EVEN by their own exacting standards, Germans are experiencing a lot of Angst this summer. They are still jittery after aseries of terrorist attacks in July, including two by Muslim refugees. They are also newly nervous about the 3m German citizens and residents of Turkish descent, many of whom have staged demonstrations since last month’s coup attempt in Turkey in support of its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Most Germans are wary of Mr Erdogan, who has been cracking down on opponents real and imagined at home and has requested the extradition of several suspects from Germany (see article). Between the attacks and the demonstrations, many Germans feel civilisations are clashing on their own streets.
In response to the anxiety, politicians have come out with a burst of proposals claiming to get tough on terrorists, tough on security, tough on integrating refugees—in short, tough on the whole confused range of identity-politics issues…