Center on the United States and Europe

[The Turkish decision to delay making the S-400s operational provides a window of opportunity for Ankara and Washington to find a way forward] If the systems had been activated in April as originally planned, Congressional pressure on the Trump Administration to sanction Turkey under the CAATSA legislation would have increased significantly. Sanctions would have placed financial pressure on Turkey’s economy, which was already struggling before the coronavirus emerged.

It’s notable that Merkel’s popularity rates have gone up so much. That’s an indication of her extremely rational leadership style, the scientist’s approach to managing almost unquantifiable risk.

[Chancellor Merkel] was appealing to people’s sense of responsibility and their ability as citizens to assess the risk and then do the right thing. It seems clear to me that she decided that this was an exceptional emergency and therefore required a different approach.