TWTW: The World This Week / Episode #74
Fears of shock & awe: the Trump bandwagon...Elections 24: Bhutan...Fascists across Europe...Ukraine on the rocks...Houthis unite the West...Brandy in Beijing?...Cartoonist Ahmad Rahma's Red Sea.
This weekly feature for Andelman Unleashed, continues on its mission 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.
How other see America
Shock and Awe
It’s truly beginning to hit home around the world. Donald Trump is most likely, against all odds, to become the Republican candidate for president. And yes, even in the face of 91 criminal indictments, a raft of civil prosecutions and, above all, threats to return chaos to a global order that is already deeply challenged, he could well be returned for four more years in power.
The morning after Trump steamrollered the Iowa primaries, the French daily, Le Monde in its lead editorial moaned:
These first results are as embarrassing as they are worrying for American democracy. For the first time, voters were asked to decide on a former president whose last act had been to trample at the feet of the cardinal principles of their country: respect for the results of an election and the peaceful transfer of power….
Donald Trump has made the thirst for revenge, desire for retaliation and resentment the core of the program he has proposed to his constituents. This is how we must understand the vast purge he plans in the event of a victory in November, to place selected faithful everywhere who will subscribe to his criterion, not competence, certainly at the cost of weakening the federal state, and all for the greatest benefit to the adversaries of the United States.
Time is now running out for Republicans to refuse the return of chaos and a destructive ego to the White House. They only have a few days to rally behind an alternative candidacy and prevent his race for the nomination from turning into a plebiscite.
In Dubai, however, the great Indian-born cartoonist for the daily Khaleej Times, Paresh Nath, sees the race already effectively won, Trump style….
Indeed, Trump himself already has begun taking on some of his erstwhile friends—now, it would appear, future foes. On the stump in Iowa, Trump mocked French president Emmanuel Macron, with a somewhat pathetic attempt at a French accent. He ran on for a minute or so about how he demolished one of Europe’s leading figures and loyal American ally. Listen here….
As French all news network BFMTV reported:
In front of his supporters, he, as usual, presented himself as a strong man, experienced in the art of muscular negotiations and capable of forcing his foreign counterparts to bend to his will.
To illustrate, he took a phone conversation he had with Macron, with an imitation of the French president. “Macron, do you know Macron? He’s a very nice guy, really very nice,” Donald Trump told the crowd. "I said, 'Emmanuel, how are you?' He said, 'It's okay.'"
The former American head of state was to discuss trade tensions between France and the United States and France's supposed desire to tax American companies up to 25%. "I said, 'No, no, but you're not going to do that Emmanuel….You better cancel it because if you don't 'Don't cancel, you will pay 100% customs duties on all wines and champagnes shipped to the United States from this evening," the former American president threatened.
By Trump's account, Macron then began to panic after this bout of pressure. Trump launched into an imitation of his counterpart with a French accent. “No, no, no! You can’t do that Donald, you can’t do that!”, Macron is said to have cried out.
“I can do it. I am in the process of signing it right now,” Trump promised. Macron's reaction, according to Trump: "'No, no, no! OK, Donald, look, we're not going to do it.'" “End of story. It was so easy," Trump smiled with satisfaction.
Tariffs on French vintages were eventually increased to 25%, which American consumers paid—not the French. Trump has never quite understood how tariffs work.
Still, there’s always a bright side. This time, it’s London’s The Economist that’s found it…in Iowa:
While the former president showed strength [in Iowa] across all demographic segments, the results suggest he remains comparatively weaker among the college-educated and suburban voters who probably cost him the election in 2020.
The Economist’s county-level analysis of Mr Trump’s vote share shows across the 10 most educated counties in Iowa Mr Trump won 42% of the vote, compared with 66% across the ten least educated ones. And this analysis also points to a weakness among suburban voters. Mr Trump received an estimated 43% of the suburban vote in contrast to 60% of the rural vote.
Mr Trump lost in 2020 in part because of gains Democrats made among college-educated and suburban voters.
Macron himself seems fully prepared to turn the other cheek. At a marathon 2 hour 20 minute news conference, kicking off the new government he’d just named, headed by France’s youngest and first openly LGBTQ prime minister, Gabriel Attal, Macron was asked by Ulysse Gosset of BFMTV about his view of Trump as president:
I’ve always had the same philosophy, I take the leaders that people give me.
Elections 2024: Bhutan
While Iowans were preparing to caucus for America’s Republican presidential candidate, voters in Bhutan, chose to oust peacefully and with little fanfare the incumbent government and go for a previous prime minister from better times.
The tiny Himalayan kingdom, the third election we’ve monitored this year, following Bangladesh and Taiwan, saw People’s Democratic Party leader Tshering Tobgay sweep to a 30 to 17 parliamentary majority over incumbent Pema Chewang’s Bhutan Tendrei Party. Two-thirds of all eligible voters turned in a nation where simply moving from one village to the next can be an enormous challenge.
