Angela Merkel celebrates after securing third term

Angela Merkel recently celebrated a stunning election victory on Sunday. With 41.5 percent of the votes, Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats boasted its best result since German reunification in 1990. However, her party fell five seats short of an absolute majority. "This is a super result," Merkel told cheering supporters. "Together, we will do all we can to make the next four years successful ones for Germany."

Wondering who she is? The German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the conservative leader of Europe's largest economy is one of the most influential people in the world.

 Forbes magazine put her in second place only after President Barack Obama on its World's Most Powerful People list this year – and in first place on its Most Powerful Women list. With a roughly 70 percent approval rating even after eight years in office, Germany's first female chancellor won a third term in Sunday's election.

 Her bland demeanor has earned her the nickname of "Mutti" or Mommy – both a compliment and a jibe: the mother of a nation, but too safe for some.

She has an unusual background for a politician, with a doctorate in quantum chemistry and no political career until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. She rose quickly with the help of Chancellor Helmut Kohl – the oft-described architect of Germany's reunification.

While her pragmatism and conservatism have won her many fans across Germany, critics slam her for lacking vision. However, Merkel appears to embrace it. Last week she rolled out the campaign slogan, "No experiments."

Much of Merkel's power lies in the simple fact that she is head of Europe's powerhouse: Germany is almost single-handedly keeping the fragile Eurozone afloat. As with her even-keel political mentality, Merkel is similarly pragmatic in handling the debt crisis. She has consistently demanded that the floundering economies of Cyprus, Greece and Italy tighten their belts, believing those reforms will make Europe and the euro stronger and more competitive.

The reforms are no quick fix – but that's her style. The struggling residents of Southern Europe, meanwhile, characterize them as totalitarian and Nazi-like. Obama has even nudged her to ease up on austerity, fearing that a depressed Europe will threaten the U.S. economy, but she repeatedly rebuffs him, staying her course.

Merkel's handling of security and military matters exemplifies her politically canny style. She has been perceptive to strong public opposition to military conflicts. "Merkel is completely ahead of the game on this," Dempsey said. "She knows what the public thinks. And she really doesn't like war. She really doesn't."

Although she supported the invasion of Iraq amid a big push to build up relations with the U.S., she eventually opposed it as Germans grew increasingly wary.

Afghanistan was but a whisper – she sent only 8,000 troops and was criticized by other coalition members for not pulling her weight. Reflecting public opinion at home, Merkel also opposed action in Libya and is continuing to push for diplomacy rather than force in Syria's bloody war.

Source: nbcnews