TWTW: The World This Week #123

Still Trumproofing the World….Greenland, a canal & Canada...welcome 2025, Moldova, no gas for you ... Sarah & Bibi & Milei ... for our paid subs: the world's biggest dam, a year in cartoons, and more.

In this weekly feature for Andelman Unleashed, we continue to explore how the media of other nations are reporting and commenting on the United States, and how they are viewing the rest of the world.

To emphasize, we cover lots of ground….So, you may not want to read it all, but it's all here for you!

How others see America

Still Trumproofing the World

Three weeks to go, before the Second Trump Era begins, the world is coming face-to-face with some very hard realities. First there’s America’s new territorial ambitions. High on Donald Trump’s agenda, it would appear, is the takeover of Greenland from Denmark, to which this island legally and actually belongs. Even if many there are eager for increasing separation from the mother ship, few harbor any interest in trading one form of servitude for another. Still, one must wonder if our incoming 47^th President truly understands the stakes.

The Louisiana Purchase comprised 828,000 square miles, which would over the next century become all or part of 15 US states.

For this territory, Thomas Jefferson agreed to pay France $15 million in 1803, which would be worth $375 million in 2023 dollars. As it happens, last year’s budget revenues for the City of New Orleans alone totaled $478 million, while the Louisiana State budget rounded out to $51 billion. The state’s GDP was $326 billion this year, or $61,000 per capita. Then there are the 14 other states.

By contrast, the size of Greenland is 836,300 square miles—the world’s largest island, with 80% of it capped by ice. Its GDP is in excess of $3.9 billion, but per capita approaches $70,000. The island’s government budget revenues come in under $2 billion. As it happens, it is also the single most highly taxed “nation” on earth. Some 77% of its GDP is devoted to taxes—compared to 25% in France and just 12% in the US. Much of Greenland’s tax receipts are passed directly to Copenhagen, which perhaps explains much of the territory’s eagerness for separation. Still, Denmark, which assumes all responsibilities for foreign policy and defense, is making some efforts to play nice.

As the BBC reported:

The Danish government has announced a huge boost in defence spending for Greenland, hours after US President-elect Donald Trump repeated his desire to purchase the Arctic territory.

Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the package was a "double digit billion amount" in krone, or at least $1.5bn (£1.2bn)..

Poulsen said the package would allow for the purchase of two new inspection ships, two new long-range drones and two extra dog sled teams.

It would also include funding for increased staffing at Arctic Command in the capital Nuuk and an upgrade for one of Greenland's three main civilian airports to handle F-35 supersonic fighter aircraft.

"We have not invested enough in the Arctic for many years, now we are planning a stronger presence," he said.

And then there’s Panama. As even the conservative daily La Prensa observed:

The President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, sent a message to the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump , that there is no possibility of modifying the reality of the Panama Canal.

“There is no possibility, for this president, of saying anything that seeks to rethink the legal-political reality of the Panama Canal in Panamanian hands. If there is an intention to talk: well, there is nothing to talk about. The Canal is Panamanian, period,” said Mulino.

It’s worth listening, if you can manage his clear and direct Spanish, how calmly, but determinedly, President Mulino laid out the case to which he is quite determined to defend, at a press conference….

But for those who might be interested in the foundational reasons for Trump’s intensely renewed interest in challenging a treaty agreed to decades ago in good faith, La Prensa pointed out:

Amid the controversy generated by former US President Donald Trump's threats to regain control of the Panama Canal, the case of the Trump Organization, accused of evading taxes in the country, has resurfaced.

In 2019, the owners of the former Trump Ocean Club Hotel, located in Punta Pacifica (currently known as JW Marriott). complained that the organization was not paying the corresponding taxes. Ithaca Capital Investments and Orestes Fintiklis, the main owners, filed the complaint in a New York court, in a case that is still in litigation.

Both Ithaca and Fintiklis claim that the Trump Group representatives “failed to pay 12.5% ​​taxes on the millions of dollars they earned from managing the Panama City hotel.” They also say they had to foot the bill owed by the Trump Organization.

According to the complaint, the company of the the president-elect “also made fraudulent and false statements to the Panamanian tax authorities” to “cover up its illegal activities.”

Scrambling for a “security” reason for his efforts to move in on the canal, Trump played one of his classic bogeyman cards. The Chinese are closing in. Indeed, after the United States, China pays more canal usage fees to Panama than any other country each year. But commentator Anna Navarro-Cárdenas had another perspective to convey to Trump on her X account, which quickly attracted nearly 6 million views….

China operating the Panama Canal. Stunning. As implausible as America taking over the canal by hook or by crook.

And then, of course, there’s Canada as America’s 51^st state. Canada’s leading daily Toronto Globe and Mail observed:

What Canada must do to join the U.S.

The most likely option to unite the two countries is through legal and constitutional means. But there’s a fundamental issue here—Canada is a constitutional monarchy while the U.S. is a republic.

“If you want to change from a monarchical to a republican system, you must deal with the office of the King,” noted Gregory Tardi, formerly legal counsel to the House of Commons and Elections Canada. “And that brings you straight into section 41 of the Canada Act of 1982.”

