Putin, though virtually unopposed, is holding a sham election after barring his biggest opponent, which gives the impression that he may not be as confident as he lets on. Germany has always put Germany first, and should start owning up to this fact instead of pretending otherwise. Anxiety over the possibility of China economically controlling Pakistan has begun to rise, and the EU’s threat to Poland is not a rebuke as much as it is self-preservation.
Germany is more nationalist than it lets on
“Berlin’s paeans to multilateralism and reproaches to nationalism, however, mask a foreign policy that is often itself unilateral and nationalist,” writes James Kirchick in Politico. He adds that “shrouding nationalism behind a façade of internationalist rhetoric” is actually a long-standing feature of German foreign policy.
“Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with pursuing national interest — all countries do. What’s exceptional about Germany is the degree to which it claims not to,” he argues.
“To this day, German politicians and elites bend over backwards to portray their country’s foreign policy as the epitome of altruistic multilateralism. So sensitive are they to perceptions of national chauvinism that, in 2010, Germany’s president was forced to resign after making the perfectly reasonable point that his country might need to deploy troops overseas “to protect our interests such as ensuring free-trade routes or preventing regional instabilities, which are also certain to negatively impact our ability to safeguard trade, jobs and income.””
“American political leaders have long explained their country’s foreign policies as a form of enlightened self-interest. Their German counterparts have gone out of their way to portray themselves as guided by enlightened selflessness,” writes Kirchick.
“Today, the only people afraid of Germany are Germans. This opportunistic instrumentalization of history — whereby pacifism, not standing up to dictatorships, is the primary lesson gleaned from World War II — provides them with a convenient and moralistic alibi for shirking global responsibilities.”
“But as demonstrated by the rise of the Alternative for Germany, the first far-right party to enter the Bundestag in decades, Germany is becoming more like a normal European country, warts and all. It’s time it stopped pretending otherwise.”
Chinese loans to Pakistan spark fear
“Earlier this month, Sri Lanka officially handed over its strategically important port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease, after Colombo failed to repay its debts to Beijing. The move has raised concerns in Pakistan that its Gwadar port, built as part of a trade corridor with China, could meet with the same fate,” writes Adnan Aamir in the South China Morning Post.
The fear, he writes, is that Pakistan could end up giving China full control over the port of Gwadar, and possibly other assets as well.
The fear is not unfounded, Aamir explains. Pakistan has rejected economic help from China twice, and China responded by suspending funding for three highways in Pakistan.
“Pakistani officials have for now been able to reject a few demands of the Chinese but, as time passes and debt to the Chinese increases, that may change. Pakistan’s total external debt is around US$82 billion, and Chinese loans will further inflate this. It’s quite possible that, in the near future, Pakistan will be left with no choice but to hand over important assets like Gwadar port to China, even though the government of Pakistan rejects such fears.”
How the EU is trying to neutralize Poland
For the first time, the European Union has threatened to strip Poland, which is a member state, of its voting rights in the European commission. The unprecedented step isn’t a punishment, writes Natalie Nougayrède in The Guardian, it’s just a move to protect the EU’s integrity.
“Brussels decided to move against Poland’s democratic backsliding, namely the crushing of its independent judiciary – a process that had recently been accelerated by its populist government, elected in 2015. On social media, the far right raged,” she writes.
“It is perhaps not surprising that Poland’s travails now serve as a rallying cry for forces that hoped the EU would ultimately disintegrate after Brexit. But such pronouncements cannot be brushed aside simply because they emanate from vile parts of the political spectrum. Let’s face it, the EU’s case may seem obvious to the convinced, but it certainly isn’t as obvious to all, including on the left.”
“The commission isn’t just criticising the Polish government for its behaviour. It is trying to preserve a body of European law that concerns all European citizens without exception. Indeed if Brussels doesn’t draw a line here, you might end up with a situation where, say, a German or a Portuguese national living in or visiting Poland, or a business person investing there, will one day find themselves confronted with a politically controlled judge, not a fair and independent one. Much would start to unravel,” she predicts.
Putin is in hot water
Alexei Navalny, Putin’s most outspoken opponent, has been barred from running in the presidential elections, which means that Putin will run unopposed and will be President of Russia for another six-year term. Still, Putin is staging a Potemkin vote. In its editorial, the Washington Post asks why.
“What could explain Mr. Putin’s seemingly self-defeating tactics? Some analysts argue that the authoritarian regime he has constructed requires not a credible democratic victory but a crushing show of strength. The message must be that there is no alternative. That is particularly true at a time when the regime is failing to deliver the rising living standards it once offered Russians in exchange for their passivity.”
“Mr. Putin now seeks popular favor with nationalist adventurism, such as the invasion of Ukraine; the election is scheduled for the anniversary of the Crimea annexation. But that, too, may be reaching a dead end; Mr. Putin’s attempts to broker favorable settlements to interventions in eastern Ukraine and Syria have been floundering.”
To cut a long story short, it appears that Putin might have more reason to fear Navalny than poll numbers suggest.
“Even as he outlaws political competition in Russia, Mr. Putin continues to oversee attempts to undermine and tilt elections in the West. For him, democratic contests are a vulnerability, to be avoided at home and exploited abroad. In that sense, Western governments and Russia’s democrats have a common cause in countering Mr. Putin. What both lack is an effective strategy.”