As the Kuensel news service observed, this was “a repeat of the 2018 general election results,” and was the fourth national election since 2008 when the kingdom transitioned quite peacefully to a constitutional from an absolute monarchy. It is, after all, the country where the concept of a Gross National Happiness index was born.
Attributing the substantial win by the PDP, Nikkei Asia explained:
During the campaign, Tobgay criticized the previous prime minister for the economy's poor recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. He set out a 15 billion ngultrum ($180 million) stimulus plan to attract foreign investment and expand the tourism sector.
Bhutan's government uses the unique concept of "gross national happiness" to promote well-being beyond economic wealth. But the country suffered a heavy economic blow from COVID-19 due to its heavy dependence on tourism.
The government has moved to cut jobs in the public sector, the country's largest employer. The youth unemployment rate doubled over five years to 28.6% in 2022, and many young people have left for Australia. The next administration will face the challenge of turning around the ailing economy.
For a look back and ahead in Taiwan, China, and their relations with the world, watch this Wednesday for the special Unleashed Voice of Audrey Topping
Celestial horses, foreign devils & Taiwan's future
How others see the World
Unrest across Europe
There is no shortage of shooting wars or impending challenges of armed confrontation. But alongside fears of a far-right Trumpian takeover of America, there are quite parallel and equally imminent fears sweeping Europe.
The lede story in Munich daily Süddeutsche Zeitung worries “After twilight comes darkness.” Then the editors add:
When AfD politicians think about expelling entire population groups, irony and hope have had their day . Anyone who is sensible expects the worst - and fights for German democracy.
AfD or Alternative für Deutschland is the far-right extremist party that has echos across Europe from Spain to Austria, from Slovakia to Italy to the party of France’s Marine Le Pen. Now suddenly it is acquiring an important voice in Germany, as Süddeutsche Zeitung continued:
So whether one derives one's fear from the possibility that Donald Trump will be elected president for the second time this November and, in his usual crazy fury of cancellation, will chase climate policy down the chimney, transform American democracy into a dictatorship of vain madness, or will territorial omnivore Putin throw Ukraine at his feet…The AfD, which is increasing in radicalism and outright contempt for the system parallel to nationwide approval, is unfortunately more than just an unsavory piece of bird shit in recent history. Just by getting a majority of votes in the upcoming state elections in Thuringia, Saxony, and Brandenburg, it could have achieved a milestone, namely that this country will be different.
Then there are the demonstrations, led by farmers and sympathizers taking to the streets by the hundreds of thousands and not just in Germany. These hopes and fears certainly transcend boundaries. But here there are reflections of the past. As Le Monde expressed the fear of contagion:
In Germany, fear that farmers' anger could turn into a movement like [France’s] "yellow vests." Several thousand Germans blocked the German capital on to show their anger after the government's decision to eliminate the rebate on agricultural diesel. The presence of artisans and traders during the demonstration raises fears of an expansion of these actions.
Or as the far-right French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche put it:
From Romania to the Netherlands via Poland and Germany, farmers are angry.
And then in Italy, there’s that fascist salute, making a powerful return since it appeared to have died in 1945 in the wake of fascist leader Benito Mussolini, but now back in some form, it would seem, with court approval. Angela Giuffrida reported from Rome for London’s Guardian:
Performing the fascist salute is only a crime if it endangers public order or risks leading to a revival of the banned fascist party, Italy’s top court said in a ruling that has been hailed by neofascists.
In making its ruling, the court of cassation ordered a second appeals trial for eight neofascist militants who made the salute during a commemorative event in Milan in 2016 marking the anniversary of the killing of a fellow militant in the city in 1975.
The ruling means that the gesture, also known as the Roman salute, is not a crime if performed at events akin to a recent rally in Rome that provoked an outcry.
As for Ukraine…
Volodymyr Zelensky made a rare visit to Davos this past week hoping to find some solace for fears that the United States appears fully prepare to abandon his nation to the will of Vladimir Putin.
As the Kyiv Independent reported:
Zelensky met with top executives of the world's leading financial funds at the sidelines of the Davos forum, seeking to boost investment in Ukraine [and] to convince the world's leaders of the need for continued support for Kyiv, as over $100 billion in EU and U.S. funds remain stalled by domestic political disputes.
Meanwhile, some solace from, of all places, Slovakia, whose Putin-friendly new prime minister suddenly decided to change course, profitably, as Politico Europe reported:
The Slovak parliament backed an amendment that would empower the defense ministry to approve arms exports, paving the way for public and private weapons companies to continue arming Ukraine — and completing a volte-face from Prime Minister Robert Fico's pre-election vow "not to send another bullet" to Kyiv.
