If you don't know what QAnon is this is how wikileaks divines the cult - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon.
At first glance it’s not a natural fit. The U.S. conspiracy theory — now with millions of acolytes worldwide — alleges a vast deception to undermine U.S. President Donald Trump. It blends anti-government, anti-lockdown and anti-Semitic rhetoric with unfounded beliefs about a vast pedophile ring run by the global elite. Its followers adhere to a quasi-religious belief that a great savior — aided by “Q,” an anonymous government insider from whom QAnon gets its name — will protect followers from the dark forces behind the conspiracy.
In the U.S., discussion about QAnon has broken into the political mainstream. When Trump was asked to disavow the group at a recent town hall event, he first said he knew “nothing about QAnon” but then added: “I do know that they are very much against pedofiles.
Despite its digital roots, this conspiracy based, populst, ultra -right-wing QAnon has extended its reach into the real world, with attendees at protests against anti-coronavirus measures and supportive of conspiracy theories spreading its talking points across Europe, the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Read more at:
QAnon goes European – POLITICO
Showing posts with label Angela Merkel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angela Merkel. Show all posts
Saturday, October 24, 2020
Monday, December 10, 2018
Germany: Could AKK Angela Merkel's successor be the EU's savior
Could Angela Merkel’s successor be Europe’s savior?
Monday, June 11, 2018
EU in the danger zone: The United States and Russia Target Germany - by Judy Dempsey
Europe is not in good shape.
Italy now has a government of leftist and rightist populists in power. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is telling the opposition party in Macedonia to reject a proposed deal between Skopje and Athens to resolve the dispute over Macedonia’s name.
Forget the fact that an end to this conflict would fill one of the security vacuums in this part of the Western Balkans, which should enhance European security. Macedonia could join NATO which Greece, until now, had vetoed because of the name issue.
More worrying, is that what is taking place in Europe today is, unwittingly, a collusion of interests between the Trump administration and the Kremlin.
These interests are about dividing the EU. In the case of the United States, these policies undermine the transatlantic alliance and weaken the West’s projection of its values. But above all, these interests are about undermining Germany, and in particular Angela Merkel, who has been chancellor of Europe’s biggest economy since 2005.
So why are Russia and the Trump administration targeting Merkel?
Let’s take Russia.
Once she became chancellor in late 2005, Merkel slowly chiseled away at the policies of her Social Democrat predecessor Gerhard Schröder. The former German chancellor had established very close links with Putin, even referring to him as “an impeccable democrat.”
Merkel was having none of that. She reached out to Russia’s civil society activists. She spoke her mind with Putin. By the time the Russian president had illegally annexed Crimea in March 2014, Merkel knew where she stood with him.
Putin underestimated Merkel’s ability to get all EU member states on board to impose sanctions on Russia. Yet she did it. That weakened, to a big degree, the pro-Russia wings in Germany’s Social Democratic Party. The party’s “Ostpolitik”—or eastern policy that was based on rapprochement with Russia—was put on hold. So far, that Merkel line has held.
It hasn’t been easy. Both Germany’s pro-Russian Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and Italy’s new government want to end the sanctions on Russia. There were similar calls to lift the sanctions during Putin’s fulsome welcome by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna on June 5.
Putin is intent on dividing the EU, which means undermining Merkel’s authority. Needless to say, he denied that during an interview with Austria’s public TV channel ORF: “We do not pursue the objective of dividing anything or anyone in the EU,” he said.
As for Trump, his policies are far more dangerous because, for the first time since World War II, the leader of the West is trying to isolate and undermine Germany. That means weakening Europe and the alliance.
This goes against the strategic policies of every, successive American administration since 1945. Policies that have been unflinchingly committed to building a Western, and later united, Europe anchored on the Franco-German alliance and “embedded” in what is today’s European Union.
Yes, there were big differences and quarrels over the deployment of U.S. Pershing missiles in West Germany in the 1980s and later the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. The point is that the alliance and the EU managed to hold together. So why are Trump and his emissaries now trying to do the opposite?
One reason is that Trump sees allies not based on values but based on short-term American interests in which allies are chosen at random. Yet slapping protectionist trade measures on key allies such as Mexico, Canada, and Europe on the spurious grounds of national security begs the question why the United States should be doing business with non-democratic or authoritarian countries such as Egypt or China. Do they enhance America’s security?
Second, Trump’s attack on Europe is not just about trade and spending more on defense—issues that the U.S. president will no doubt raise at next month’s NATO summit in Brussels. It is about Germany. Or rather it is about Angela Merkel.
Merkel has refused to pander to Trump since the day he was elected. She stood up to him on trade and climate change issues during the 2017 G20 and G7 meetings. She endured humiliation when he gave her limited time during her recent visit to Washington in April. And all the while, Trump’s new ambassador to Berlin, Richard Grenell, has spoken about “empowering anti-establishment European leaders.”
