An old joke said: “What did God do to punish Americans? He sent them tropical storms, hurricanes, tornadoes. What did the Lord do to punish other countries? He sent them Americans.”
Looking forward to new jokes, because anti-Americanism has once again become popular after the withdrawal of American troops from the scandal and chaos in Afghanistan. In Europe, it has fertile soil because our continent feels victimized by the withdrawal of troops that plunged Afghanistan into chaos.
Anti-American rhetoric claims that the US withdrawal is to weaken the European Union, and the European Union is facing a wave of immigrants that it cannot cope with.
It is based on the assumption that the United States led all wrong wars, especially in Iraq, where no weapons of mass destruction were found. Even Osama bin Laden was tracked down and killed in Pakistan, not in Afghanistan.
Therefore, the United States is suspected of launching war only for the benefit of its military-industrial complex. To make matters worse, they are suspected of causing chaos on all other continents, because presumably they feel that this allows them to be better protected on their own continent.
Anti-American sentiment within the EU is uneven. In France, this has almost become the default national policy since Charles de Gaulle.
In Germany, this is forbidden and only the extreme left is involved, but in the context of the September 26 election, Die Linke has now become a potentially important factor.Not accidental Merkel’s CDU attacked the Social Democratic Party preemptivelyIf they win the election, they are suspected of planning to cooperate with Die Linke.
In Eastern Europe, anti-Americanism is the favorite toy of pro-Russian forces. They are the opposition in most cases, but sometimes sit in governments pretending to be pro-Western, although sometimes Americans don’t realize this.
It is Russia and China that have benefited from European anti-Americanism. Compared with Joe Biden’s America, Russia has a powerful propaganda machine, and there is no doubt that it will use it to portray itself as a model of world stability.
and, The recent attack on the Capitol Russian commentators have already questioned the stability of American democracy.
So far, China’s message is that it has been unfairly targeted by the United States, and it will use this opportunity to claim that the powerful United States is actually surprisingly unreliable when making major geopolitical decisions.
In theory, the United States should have the best intelligence, including detailed aerial surveillance, but they did not discover the rise of the Taliban. When Americans say it should avoid developing relations with China, why should the EU trust them?
Nevertheless, the EU should say “no” to primitive anti-Americanism. Despite the difficulties, it has the responsibility to remain vigilant and maintain transatlantic relations.
The cold shower in Afghanistan also reminded people in time that the return of mainstream politicians to the White House will not solve all geopolitical problems. The EU needs to become its own world power.
If the EU does not want to be a victim of the US shortage in Afghanistan, it needs to engage in stronger and quicker contacts with Central Asia, India, Pakistan, and Iran.
Although transatlantic relations are still the most important for the EU, in the long run, our alliance should manage relations with Russia and China as a subcontractor of the world powers, not the United States.
Summary
Based on current evidence, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) stated that booster vaccination is not urgent for most people who are fully vaccinated. However, The third dose for people with weakened immune systems “It should be considered by now.”
Is still within the scope of the epidemic, German parties have always been divided As the country’s September 26 general election approaches, discuss whether and how to strengthen the EU’s role in COVID-19 policy. Their positions range from supporting the stronger European Health Union to worrying that deeper cooperation will undermine the national medical system.
Speaking of changes: Remember the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS)? ETS is the world’s first international emissions trading system, it has Has its fair share of problems Since its conception-the European Commission hopes to resolve many of these issues. The most notable is the price of carbon, which is generally considered too low.
In terms of emissions, Royal Dutch Shell and Dutch advertising regulator are in trouble Claims that the company’s “Drive CO2 Neutral” advertising campaign is going greenCritics say that Shell has not provided evidence that it is fully offsetting emissions.
In other news, Ireland’s Data Privacy Commissioner (DPC) has WhatsApp fined 225 million euros Violation of data transparency. WhatsApp stated that the fines are “completely disproportionate” and will appeal.
At the same time, France and the Netherlands have jointly signed a quantum technology memorandum aimed at Strengthen bilateral cooperation on high-performance supercomputersThe agreement includes more comprehensive cooperation, as well as investment and new work.
The European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom provide unlimited “zero tariff” streaming services Violation of EU roaming and net neutrality rules.
Last but not least, from the United Kingdom: the British government has approved a series of Field trials of gene-edited wheat For the first time in Europe, it marked a major change in the EU’s position on this issue.
Pay close attention, beware, be careful…
- The EU diplomatic conference continued on Friday, focusing on the EU’s role and status in the world.
- The Commissioner of Agriculture Wojchekhovsky met with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China.
Views are author’s
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