Fico's anti-weapons posture on Ukraine had been aimed at attracting votes to his party in last year's election, [but now] the profits to be made from arming Kyiv ensured that exports would continue.
[The problem, of course: Kyiv will need to find the funds to pay for them.]
Still the website continued, in Davos, Zelensky had “made no secret of wanting to meet with Chinese officials, but … has headed home without the desired encounter, in a blow to Kyiv.
How to solve …
…Any host of problems. Israel-Gaza…Houthis-Yemen…Ukraine-Russia. Diplomatic solutions of any stripe seem utterly elusive,
As Amos Harel, military and defense analyst for the daily Haaretz suggested:
[Any] Israel-Hamas hostage deal takes a back seat to Netanyahu's political calculations. Despite U.S. pressure, the only 'day after' Netanyahu is concerned about is post-Biden. The war cabinet is torn on hostage release, and for Netanyahu, his coalition comes first. If [two war cabinet ministers and former generals Benny] Gantz and [Gadi] Eisenkot bolt the emergency government, it could spark a wave of mass protests on the streets of Israel.
The next day Harel was back even stronger:
Netanyahu's government gets more delusional as Israel's campaign in Gaza grinds on.
There are clear signs that Israel is getting bogged down in the Gaza quagmire and the West Bank is at a boiling point, but Netanyahu and his ministers are oblivious. The hourglass is running out for the hostages and it's time for Israel to rethink its priorities.
Houthis bring Europe together?
As far back as 2017, when then-President Trump paid his first, and only really amicable, visit to Paris, President Macron has been lusting after a European defense force of some sort so as not to be forced to rely unilaterally on an increasingly unreliable United States.
Now, with shipping blocked through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea by Houthi rockets and drones, Politico Brussels Playbook broke the news of a breakthrough:
Representatives of the 27 EU countries discussed plans to defend the busy waterway against Houthi attacks with anti-air destroyers…building on an existing French-led surveillance mission….Spain will not block a mission along those lines, clearing the way for willing countries to participate—though Spain itself won’t take part.…An [EU] document talks about the need for at least three anti-air destroyers or frigates for the operation, but diplomats say that it is still unclear who exactly will provide what. It will take some time to get full clarity as some EU governments will need to involve their parliaments in the process.
The deadline? The next full meeting of EU foreign ministers February 19.
And then there's the brandy
There’s a whole lot more discussion going around in Europe and in America about just how to harness the Chinese economy for the benefit of their producers and consumers, so it’s often overlooked that China is going through many of the same discussions.
But Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post points out some of the very real dangers of China looking out for itself and the deep damage that could do:
For the past few decades, French cognac symbolised wealth, power, and refinement for China’s business elite.
But the liquor’s prospects as the go-to luxury item for China’s growing middle class have taken a turn following China’s anti-dumping investigation into brandy imports from the European Union (EU), as well as changing consumer preferences.
On January 5, China’s Ministry of Commerce launched this probe following a request from the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, who said the prices of the imported products had been reduced by an estimated 15.88 per cent. If you’re at a big banquet, entertaining a government official, it’s taboo now to be drinking or gifting cognac.
Frank Lin, a Guangdong-based dealer specialising in spirits, said there are few brandy producers in China that could substitute the cognac produced by the likes of Hennessy, Martell, and Remy Martin.
Tit for tat perhaps?
In October, the EU launched an anti-subsidy investigation into the imports of battery-powered cars from China. Beijing said there was “a lack of sufficient evidence to support” the claims, and that the inquiry was “inconsistent with relevant WTO rules.”
Finally, there’s Ahmad Rahma….
The great Turkish cartoonist Ahmad Rahma helps us understand what the Houthis have done to “Navigation on the Red Sea” by closing with a scimitar the Bab-el-Mandeb strait leading into the Gulf of Aden at its mouth. The Iranian-backed Yemeni terrorists have wreaked havoc on the global economy with their missile and drone attacks—forcing the world’s shipping to make a vastly more expensive 4,000-mile detour around the continent of Africa, at the same time shattering the Egyptian economy by removing lucrative Suez Canal transit fees.
Ahmad Rahma, whose drawings appear frequently on the front page of Le Monde, worked for 8 years for Al-Jazeera and for the pan-Arab, Qatari-owned Alaraby Aljadeed newspaper. He currently draws for the Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq and the Palestinian-owned Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper. Andelman Unleashed last published him in July 2023, riffing on a grim reaper’s traffic stop in France. He is a member of the Paris-based collective Cartooning for Peace.
Here’s how Ahmad Rahma imagines himself:
Hope springs eternal !
;-)
I've been in Bhutan and few nations deserve stability and happiness more than Bhutan. The people, who only emerged from isolation a short time ago, are as fabulous as the scenery. It's nice to see someone--- that would be you, David--- paying attention!