Merkel, for the moment, has wisely shrugged off Grenell’s statements and interviews by leaving it to others to respond. But what Merkel cannot shrug off is how the American administration is singling out Germany for its trade surplus, for its car exports to the United States (forget the fact that the German car industry combined has created 110,000 jobs in America), for its refugee policy, and for its policy toward Russia. In short, for its status in Europe.
It’s as if the United States was trying to set other EU countries against Germany, especially given Berlin’s anti-austerity policies in dealing with indebted eurozone countries. All the more reason for EU heads of state and government to rally behind a leader that has shown some spunk when it comes to dealing with Putin, refugees, and Trump. And for keeping the EU together.
Read more: The United States and Russia Target Germany - Carnegie Europe - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Italy now has a government of leftist and rightist populists in power. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is telling the opposition party in Macedonia to reject a proposed deal between Skopje and Athens to resolve the dispute over Macedonia’s name.
Forget the fact that an end to this conflict would fill one of the security vacuums in this part of the Western Balkans, which should enhance European security. Macedonia could join NATO which Greece, until now, had vetoed because of the name issue.
More worrying, is that what is taking place in Europe today is, unwittingly, a collusion of interests between the Trump administration and the Kremlin.
These interests are about dividing the EU. In the case of the United States, these policies undermine the transatlantic alliance and weaken the West’s projection of its values. But above all, these interests are about undermining Germany, and in particular Angela Merkel, who has been chancellor of Europe’s biggest economy since 2005.
So why are Russia and the Trump administration targeting Merkel?
Let’s take Russia.
Once she became chancellor in late 2005, Merkel slowly chiseled away at the policies of her Social Democrat predecessor Gerhard Schröder. The former German chancellor had established very close links with Putin, even referring to him as “an impeccable democrat.”
Merkel was having none of that. She reached out to Russia’s civil society activists. She spoke her mind with Putin. By the time the Russian president had illegally annexed Crimea in March 2014, Merkel knew where she stood with him.
Putin underestimated Merkel’s ability to get all EU member states on board to impose sanctions on Russia. Yet she did it. That weakened, to a big degree, the pro-Russia wings in Germany’s Social Democratic Party. The party’s “Ostpolitik”—or eastern policy that was based on rapprochement with Russia—was put on hold. So far, that Merkel line has held.
It hasn’t been easy. Both Germany’s pro-Russian Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and Italy’s new government want to end the sanctions on Russia. There were similar calls to lift the sanctions during Putin’s fulsome welcome by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna on June 5.
Putin is intent on dividing the EU, which means undermining Merkel’s authority. Needless to say, he denied that during an interview with Austria’s public TV channel ORF: “We do not pursue the objective of dividing anything or anyone in the EU,” he said.
As for Trump, his policies are far more dangerous because, for the first time since World War II, the leader of the West is trying to isolate and undermine Germany. That means weakening Europe and the alliance.
This goes against the strategic policies of every, successive American administration since 1945. Policies that have been unflinchingly committed to building a Western, and later united, Europe anchored on the Franco-German alliance and “embedded” in what is today’s European Union.
Yes, there were big differences and quarrels over the deployment of U.S. Pershing missiles in West Germany in the 1980s and later the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. The point is that the alliance and the EU managed to hold together. So why are Trump and his emissaries now trying to do the opposite?
One reason is that Trump sees allies not based on values but based on short-term American interests in which allies are chosen at random. Yet slapping protectionist trade measures on key allies such as Mexico, Canada, and Europe on the spurious grounds of national security begs the question why the United States should be doing business with non-democratic or authoritarian countries such as Egypt or China. Do they enhance America’s security?
Second, Trump’s attack on Europe is not just about trade and spending more on defense—issues that the U.S. president will no doubt raise at next month’s NATO summit in Brussels. It is about Germany. Or rather it is about Angela Merkel.
Merkel has refused to pander to Trump since the day he was elected. She stood up to him on trade and climate change issues during the 2017 G20 and G7 meetings. She endured humiliation when he gave her limited time during her recent visit to Washington in April. And all the while, Trump’s new ambassador to Berlin, Richard Grenell, has spoken about “empowering anti-establishment European leaders.”
Merkel, for the moment, has wisely shrugged off Grenell’s statements and interviews by leaving it to others to respond. But what Merkel cannot shrug off is how the American administration is singling out Germany for its trade surplus, for its car exports to the United States (forget the fact that the German car industry combined has created 110,000 jobs in America), for its refugee policy, and for its policy toward Russia. In short, for its status in Europe.
It’s as if the United States was trying to set other EU countries against Germany, especially given Berlin’s anti-austerity policies in dealing with indebted eurozone countries. All the more reason for EU heads of state and government to rally behind a leader that has shown some spunk when it comes to dealing with Putin, refugees, and Trump. And for keeping the EU together.
