almost too obviously refrained from being assigned to any camp".

Barbara Dribbusch is more critical of the taz : The book comes "as a documentation of a weakness in decision-making by Merkel, Thomas de Maizière & Co", "but it is precisely because of this that it appears manipulative". In addition, personalization narrows the view and is a "simplification offer".

In contrast, Eckhard Stuff for Kulturradio describes the work, which reads like a thriller, as "the most important political book of spring 2017".

Thomas Jäger is also positive about the Focus : The book is "written so attractively and eloquently that you have to read it in one go". Beyond the style of American investigative journalists, Alexander found "a clearer, more thought-provoking and more effective form of expression", which can be seen in terms of content, "by leaving gaps and fragments where they probably belong."

The judgment of the SZ reviewer Stefan Braun is differentiated . The weakness of the book is that the author is "venting his anger at the Chancellor", but it also provides "deep insights into the inner workings of politics".

literature

  • The driven: Merkel and refugee policy. Report from within the power. Siedler, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-8275-0093-9 .
    • as an audio book: The Driven: Merkel and Refugee Policy. Report from within the power. John Verlag, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-942057-79-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DWDL de GmbH: Robin Alexander's "Die Grittenen" comes as a film in the first. Retrieved November 12, 2019 .
  2. ↑ "Do you sometimes feel like you're being used?" - "All the time." In: Übermedien. October 26, 2019, accessed on November 12, 2019 (German).
  3. ↑ Merkel almost closed the border. World N24, March 5, 2017.
  4. ↑ Robin Alexander: Refugee Crisis: The Image That Shouldn't Be There. Die Welt, 2017.
  5. ↑ pp. 11-25
  6. ↑ p. 26
  7. ↑ p. 277
  8. ↑ Current book bestseller lists / top sellers on a rollercoaster ride. In: boersenblatt.net. March 24, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017 .
  9. ↑ The Driven - book report. In: buchreport.de. Retrieved October 17, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Entry on the book at buchreport . Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  11. ↑ Ahmed Agdas: Review: "The Driven" by morals, compulsions and moods. In: huffingtonpost.de. May 29, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Barbara Dribbusch: "The Driven" by Robin Alexander: Manipulative Political Crime . In: taz.de . April 6, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Eckhard Stuff: Robin Alexander: "The driven. Merkel and the refugee policy". (No longer available online.) In: Kulturradio. April 4, 2017, archived from the original on July 4, 2017 ; accessed on October 17, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kulturradio.de
  14. ↑ Thomas Jäger: Die Grittenen: Robin Alexander's book accounts for the refugee policy. In: Focus Online . July 1, 2017, accessed October 17, 2017 .
  15. ↑ Stefan Braun: The message: Merkel is to blame. In: sueddeutsche.de . April 18, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017 .