Hormuz is closed. Germany does nothing.

While Iran squeezes global energy supplies, Germany focuses on petrol taxes.

Dear Reader,

Friedrich Merz, when still leader of the opposition, once coined a stinging epithet for the then chancellor Olaf Scholz. Scholz, he said, was a Klempner der Macht — a plumber of power: a man adept at fixing leaks, but incapable of designing a better system.

The label stuck. But if Scholz was the diminutive Mario, Merz is proving to be his lanky brother Luigi — still patching pipes rather than confronting the fact that the system itself needs replacing.

Like his predecessor, Merz has shown himself incapable of shaping events abroad to secure Germany’s interests at home. Instead, he is bogged down in cosmetic domestic fixes to problems whose causes lie far beyond Germany’s borders.

This became clear within weeks of his taking office. As opposition leader, Merz spoke confidently about the fact that he would supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles — something Scholz had refused to do. In power, he has gone silent. At the same …