Read more: The United States and Russia Target Germany - Carnegie Europe - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
China-German relations: Merkel on way to China to solve trade disputes
Chancellor Angela Merkel heads to China amid growing trade tensions
For complete report go to:
http://p.dw.com/p/2yD7P
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
EU Economic Review - Future Shape of Europe: Macron Vs. the Germans? - by Holger Schmieding
French president Emmanuel Macron travelled to Berlin for serious negotiations about the future shape of Europe. Will he achieve much?
Almost everybody would like to support him, partly to strengthen his hand against his anti-European adversaries at home. But hardly anybody in Berlin seems ready to breach “red lines“ drawn in the past.
Macron probably knows by now that he will have to settle for some modest changes for the time being, with only baby steps to be agreed by the time of the next EU summit on June 28-29, 2018.
Money isn’t the key issue. Germany is ready to spend more and put more of it at risk. But it would come with three key strings attached.
1. Berlin will insist that commitments involving serious amounts of money will remain subject to approval by the German parliament, as is currently the case for support programs of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). For those who love unwieldy German words, get used to “Parlamentsvorbehalt.“
2. Upon gradually completing the banking union, Germany will insist that each step to share risks comes after a step to reduce risks.
3. Partly because the Eurozone economy is doing fine at the moment and Germany is reluctant to endorse a major change in the governance of the Eurozone, Germany puts significant emphasis on changes for the EU rather than just the Eurozone level. For instance, this means improving controls of external borders (including significantly increasing the funding for FRONTEX), controlling migration and beefing up joint defense projects.
Read more: Macron Vs. the Germans? - The Globalist
Almost everybody would like to support him, partly to strengthen his hand against his anti-European adversaries at home. But hardly anybody in Berlin seems ready to breach “red lines“ drawn in the past.
Macron probably knows by now that he will have to settle for some modest changes for the time being, with only baby steps to be agreed by the time of the next EU summit on June 28-29, 2018.
Money isn’t the key issue. Germany is ready to spend more and put more of it at risk. But it would come with three key strings attached.
1. Berlin will insist that commitments involving serious amounts of money will remain subject to approval by the German parliament, as is currently the case for support programs of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). For those who love unwieldy German words, get used to “Parlamentsvorbehalt.“
2. Upon gradually completing the banking union, Germany will insist that each step to share risks comes after a step to reduce risks.
3. Partly because the Eurozone economy is doing fine at the moment and Germany is reluctant to endorse a major change in the governance of the Eurozone, Germany puts significant emphasis on changes for the EU rather than just the Eurozone level. For instance, this means improving controls of external borders (including significantly increasing the funding for FRONTEX), controlling migration and beefing up joint defense projects.
Read more: Macron Vs. the Germans? - The Globalist
Monday, November 20, 2017
Germany: German coalition talks collapse- by Peter Teffer
The liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) pulled out of coalition talks in Germany on Sunday (19 November), leading to an uncertain political uture for the EU's largest member state.
The move is a blow to Angela Merkel, leader of the centre-right CDU and chancellor of Germany since 2005, who was expected to lead the coalition government for a fourth time.
But talks between CDU, its Bavarian sister party CSU, the Greens, and FDP, progressed slowly and missed a self-imposed deadline last Thursday.
FDP's leader Christian Lindner said on Sunday that after weeks of talks, there were still many open issues and conflicting goals, but "no common basis for trust".
"It is better not to rule than to rule wrongly," said Lindner around midnight on Sunday.
Read more: Germany: German coalition talks collapse- by Peter Teffer
The move is a blow to Angela Merkel, leader of the centre-right CDU and chancellor of Germany since 2005, who was expected to lead the coalition government for a fourth time.
But talks between CDU, its Bavarian sister party CSU, the Greens, and FDP, progressed slowly and missed a self-imposed deadline last Thursday.
FDP's leader Christian Lindner said on Sunday that after weeks of talks, there were still many open issues and conflicting goals, but "no common basis for trust".
"It is better not to rule than to rule wrongly," said Lindner around midnight on Sunday.
Sunday, October 8, 2017
EU Unity: Merkel, Macron pledge to lead EU forward post-Brexit
French President Emmanuel Macron won backing from
Angela Merkel for plans to reform the European Union after Brexit,
founded on what the German chancellor called “intense” cooperation
between Paris and Berlin.
But many leaders remained wary of ambitious new projects, doubting the appetite of voters for giving up national control and fearing the continued strength of anti-EU sentiment that is taking Britain out of the bloc and saw the far-right win dozens of seats in the German parliament in Sunday’s election.
“Our discussions showed there’s a common realization of a need for a leap forward in Europe,” Macron told reporters on Friday after an EU summit dinner that stretched beyond midnight in the Estonian capital Tallinn.
