Should conservative parties pursue liberal-minded centrist support or compete against far-Right populists for working-class voters?
British politicians are more than capable of committing blunders, but so too are their continental opposite numbers.
Both countries look set to continue to rub along uneasily, mixing elements of cooperation and competition along the way.
Liberal commentators can no longer use the former Chancellor as a stick with which to beat British Prime Ministers.
Just as its energy dependence on Russia cannot be reversed overnight, decades of drift into quasi-pacifism reflect a deeply embedded outlook.
Schröder and Merkel long insisted Putin was a trustworthy partner, but Germany under Scholz has now been forced to take the side of freedom.
Ardern’s tough approach has won her praise all over the world. But it’s hard to separate success from demographic advantage.
Every day criminals look for ways to infect British businesses with malware to prevent them from functioning until a ransom is paid.
I’m more relaxed about the frontiers of the state rolling forward than some. But all the way into my bloodstream? Not without my say so.
If Peter Sellers were still around, he could play the President to perfection, as a politician who is all at once cunning, witty, naive and triumphant.
Ministers must grasp that this new one will be even more disposed to conduct its foreign policy through the EU.
Political popularity appears to be broad and sustained but, when eventually it is exhausted, the falling away of support is dramatic.
Putin’s Russia is closer to home – remember the Salisbury attack – and Islamist extremism is already here.
It is worth noting the lack of a German, and therefore European, consensus on the foreign policy challenges facing the West, particularly on Russia and China.
It should remain a long-term aim but ensuring that we can generate the energy we need without a reliance on overseas sources should come first.