A conservative on the rise – or gone astray? In a time when authoritarian regimes are gaining influence, many people long for a conservatism that stabilizes the country but also confronts the far right. Is Friedrich Merz such a conservative? What kind of politics can be expected from him, both nationally and internationally? Mariam Lau – the journalist who knows Merz best – paints a current, vivid portrait in her book, making the many, sometimes contradictory, facets of the new Chancellor tangible. biography Mariam Lau, born in Tehran in 1962 as the daughter of journalist Bahman Nirumand, was an editor at taz for several years. Today she is chief correspondent in the parliamentary bureau of Die Welt. She lives in Berlin with her husband and three children. New product