“Today we’re all convinced Europe must move ahead faster and stronger, for more sovereignty, more unity and more democracy.”
Read more: Merkel, Macron pledge to lead EU forward post-Brexit
But many leaders remained wary of ambitious new projects, doubting the appetite of voters for giving up national control and fearing the continued strength of anti-EU sentiment that is taking Britain out of the bloc and saw the far-right win dozens of seats in the German parliament in Sunday’s election.
“Our discussions showed there’s a common realization of a need for a leap forward in Europe,” Macron told reporters on Friday after an EU summit dinner that stretched beyond midnight in the Estonian capital Tallinn.
“Today we’re all convinced Europe must move ahead faster and stronger, for more sovereignty, more unity and more democracy.”
Macron
voiced satisfaction with summit chair Donald Tusk’s commitment to
report back to EU leaders when they meet again in three weeks with
proposals for concrete steps to be taken.
Note EU-Digest: A
very positive series of proposals came out of thisTallinn Summit .
Hopefully the statements by Merkel and Macron will not just fall on deaf
ears..
Europe
must redirect its foreign policies towards a more independent European
focused position and not continue to follow blindly in the footsteps of
the US., which has totally different objectives than those of Europe.
This
will require a lot of soul searching within the EU, including, looking
more closely at the EU's participation in NATO'S military adventures,
and even its long-term relationship with Russia.
What is good for America might not always fit the real needs of Europe.
What is good for America might not always fit the real needs of Europe.
Read more: Merkel, Macron pledge to lead EU forward post-Brexit
Saturday, July 1, 2017
G20: Trump activates divide and conquer policies against EU as Polish leader says other EU nations envy Trump Warsaw visit
 |
| Trump EU Divide and Conquer policies |
The ruling Law and Justice party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, singled out Britain as being resentful over Trump's brief trip to Poland next week before the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.
"We have new success, Trump's visit," said Kaczynski, a conservative who sets the direction for Poland's home and foreign policy. "(Others) envy it, the British are attacking us because of it."
Kaczynski didn't elaborate on what he could be referring to and government spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
British Prime Minister Theresa May invited Trump for an official state visit right after his inauguration in January, but a date for the trip has not been scheduled.
Kaczynski's remarks at a ruling party congress seemed to recall past divisions between ex-communist members of the European Union and western EU nations, when Poland was a staunch U.S. ally in military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Under Kaczynski's party, Poland has criticized EU key members, mainly Germany, and has insisted on having more decision-making powers. At the same time Warsaw says Britain is among its main partners in the EU.
In a speech in the central town of Przysucha, Kaczynski also reiterated that Poland is refusing to go along with an EU plan to relocate Muslim migrants from Italy and Greece. Italy has demanded more help from other EU nations as it copes with tens of thousands of arrivals of desperate migrants on its shores.
Kaczynski argued the anti-migrant policy was saving Poland from a "social catastrophe" and a decline in living standards.
Poland is a predominantly Roman Catholic nation. The conservative government's stance against Muslim asylum-seekers is increasingly being criticized by Poland's church leaders.
Note EU-Digest: Trump once again is trying to play "divide and conquer" games with the unity of the EU, which certainly will backfire and isolate the US even more from the EU.
Friday, June 9, 2017
German-Mexican Relations: Leaders of Mexico and Germany to meet in 'solidarity' against Trump - by Kate Linthicum
In what her government has called “a sign of solidarity,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel
will meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Friday.High on
the agenda during her two-day state visit to Mexico will be their mutual
political dilemma: President Trump.
From the launch of his presidential campaign two years ago through his early days in the White House, Trump made Mexico his punching bag. He called Mexican immigrants criminals, pledged to tax imports from Mexico and insisted that Mexico would pay for construction of a border wall.
But in recent months, he has extended his ire to a much wider circle of nations, many of which, like Mexico, are longtime U.S. allies.
Read more: Leaders of Mexico and Germany to meet in 'solidarity' against Trump - LA Times
From the launch of his presidential campaign two years ago through his early days in the White House, Trump made Mexico his punching bag. He called Mexican immigrants criminals, pledged to tax imports from Mexico and insisted that Mexico would pay for construction of a border wall.
But in recent months, he has extended his ire to a much wider circle of nations, many of which, like Mexico, are longtime U.S. allies.
Read more: Leaders of Mexico and Germany to meet in 'solidarity' against Trump - LA Times
Friday, March 17, 2017
German-US Relations: Donald Trump and Angela Merkel "make nice" - sort of .....
 |
| Trump : considers EU non-existent |
And their public statements during the highly anticipated press conference only underscored the palpable wish to restart the personal relationship between both leaders, after Trump's vicious comments about Merkel during the election campaign and to restore the traditionally close partnership between both countries, which has been in question ever since Trump took office.
