Merkel delivers defense of post-war multilateral order in Davos address

German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a robust defense of the post-war multilateral order on Wednesday, lauding compromise as a virtue in international relations in a veiled criticism of US President Donald Trump, Reuters reports. In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Merkel urged Western powers to think beyond their narrow national interests and to reform global institutions with a view to achieving “win-win” outcomes. The Western world “has to act against the fragmentation of the international architecture, and be ready to reform the existing institutions,” Merkel said in the address to global political and business leaders.