Good column ft.com/content/0a538c85-27fb… “Both Merkel and Obama are self-assured, highly educated, intellectual and cautious by temperament. … But, in retrospect, their careful rationalism made them ill-equipped to deal with ruthless strongman leaders like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. … it is increasingly clear that decisions taken by the two leaders — or often the decisions not taken by them — had a damaging, if delayed, impact on global stability.”