It was, of course, up to Trump try to reset the relationship with Merkel and to reaffirm the commitments to transatlantic ties, and at first glance, he did.
But below the surface, things were not as smooth as it seemed. That is because on some crucial issues, including trade and the EU, Merkel and Trump took a very different tack. But that is not entirely accurate since Trump - in a noteworthy and unusual move for a US president - did not even mention the European Union once in his remarks.
"Trump made no reference whatsoever to the European Union, either in general terms or, more pointedly, on the specific issue of trade relations," said Anderson. "The closest he came to acknowledging the EU was when he stated that the US would respect 'historic institutions,' but then added that there needed to be balance and fairness in the relationship to the US."
Merkel, meanwhile, "spoke from an entirely different - and actually much more grounded and accurate - perspective, answering in effect that the EU negotiates trade deals with member state input and that the principle of mutual benefit in EU trade deals is well established," said Jeffry Anderson, who directs Georgetown University's Center for German and European Studies.
"So on trade, which had not been discussed at that point in the visit, the two leaders seemed to be speaking past one another, which will not be a reassuring message for Germany or for Europe," Anderson added.
That impression was shared by presidential rhetoric scholar Farnsworth.
"The
news conference suggested that these two leaders have little in common,
other than a desire to avoid exchanging harsh words in public," he
said. "Mainly they talked past each other."
But given Merkel and Trump's past and their very different political and personal backgrounds as well as the fact that this was their first ever face-to-face encounter it may have been all that could have been reasonably expected at this point.
Read more: Donald Trump and Angela Merkel make nice - sort of | Americas | DW.COM | 17.03.2017
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
US Trump Presidency: Prospects for U.S. Democracy Promotion Under Trump
It is impossible to know for certain what approach President-elect
Donald Trump will take to supporting democracy and human rights abroad.
So far, he has offered only scattered hints—expressions of instincts and
impulses that largely point toward a disinclination to engage in
democracy promotion but remain far from being elaborated into concrete
policy plans. In addition, Trump’s leadership style and the overall
troubled state of U.S. democracy will clearly hurt U.S. efforts to
advance democracy’s global fortunes in the years ahead. While all of
this points almost uniformly in a negative direction, it is likely that
as Trump and his team move to actual policymaking, their actions in this
domain will prove less consistently negative than their initial signals
might indicate.
Throughout his campaign, Trump emphasized his intention to take a purely transactional approach to other international powers. Underlying this approach is the idea that the United States will define its interests narrowly and thereby focus on U.S. economic interests and core security concerns (above all, counterterrorism). Democracy and human rights in other countries, and other “soft” interests, are to be put aside in the pursuit of a get-tough, America-first foreign policy. According to Trump and his advisers, their counterterrorism strategy will rest on stepped-up military efforts and possibly harsher treatment of suspected terrorists who are detained or imprisoned. They have shown no interest in longer-term political approaches to undercutting the roots of state fragility: for example, Trump declared at a public event in December that “we’re going to stop trying to build new nations in far-off lands” that “you’ve never even heard of.”
In line with his promise of transactionalism, Trump has taken a strikingly friendly approach toward various foreign strongmen. His favorable statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin have attracted the most attention but are only one part of a larger pattern that includes a recent sympathetic statement about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal crackdown on undocumented immigrants and drug traffickers, a backslapping meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in New York in September, and an effusive postelection telephone call with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He has made it clear that in pursuing warmer relationships with such leaders, he does not intend to raise unpleasant truths about their democratic shortcomings. Of course, the United States has long maintained cozy ties with various nondemocratic governments for the sake of security and economic interests; but Trump has been offering a kind of lavish praise that generally does not characterize such relationships and that extends to strongmen leaders who are not even strategically important to the United States (like Orbán).
Another serious negative signal related to democracy policy is Trump’s deep-seated doubts about the value of core U.S. alliances—both with NATO partners and other crucial longtime allies such as Japan and South Korea. He has exhibited a lack of appreciation of these alliances, which are foundational elements of a broader international order that the United States helped establish and has led for more than a half century—an order rooted in liberal political values. Without anchoring specific democracy policies and programs in a larger strategy to preserve this international order, such efforts will lack real weight.
Of course, U.S. democracy promotion relies not just on actions the United States takes abroad, but the power of the example it sets at home. Various problematic features of U.S. political life in recent years—the institutional gridlock, the ever-rising role of money in politics, and the frequent skirmishing over basic electoral rules and procedures—have already tarnished the United States’ image abroad. But the recent U.S. presidential election process damaged this image much more widely and deeply. Although this damage had many sources, numerous actions that Trump took during the campaign and since the election—from his vows to prosecute his main opponent to his baseless postelection assertions of massive electoral fraud—figure significantly in the dispiriting diminishment of America’s global political brand. Trump went so far as to mock the idea of the United States as a democratic exemplar, declaring in July that “when the world sees how bad the United States is and we start talking about civil liberties, I don’t think we are a very good messenger.”
