For German chancellor Angela Merkel, 2016 was another dramatic year that put her centre stage in global affairs and left her facing calls to take over outgoing US President Barack Obama's mantle as the leader of the western world.
对于德国总理安格拉·默克尔而言，2016年又是惊心动魄的一年，她被推上了全球事务的中央舞台，同时呼声四起，要求她接过即将离任的美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马的担子，成为西方世界的领袖。

While Ms Merkel dismissed such demands as “absurd”, she has recognised that the populist Donald Trump's election to the White House has added to her huge responsibilities.Any thought that, after three terms in power, she might retire at 62 has been swept away: she has decided to stand again in next year's parliamentary elections.
默克尔并不响应这种呼声，斥之为“荒唐”，但她已经意识到，民粹主义者唐纳德·特朗普当选美国总统后，她肩上的担子更重了。人们原本以为，在当了三任总理后，她可能在62岁退休。如今这种想法已经烟消云散，因为她已决定明年再次参加议会选举。

And she has made clear that she has far more than Germany on her mind—pledging to carry on the fight for liberal democracy, free trade and open societies even as rightwing populists are heading in a different direction.This promise alone was enough to make Ms Merkel the FT's Person of the Year for 2015, a leading contender for this year and will almost certainly put her in the running for 2017.
而且她明确表示，她心中所着想的绝不止是德国——她承诺继续为自由民主、自由贸易和开放社会而战，即便右翼民粹主义者正冲着不同的方向去了。这一承诺就足以让默克尔成为了英国《金融时报》2015年年度人物、2016年这一称号的有力争夺者，也几乎肯定会让她在2017年入围。