Even during the golden age of European integration Germany was an awkward partner, too big to be first among equals but too small to dominate, as Helmut Kohl, the chancellor who unified Germany, put it.

ECONOMIST: Germany's role in the world

"We have a golden opportunity to move wealth at no tax cost, " says Mark Nash, a partner in private-company services at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

WSJ: Family Value: A Big Break for Family Businesses

Anti-Semitism was also blatant during a campaign against an Israeli financier, Sammy Ofer, who had planned to invest with a Turkish partner in rehabilitating Istanbul's historic Galata district and its port near the Golden Horn.

ECONOMIST: Israel and Turkey