Moreover, highly visible elements of Trump’s leadership style—from his propensity to engage in personal attacks against journalists and even average citizens in response to minor perceived slights to his unwillingness to seriously address the linkages between his business interests and his political position—set a devastating example to strongmen leaders around the world. In taking such actions, he is drawing from the playbook of these vindictive leaders, who have undercut democracy in a growing number of countries that once enjoyed considerable political space, such as Hungary, the Philippines, and Turkey. Many democratically dubious leaders are observing these actions emanating from the president-elect and undoubtedly saying to their critics: How can you object to my efforts to defend myself? When I reach out to slap those who dare criticize me, I’m only doing what the new president of the world’s greatest democracy does.
In short, the prospects for serious, effective U.S. engagement by Trump to support democracy and human rights abroad look dismal. But in practice, the picture will likely end up being at least somewhat less negative than the initial signals indicates.
Read more: US Trump Presidency: Prospects for U.S. Democracy Promotion Under Trump
Throughout his campaign, Trump emphasized his intention to take a purely transactional approach to other international powers. Underlying this approach is the idea that the United States will define its interests narrowly and thereby focus on U.S. economic interests and core security concerns (above all, counterterrorism). Democracy and human rights in other countries, and other “soft” interests, are to be put aside in the pursuit of a get-tough, America-first foreign policy. According to Trump and his advisers, their counterterrorism strategy will rest on stepped-up military efforts and possibly harsher treatment of suspected terrorists who are detained or imprisoned. They have shown no interest in longer-term political approaches to undercutting the roots of state fragility: for example, Trump declared at a public event in December that “we’re going to stop trying to build new nations in far-off lands” that “you’ve never even heard of.”
In line with his promise of transactionalism, Trump has taken a strikingly friendly approach toward various foreign strongmen. His favorable statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin have attracted the most attention but are only one part of a larger pattern that includes a recent sympathetic statement about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal crackdown on undocumented immigrants and drug traffickers, a backslapping meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in New York in September, and an effusive postelection telephone call with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He has made it clear that in pursuing warmer relationships with such leaders, he does not intend to raise unpleasant truths about their democratic shortcomings. Of course, the United States has long maintained cozy ties with various nondemocratic governments for the sake of security and economic interests; but Trump has been offering a kind of lavish praise that generally does not characterize such relationships and that extends to strongmen leaders who are not even strategically important to the United States (like Orbán).
Another serious negative signal related to democracy policy is Trump’s deep-seated doubts about the value of core U.S. alliances—both with NATO partners and other crucial longtime allies such as Japan and South Korea. He has exhibited a lack of appreciation of these alliances, which are foundational elements of a broader international order that the United States helped establish and has led for more than a half century—an order rooted in liberal political values. Without anchoring specific democracy policies and programs in a larger strategy to preserve this international order, such efforts will lack real weight.
Of course, U.S. democracy promotion relies not just on actions the United States takes abroad, but the power of the example it sets at home. Various problematic features of U.S. political life in recent years—the institutional gridlock, the ever-rising role of money in politics, and the frequent skirmishing over basic electoral rules and procedures—have already tarnished the United States’ image abroad. But the recent U.S. presidential election process damaged this image much more widely and deeply. Although this damage had many sources, numerous actions that Trump took during the campaign and since the election—from his vows to prosecute his main opponent to his baseless postelection assertions of massive electoral fraud—figure significantly in the dispiriting diminishment of America’s global political brand. Trump went so far as to mock the idea of the United States as a democratic exemplar, declaring in July that “when the world sees how bad the United States is and we start talking about civil liberties, I don’t think we are a very good messenger.”
Moreover, highly visible elements of Trump’s leadership style—from his propensity to engage in personal attacks against journalists and even average citizens in response to minor perceived slights to his unwillingness to seriously address the linkages between his business interests and his political position—set a devastating example to strongmen leaders around the world. In taking such actions, he is drawing from the playbook of these vindictive leaders, who have undercut democracy in a growing number of countries that once enjoyed considerable political space, such as Hungary, the Philippines, and Turkey. Many democratically dubious leaders are observing these actions emanating from the president-elect and undoubtedly saying to their critics: How can you object to my efforts to defend myself? When I reach out to slap those who dare criticize me, I’m only doing what the new president of the world’s greatest democracy does.
In short, the prospects for serious, effective U.S. engagement by Trump to support democracy and human rights abroad look dismal. But in practice, the picture will likely end up being at least somewhat less negative than the initial signals indicates.
