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2020 was the third year of the “Merkel 4.0” government. During this year，COVID-19 dominated all aspects of political，economic and social life in Germany. In addition to coping with COVID-19 and its impact，the relationship between China and the US and the US presidential election became important yardsticks of Germany’s diplomacy. Against this backdrop，this book analyzes Germany’s actions in domestic and foreign affairs as well as the opportunities and challenges it faces in the “post-pandemic era”.

Throughout 2020，the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic was the defining issue of Germany’s domestic policy. At the very beginning，the German government did well in subduing the pandemic and thus reaped the “benefit of governing”，which led to a rebound of the support for the ruling Christian Democratic Union（CDU）/Christian Social Union（CSU）in polls. The support for its junior partner，the Social Democratic Party of Germany（SPD），remained however low. But as the pandemic continued to escalate and spread in the second half of 2020，the public health system developed problems and displayed some serious limitations；this resulted in a sharp drop in the public’s satisfaction with the government’s response to the crisis and a sense of fatigue regarding anti-pandemic measures. At the same time，the pandemic crisis rapidly evolved from a public health problem to a violent social upheaval that found its epitome in large-scale protests against the anti-pandemic measures. Preventing the pandemic while maintaining social stability，unity and fairness continues to be a thorny problem facing the federal government.

During the entire year，Germany’s economy was severely impacted by COVID-19，and its GDP dropped by 4.8%. Benefiting from the budget surplus that had been achieved during the six years before 2020，the German government effectively intervened in the labor market and stabilized the economy through transfer payments and subsidy policies. The government regards digitalization as an important means to deal with the pandemic and bring about the recovery and has therefore introduced a series of policies and measures promoting digitalization. At the same time，the government actively endorsed the “European Green Deal”，supporting it with a large-scale economic stimulus plan，and introduced a series of policies and regulations related to climate protection，decarbonization and the implementation of green projects. The pandemic has also prompted Germany to adjust its value chain，which is largely concentrated on neighboring EU countries，and make efforts to realize its diversification. The envisaged Supply Chain Law is however likely to rather hinder the implementation of this strategy.

Diplomatically，Germany strove to lead the EU out of the pandemic crisis，achieve a speedy economic recovery and promote Europe’s strategic autonomy in an uncertain international landscape. Germany assumed the rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of 2020 and put forward the motto “Gemeinsam. Europa wieder stark machen.” that can be translated as “Together. Making Europe Strong Again.”；the English version was slightly different：“Together for Europe’s recovery”. It has made substantial progress in policy areas such as the response to the pandemic，climate，digitalization and foreign affairs. But few results have been achieved in other areas such as migration，relations with Africa and EU enlargement. Its overall performance，however，was remarkable. In terms of policy toward the United States，the year 2020，during which Trump continued further down the road of unilateralism，witnessed the lowest point of the bilateral relationship between Germany and the United States since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. The U.S. election at the end of the year and its outcome offered an important opportunity to get the relationship back on track and further boost transatlantic relations. It became clear that Germany increasingly catered to the policies of the United States. In September 2020 the federal government issued “Policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific” which emphasized that Germany and the EU should strengthen cooperation with “like-minded partners” in the Indo-Pacific region，with special emphasis on reducing unilateral dependence on China in the industrial and supply chains. At the same time，Germany still continued to attach great importance to the mutually beneficial cooperation with China and vigorously promoted the conclusion of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment（CAI）before the end of the year.

Looking ahead to 2021，Germany is faced with the challenge of accelerating vaccinations and curbing COVID-19 as soon as possible. The overall outlook for economic recovery in the “post-pandemic era” is good，but the challenges of simultaneously pursuing green policies and the digital transformation are huge. With the Bundestag election on September 26，2021，Germany will officially enter the “post-Merkel era”. The composition of the government is likely to change；the participation of the Green party in a government coalition is a distinct probability，raising the significance of climate protection in the government’s agenda even further. How to balance economic recovery and climate protection will be a major task facing the new government. The development of the strategic autonomy of Germany and the EU with practical actions against the backdrop of an intensified strategic competition between China and the U.S. will at the same time test the strategic determination of the leaders of the new government，and it will be a crucial test of their political perspicacity.