Olaf Scholz will be sworn in as Germany’s ninth chancellor since World War II on Wednesday, ending Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure and inheriting a worsening pandemic crisis and a raft of geopolitical challenges including the standoff over Ukraine. The 63-year-old Social Democrat, Merkel’s vice chancellor for the past four years, represents renewal at the top — but not too much. Voters who awarded him a narrow victory in the Sept. 26 election saw much of what they liked in Merkel — a steady hand and competent, if not charismatic, leadership. He’ll take over after Germany under Merkel asserted itself as the paramount power broker in the European Union and a central player as the postwar global order begins to show cracks. Scholz will have to learn how to apply Germany’s leverage amid threats to Europe’s eastern frontier and the ascendancy of China as a superpower. He’ll also have to […]