This stipulates that, in order to amend the Constitution and dissolve the union, the Canadian Senate, House of Commons and every single provincial legislature must unanimously agree with the proposal.

“O Canada” / source: Truth Social [ Incidentally, he’s probably not actually standing there.]

“Frankly, I don’t see that happening,” Tardi said, especially given how opposed most Canadians are to secession. A Leger poll last week found just 13 per cent of Canadians were on board with the idea, while 82 per cent were opposed.

That’s not to mention the inevitable conflict with Indigenous nations and [francophile] Quebec such an action would incite, Adam Chapnick, a professor of defense studies at the Canadian Forces College, added. “All of this would take months, if not years, to negotiate….”

Incidentally, Canadians wouldn’t be getting much out of the deal. The tax burden in the two entities come in respectively at 12.83% of GDP vs 12.18%. Of course, that’s before any new Trump tax cuts arrive.

And still, there’s Elon

A whole lot of Germany isn’t very happy with him now…indeed much of Europe to the left of a growing far-right often neo-Fascist wave descending on a host of countries. As far away as Singapore, the The Straits Times headlined…

Billionaire Elon Musk drew criticism from German politicians from the government and opposition for an opinion piece he wrote backing the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) that they deemed “intrusive” outside influence.

The support of the AfD from Mr Musk, who is set to serve US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration as an outside adviser, comes as Germans are set to vote on Feb 23 after a coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed.

The commentary published in German in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, flagship of the Axel Springer media group, expanded on a post by Mr Musk on social media platform X last week in which he wrote “only the AfD can save Germany” and praised the party’s approach to regulation, taxes, and market deregulation.

In response to the publication of his commentary, the editor of the newspaper’s opinion section said on X that she had resigned.

Mr Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats and current favourite to succeed Mr Scholz as chancellor, said in an interview: “I cannot recall a comparable case of interference, in the history of Western democracies, in the election campaign of a friendly country.” Mr Merz described the Musk commentary as “intrusive and pretentious”.

Ms Saskia Esken, co-leader of Mr Scholz’s Social Democrats, vowed fierce resistance to attempts by state actors, as well as the rich and influential, to influence Germany’s elections.

Special for the Paid !

Andelman Unleashed has unleashed new, (lightly) paid tiers…also a great last-minute holiday gift!

Four new annual paid subscribers, an inscribed copy of my latest book, A Red Line in the Sand

Just another perk for our cherished, paid members of our Unleashed family, with a weekly portfolio of cartoons from Cartooning for Peace … and eventually, a live Friday zoom with Andelman … Plus, resuming next week, the Audio Book version read by yours truly …. So do sign up … cheaper than a monthly mocha grande.

This will also help us subscribe to more (expensive!) media across the globe and support great journalism in multiple languages.

How others view the World

Happy holidays and a better year ahead

In 1977, on my first visit to Poland as the East European correspondent for The New York Times, I called on a graduate student and leader of the student dissident movement, a brilliant young activist named Adam Michnik. At the time, he was 31. I was 33. We held innumerable conversations, the shades drawn in his tiny living room to discourage the curious. We communicated in French, our only common language and I learned more about his beloved nation and his people than I would ever learn from any of the stone headed leaders of communist Poland.

Today, a half century later, he is the editor in chief of his nation’s most revered and widely read news paper, Wyborcza and now, as then, he had words of wisdom at this time of year that should resonate broadly ….

I wish you, first of all, that what is bad has passed, and what is hope for the better, that it will arrive [...] Happiness, joy, life in harmony with yourself. I wish you to always be proud of the fact that you were associated with 'Gazeta Wyborcza', so that it remains that lighthouse of decency in Poland and in our region. In a word: I wish you all the best, dear ones.

From Munich’s Süddeutsche Zeitung in a Germany with its own troubles ahead in 2025:

The end of the year is also a good opportunity to take stock of your personal situation. How was your year 2024?

Maybe you agree with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. "I am at peace with myself," he said in an interview about the end of the traffic light coalition. Or do you feel more like Christian Drosden when he looks back on the Corona period: "I regret that I did not say that more clearly." We think a good resolution for the new year is this advice.

We wish you an exciting new year and hope that you will remain loyal to the SZ in 2025!

And to Andelman Unleashed as well….;-)

Speaking of good will toward newsies….

Seems like now is the time for any number of Trumpclones abroad to be taking a page from the master’s playbook, as the Israeli daily Haaretz pointed out…

In Netanyahu-world, just as in Trump-world, libel suits are a handy weapon in the eternal battle against journalists who dare to mar the all-powerful image of a fearless leader with their pesky habit of peering behind the curtain and reporting unflattering investigations.

Perhaps Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were inspired by this victory.

Or maybe they merely sought to deflect attention from the stomach-turning broadcast of an investigation into Sara Netanyahu's role as director of the "poison machine" against her husband's enemies, which quickly resulted in a criminal complaint by one of them against her, alleging obstruction of justice and harassment after messages from the prime minister's wife handing down orders to "attack" the complainant were revealed. Or maybe it was a move to intimidate the media as it continues to critically cover the testimony of her husband in his corruption trial.

