TWTW: The World This Week / Episode #31
Macron tinkers with pension reform...Trump rears his head…Banks spread fear…Xi heads to Moscow...Has China begun arming Russia?...and finally, French cartoonist Placide visits Paris's thriving rats.
This weekly feature for Andelman Unleashed, explores how the media of other nations are reporting and commenting on the United States, and how they are viewing the rest of the world.
France on the ropes
It's not so hard to recall the last time Emmanuel Macron found himself in the kind of pickle as he has this past week and faces in the week ahead. Indeed, beyond Vladimir Putin, it's hard to find a single world leader who is so deeply challenged by his own actions. But in the case of the French president, when looked at objectively, Macron is probably right.
The French pension system is a travesty, threatening a catastrophic economic spiral that within a decade could find France in the same basket case of indebtedness where failing European economies like Greece and Italy have found themselves. None of which makes pictures like this any easier to stomach…..the Place de la Concorde, ringed by CRS riot police, tear gas drifting across the plaza, the Assemblée Nationale lit across the Seine behind the hordes.
And then there are the headlines like this one from Le Monde on Saturday: "Emmanuel Macron face à l’avenir incertain de son quinquennat" (Emmanuel Macron faces an uncertain future for his five-year term). As reporter Matthieu Goar wrote: "It is difficult to know whether Macron will find a way out of this political impasse. Where will he take his second term from here? His flagship reform will likely be adopted, but only through a series of forceful moves, going against public opinion, against the unions, and without a vote in the Assemblée Nationale. According to several sources close to him, the president has 'no scruples, no regrets.'"
Goar continued in Le Monde: "He did not want to use Article 49.3, [of the French constitution which allows the President simply to proclaim a victory in parliament] but he was in the end left with no other choice, they say. Faced with 'two bad choices,' he considered that a lost vote in the Assemblée would have been more damaging than this vertical decision-making. 'He is perfectly aware that this is a Pyrrhic victory,' said a member of his entourage. 'He tried until the end not to use [Article 49.3],' argued David Amiel, an MP for Macron's party Renaissance and former adviser at the Elysée. 'He made the choice of the country's interest rather than his political interest.'"
Germany's Deutsche Welle adds that "France is facing a political crisis that could help the far right."
Macron is clearly hoping that the French will, inevitably, tire of these protests as they did with the yellow vest movement five years ago when demonstrators again went into the streets, lit up barricades, then eventually went home.
How others see America
Trump rears his head
The world is just beginning to face the prospects of the first criminal indictment of any American president. The German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung headlined, "Trump expects arrest on Tuesday and calls for protests." The paper continued: "'The overwhelmingly leading Republican candidate and former President of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday next week. Protest, take back our nation!' Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday."
The BBC led on Saturday with a similar headline, correspondent Sarah Fowler elaborating, " If Mr. Trump is indicted, it would be the first criminal case ever brought against a former US president. It would also have serious ramifications for his campaign to become the Republican nominee for president in the 2024 presidential election." Then Fowler quotes Trump lawyer Susan Necheles, as saying, "Since this is a political prosecution, the district attorney's office has engaged in a practice of leaking everything to the press, rather than communicating with President Trump's attorneys as would be done in a normal case."
Other global media were also following the latest Trump saga, from Saudi Arabia-based Arab News to Singapore's Straits Times, which added that Trump has "called on his supporters to protest." In Milan's Corriere della Serra, its correspondent Andrea Marinelli reported, "the lawyer Joe Tacopina, interviewed by Corriere, said that his famous client will follow the normal procedures if he is forced to surrender to the authorities. For this reason, the police fear protests and episodes of violence and are preparing a security plan in case Trump should appear in court in New York or there should be demonstrations by his supporters."
And then there's the banks
The crisis that began with a single American regional bank has spread to Europe, especially to one of the world's banking centers—Switzerland. As the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung put it, "Credit Suisse in crisis: is UBS now coming to the rescue? The boards of directors of UBS and CS meet to review a possible merger."
"Meanwhile," NZZ continued, "the asset manager Blackrock denied an alleged interest in a takeover. Banks limit their relationships with CS. The federal government is expected to comment on Sunday."
How others see the World
Putin as criminal
With the International Criminal Court issuing an indictment of Russian president Vladimir Putin for war crimes, Poland's leading daily, Gazeta Wyborcza asked the question, "Will Putin go to prison?" Correspondent Michael Kok observed, Putin's arrest warrant issued by the ICC in The Hague reduces him to the role of a political pariah. Paradoxically, however, it may also hinder peace negotiations in Ukraine. Theoretically, the Russian president has no right to feel calm when traveling around the world. The arrest warranted issued in The Hague is valid in 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute." But Kok pointed out, even though "it is valid in South America and almost all of Europe, including Hungary and Serbia [which are] close to Putin…Turkey the United States, India and most Arab states (with the exception of Jordan) have not ratified the statute."