Read more: US Trump Presidency: Prospects for U.S. Democracy Promotion Under Trump
Monday, March 13, 2017
Germany: Merkels visit to Washigtonn includes opportunity to "defrock" Recep Tayyip Erdogan -by RM
 |
| Angela Merkel |
For in all this Erdogan created drama of conflict between Turkey and individual EU states, however, the obvious question is: "what is the US position as to these artificially Erdogan created conflicts"
Given the fact that respective US Governments have never had any problem in supporting dictatorial governments around the world, if and when it was tconvenient or to o their benefit.
Case in point: the relationship with Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Egypt - to mention just a few countries in the Middle East alone.
Hopefully the US will wake up to the fact that Erdogan's political games - last years coup, his turn around with Russia, locking up of all opposition and press, Syrian involvement and now his spat with the Netherlands, are all focused on one objective - obtaining absolute power in Turkey.
In the meantime he has also become an unreliable NATO partner as a result of hisflirtatations with Russia.
Whoever is not aware of this is either extremely shortsighted or totally stupid.
All of us in the EU are wishing Mrs. Merkel a very successful and productive US visit.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Germany: Merkel set to have her most awkward American experience – with Trump
She told the German Parliament that Europe “must be able to have an
independent crisis management in our region” — not in competition, but
in addition to NATO.
The “trans-Atlantic partnership based upon our values and interests” is of overriding importance for Europeans — and that “this is the spirit” in which she would lead her talks with Trump in Washington.
Indirectly referring to Trump’s isolationist economic leanings, she said “even if in parts of the world we see protectionist and nationalist approaches on the rise, Europe may never isolate, seal itself off or withdraw.”
Trump has vowed to take a tougher line in forging deals and slapping a border tax of 35 percent on cars that German carmaker BMW plans to build at a new plant in Mexico and export to the United States.
But the Germans are willing to call it a bluff. “Do we really want to try to force German citizens to buy American cars?” says, Jürgen Hardt, the Berlin’s coordinator for transatlantic policies.
“Does the American president want to force Americans to stop buying German cars in the future? Do we want to artificially make German cars more expensive with taxes so that consumers buy more foreign products?”
Asked about the future of transatlantic trade, a senior administration official on Friday said the White House has “not formulated a final position” on whether it will pursue the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) deal with the European Union.
On defense and security policy, Trump has been “heartened” by what he has heard from Berlin about devoting more resources to the annual NATO military budget, according to the senior official.
Germany spends less than 1.2 per cent of its gross domestic product on defense, compared with a NATO target of 2 per cent. Trump wants this to change, and Berlin has pledged to meet the NATO target by the mid-2020s.
Trump intends to talk with Merkel about her government crafting a “concrete plan,” the senior official said.
Read more: Merkel set to have her most awkward American experience – with Trump | Euronews
The “trans-Atlantic partnership based upon our values and interests” is of overriding importance for Europeans — and that “this is the spirit” in which she would lead her talks with Trump in Washington.
Indirectly referring to Trump’s isolationist economic leanings, she said “even if in parts of the world we see protectionist and nationalist approaches on the rise, Europe may never isolate, seal itself off or withdraw.”
Trump has vowed to take a tougher line in forging deals and slapping a border tax of 35 percent on cars that German carmaker BMW plans to build at a new plant in Mexico and export to the United States.
But the Germans are willing to call it a bluff. “Do we really want to try to force German citizens to buy American cars?” says, Jürgen Hardt, the Berlin’s coordinator for transatlantic policies.
“Does the American president want to force Americans to stop buying German cars in the future? Do we want to artificially make German cars more expensive with taxes so that consumers buy more foreign products?”
Asked about the future of transatlantic trade, a senior administration official on Friday said the White House has “not formulated a final position” on whether it will pursue the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) deal with the European Union.
On defense and security policy, Trump has been “heartened” by what he has heard from Berlin about devoting more resources to the annual NATO military budget, according to the senior official.
Germany spends less than 1.2 per cent of its gross domestic product on defense, compared with a NATO target of 2 per cent. Trump wants this to change, and Berlin has pledged to meet the NATO target by the mid-2020s.
Trump intends to talk with Merkel about her government crafting a “concrete plan,” the senior official said.
Read more: Merkel set to have her most awkward American experience – with Trump | Euronews
Friday, February 3, 2017
EU leaders forced to unite in new Trump reality - by Eszter Zalan
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| United We Stand Divided We Fall |
Leaders emphasized the importance of the transatlantic relationship, and said they would work together with Trump on common interests, but move toward more independent European action on issues where the EU and the US administration disagree.
"We work on the basis of our shared values, [...] there are areas where we agree, like fighting international terrorism, and where we don’t agree," German chancellor Angela Merkel said after lunch, which summed up the mood toward Trump among EU leaders after a turbulent week of heavy criticism from Europe and concern over the US president's first days in office.
Merkel said that this is an opportunity for Europe to redefine itself and become more self-reliant.
"The general debate concentrated on where we stand, we have to act together," Merkel said, adding that it could lead to boosting investment in defense capabilities in the EU but also in Germany. "We have our destiny in our own hands."