Whatever the reason, Sara Netanyahu slapped lawsuits against major media outlets, Channel 12 News and the Kan public broadcaster, for reporting that she was responsible for revealing sensitive and classified information to her friends and acquaintances—the most explosive of which was telling people about plans to assassinate Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah ahead of the attack….Until now, the Israeli media, like the press in the United States, has upheld a tradition of holding its ground against such lawsuits. Sometimes —most often—they win. Sometimes they lose. But they always resist, even against a government leader who will stop at nothing to damage a media outlet labeled as hostile.

Not such a good year in Moldova, even Transnistria

Where? Quite possibly the next battle grounds in Vladimir Putin’s efforts to re-establish the greatness of the Soviet Union, as Andelman Unleashed discovered during its swing this past Fall through both territories, joined at the hip if not at the heart.

Transnistria, where Lenin Lives / Photo by David A. Andelman

As our SubStack colleague David Smith observed from the Moldovan capital of Chișinău in his Moldova Matters….

Gazprom informed its subsidiary MoldovaGaz that deliveries would be reduced to 0 cubic meters per day on January 1st at 8 am Moscow time. The company cited "failure to fulfill payment obligations" by Moldova as the reason. All of the 5.7 million cubic meters of gas currently provided on a daily basis are used by Transnistria—meaning that the Kremlin is cutting off their proxy.

With this announcement the Kremlin has confirmed that the artificially imposed energy crisis will come with a full gas cutoff. This will result in a shutdown of the MGRES power plant and a conversion to a limited production regime using coal reserves. This will have a ripple effect on Moldova causing a power shortage and the possibility of rolling blackouts. Additionally, strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure could directly or indirectly impact Moldova’s electricity supply causing unexpected blackouts and other serious challenges.

In addition to these challenges, a full gas cutoff means that heating in the Transnistrian region will effectively cease after January 1st. Some household heating will be cut off on that day, other buildings will continue getting gas and heat based on reserve volumes in the gas pressure pipes. But in no case will this last very long.

Prime Minister Recean highlighted this situation in his comments reacting to GazProm’s notification saying:

"This decision confirms, once again, the Kremlin's intention to leave the residents of the Transnistrian region without light and heat in the middle of winter. Russia is using energy as a political weapon, turning the people of the Transnistrian region, which it controls through the illegally stationed army, into hostages."

"The government condemns these oppressive tactics and reiterates that it will not recognize any alleged debt, which has been invalidated by international audit."

This final removal of uncertainty regarding Russia’s intentions sets in motion a multi-dimensional crisis. One of Russia’s clear intentions is to create instability and discontentment in order to influence this summer’s parliamentary elections.

Andelman Unleashed will be chronicling it all.

And then there’s the chainsaw

Some more New Year’s promises from down under…from Argentina’s new Trumpian president Javier Milei. So, how’s all this working out for him and his people a year later? Le Monde’s resident correspondent Flora Genoux takes stock from Buenos Aires….

A chainsaw—a symbol of anti-public spending—on the cabinet meeting table in the presidential palace; Javier Milei sitting in the centre with his traditional pose, thumbs up and sidelong glance; government officials surrounding him, all smiles. The photo published by the Argentine government sets the tone for the record of the ultra-liberal president, in power since 10 December 2023, whose first austerity and economic deregulation measures were launched a year ago. A liberal shock therapy administered by a president with “infinite contempt for the State.”

Javier Milei has largely kept his promises. The chainsaw has pruned the State: the number of ministries has been halved; 34,000 civil service positions have been eliminated. Prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, family farming programs, early childhood care plan for poor families, access to different medications for the elderly, fight against violence against women ... a multitude of public policies have been dismantled or frozen.

Result: after a surge in prices in December 2023 (25.5%) and January (20.6%) linked to a strong devaluation, inflation, Argentina's chronic disease, has been brought back to around 3%. In November, it stood at 2.4% and was celebrated with a "Long live freedom, damn it!" published on X by Javier Milei…

However, the forced austerity cure has plunged millions of Argentines into poverty for several months. In the first half of the year, 52.9% of the population was poor, a rate unseen in 20 years and an increase of 11 points over the second half of 2023….Between November 2023 and August 2024, more than 260,000 formal jobs have been destroyed and the economy is expected to contract by 3.5% in 2024.

France’s leading center-right Le Figaro had a slightly different take:

Trump, Milei and [El Salvador’s Bukele: The Three Cowboys at the Vanguard of a New World

With their outrageous style and muscular methods, these presidents are seen as political UFOs. They could be at the forefront of a populist revolution that is set to last and, perhaps, redefine the contours of democracy.

We can’t wait to see who’s right….Meanwhile….

What’s new on ‘paid’?

And now, for our most highly valued, but lightly paid members, we'll conclude with a first look at the world’s largest dam, courtesy or discourtesy of China…And we'll wind up with a bonus gallery from cartoonists around the world who’ve not visited us before.