There was one other warrant also issued to Putin's Commissioner for the Rights of Children, Maria Lvova-Belova. Both were charged with war crimes for deporting 16,000 Ukrainian children to Russia. The difference is their age. Putin is 70. Lvova-Belova is 38. Both will be unable to travel without fear of arrest across much of the world for the rest of their lives, which will in theory be much longer for the commissioner.
Still, Putin seemed rather unfazed by his indictment. As Euronews reported, "Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Crimea on Saturday, to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation. Putin visited an art school and a children’s center, locations that appeared to have been chosen in response to the [International Criminal] Court's action on Friday. The court specifically accused him of bearing personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion of the neighboring country that started almost 13 months ago."
And then there's China
There’s lots of vigilance over what China's next move might be in the Ukraine war. With Xi Jinping set to arrive in Moscow on Monday, the Japanese news service Kyodo News reported "use of Chinese ammunition in Ukraine is confirmed by U.S." The report from its Washington bureau continued, "The United States has confirmed that rounds of Chinese ammunition have been used in battlefields in Ukraine and suspects they were fired by Russian forces, government sources said Friday….Washington is poised to take action if it is verified Beijing made the shipments. Amid a myriad of disagreements between the United States and China, officials have recently said Washington possesses intelligence indicating that Beijing is considering sending arms and ammunition to Russia. 'It's something that we are vigilant about and continuing to watch carefully,' a U.S. State Department official told Kyodo News. The United States has notified some of its partners about the confirmation, according to the sources."
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post observed, "China’s efforts to limit the impact of its deteriorating relationship with the United States are facing a further challenge as several neighbouring countries move closer to Washington despite Beijing’s efforts to mend ties." Reporter Shi Jiangtao continued, "Australia and the Philippines have recently moved to strengthen their military relationship with the US and the thaw in relations between two more of its allies—Japan and South Korea—has left Beijing with a dilemma, diplomatic analysts say. Beijing has expressed concern about these developments—all of which are a boost to the US strategy of using its network of allies to counter China—but has tried not to offend its neighbours." Shi concluded, "With the unveiling of South Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy in January, the thaw in relations with Japan, and [South Korean President] Yoon Suk-yeol's planned visit to the White House next month, many Chinese analysts are concerned that [South Korea] may have eventually taken the side of the US."
At the same time, People's Daily, published by the Chinese Communist Party, stressed "Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Russia will be a trip of friendship, cooperation and peace….In recent years, President Xi has maintained close contact with President Putin. Under their leadership and guidance, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has achieved sustainable, sound and steady development."
As for what may be on the agenda, the paper observed, "Xi will have an in-depth exchange of views with Putin on bilateral relations as well as major international and regional issues of common concern, promote bilateral strategic coordination and practical cooperation, and inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations." As for the war in Ukraine, "China will continue to uphold its objective and just position on the Ukraine crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks."
And then there's how fat we're getting
London magazine The Economist was lamenting that "by 2035 more than half the world’s population—4bn people—may be overweight or obese. People everywhere are putting on pounds. As countries grow richer and calories become easier to access, people generally get fatter. America is the fattest country among all the rich countries in the OECD, but plenty of others are struggling. Even France is facing a weight problem. And obesity not only causes health problems, it can lead to economic ones—especially for women."
The magazine also believes it may have found the answer in the form of America's Seventh Day Adventists, "a Protestant denomination that observes the Sabbath on Saturday and hopes for the imminent second coming of Christ. In the mid-19th century one of its prophets and founders, Ellen White, had a vision. She and her brethren should eat food as it grows out of the ground, the vision said. They must also be mindful of animal products and avoid smoking and alcohol."
Finally, there’s …. Placide
The great French cartoonist, Placide has managed to capture the, well, flavor of protests that have paralyzed France, with Paris's indomitable rat population carrying signs proclaiming "retirement at 64 years, we're for it!" and "thank you Macron," for the 7,000 tons or more of garbage that's piled up in the capital while sanitation workers have been off work protesting the new law that would raise their retirement age from 57 to 59.
Elections 2023: Kazakhstan
On Sunday, voters in Kazakhstan are going to the polls to elect a new parliament in a snap election called by the nation’s new president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, seeking to cement his hold after decades of autocratic rule by his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev. With a visit in late February by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, it will be interesting to see what path Kazakhstan takes.
Stay tuned this week on Andelman Unleashed for the results and some thoughts on whither this critical member of the ‘Stans of Central Asia.
Totally agree, professor… but I am especially interested in his Commissioner for Children. Putin is 70…she is 38 and has a whole life ahead of her as an international pariah, unable to travel to 120+ countries without being seized & imprisoned ! That might give any young woman pause ?!
Despite the welcome ICC chief prosecutor accusing Putin of war crimes, catching him will be hard. Just possibly, manacling Trump will be easier (if also hard to accomplish).