Some EU leaders heavily criticised Donald Trump's decision to ban refugees and people arriving to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Others, like Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban ( whose country represents the new face of corruption in Europe), slammed those who criticized Trump. Before arriving at the Valletta summit, Orban said that the US has the right to decide its own border control policy, and that he is puzzled at the "neurotic European reactions" over the travel ban.
Read more: EU leaders forced to unite in new Trump reality
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Germany: Donald Trump slams Angela Merkel′s refugee policy - contradicting his campaign statements about Iraq war
US President-elect Donald Trump labeled German Chancellor Angela
Merkel's stance on refugees (or illegals as he called them) a "catastrophic mistake." He said the policy
would lead to even more countries leaving the European Union after
Britain.
President-elect Trump heavily criticized Chancellor Merkel's open-door policy on refugees in a joint interview published on Sunday with German tabloid newspaper "Bild" and British newspaper "The Times of London."
"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know, taking all of the people from wherever they come from,” he said.
In 2015 about 900,000 migrants, many coming from Syria, entered Germany after Merkel opened the country's doors, famously saying "we can do this."
Note EU-Digest: Instead of blaming Angela Merkel for her refugee policy, which is one of the most humane in the EU, Donald Trump should have put the blame on the US (as he did during his presidential campaign) and specifically on the former Bush Administration which started the Iraq war under the pretense of "the treat of weapons of mass destruction", which proved to be a total hoax.
Unfortunately the Bush war in Iraq unleashed a disastrous chain of other wars in the Middle East creating a massive refugee problem for Turkey and the EU.
When will the EU Commission, or any European politician, for that matter, finally open their mouth on the subject and request the US to pay the countries which have been picking up the tab for housing and feeding the millions of refugees, some compensation for the costs incurred as a result of the US Iraq war?
Also most amazing was that the journalists interviewing Trump never related the Bush Iraq war to the refugee problem Europe is facing or corrected him when he used the word illegals to describe the refugees?
If a Donald Trump presidency wants European Nations to pay their fair share in NATO, he better also pay the Europeans compensation for housing the millions of refugees as a result of the Bush Iraq war.
Read more: Donald Trump slams Angela Merkel′s refugee policy | News | DW.COM | 15.01.2017
President-elect Trump heavily criticized Chancellor Merkel's open-door policy on refugees in a joint interview published on Sunday with German tabloid newspaper "Bild" and British newspaper "The Times of London."
"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know, taking all of the people from wherever they come from,” he said.
In 2015 about 900,000 migrants, many coming from Syria, entered Germany after Merkel opened the country's doors, famously saying "we can do this."
Note EU-Digest: Instead of blaming Angela Merkel for her refugee policy, which is one of the most humane in the EU, Donald Trump should have put the blame on the US (as he did during his presidential campaign) and specifically on the former Bush Administration which started the Iraq war under the pretense of "the treat of weapons of mass destruction", which proved to be a total hoax.
Unfortunately the Bush war in Iraq unleashed a disastrous chain of other wars in the Middle East creating a massive refugee problem for Turkey and the EU.
When will the EU Commission, or any European politician, for that matter, finally open their mouth on the subject and request the US to pay the countries which have been picking up the tab for housing and feeding the millions of refugees, some compensation for the costs incurred as a result of the US Iraq war?
Also most amazing was that the journalists interviewing Trump never related the Bush Iraq war to the refugee problem Europe is facing or corrected him when he used the word illegals to describe the refugees?
If a Donald Trump presidency wants European Nations to pay their fair share in NATO, he better also pay the Europeans compensation for housing the millions of refugees as a result of the Bush Iraq war.
Read more: Donald Trump slams Angela Merkel′s refugee policy | News | DW.COM | 15.01.2017
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Germany: President Obama To Open Hannover Messe with Chancellor Merkel April 25
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| President Barack Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel |
The US is the partner country of the 2016 fair, a decision that was made based on the strong industrial and manufacturing ties between the US and Germany. President Obama is the first sitting president to attend the trade fair.
Ambassador Peter Wittig, who personally delivered an invitation from Chancellor Merkel to the White House, greeted the news of President Obama’s visit warmly. “It will be a great event for US-German trade relations!” he said on twitter. Earlier this year, the Ambassador praised the decision to make the US the partner country. “Having the USA as the featured Partner Country will give us a golden opportunity to convey our dynamic business relations to the fullest while at the same time widening and deepening them,” he said.
The Hannover Trade Fair has been an integral part of international industry since 1947. Over 200,000 visitors attend the Hannover Messe every year, 30 percent from outside of Germany. In addition, 6,500 exhibitors show off their latest innovations at the fair. India, the 2015 partner country, contributed around 300 booths last year, which proves how much exposure the fair can bring to the US this year.
Insure-Digest
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