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This might seem a bit tin-foil hat worthy, but considering all I've read about in Turkey and Erdogan's shenanigans, isn't it possible that with the proposed Turkey-EU migrant deal Erdogan can exploit this rather easily? What's to stop him from taking a bunch of Syrians in Turkey, stick them on boats supplied by "people smugglers" (aka AKP thugs), send them to Lesbos, bring them back, and then demand the EU take them in? This guy is pretty foot-loose and fancy free with the truth when it comes to ISIS, the Kurds, bombing his own people, press freedom, etc., so why should we expect him in any way to be honest about how many people he had to "heroically" stop from making the "terrible" crossing to Greece? The fact that Germany would even consider this to be a rational deal at all is mind boggling. The longer this migrant crisis goes on, the more Merkel starts to look more and more reactionary (as in responding to events rather than taking the initiative, not in terms of political leaning) and more desperate for someone to save her bacon. I mean, after the Paris attacks, how is it even politically feasible to suggest lowering security checks between the EU and a known ISIS transit country (Turkey)?
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Mar 8, 2016 14:50
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LemonDrizzle posted:So apparently the impetus for the new Turkish deal with resettlement and visa-free Schengen access for Turkish citizens didn't come from the Turks at all - it was pushed by Merkel, behind everyone else's back: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f6c982ec-e54e-11e5-ac45-5c039e797d1c.html#axzz42OW2bIUR Ok, this move really is the nail in the coffin for any respect I had for Merkel (granted as a yank that may not mean much). It was arguable (not very well mind you) that Merkel's administration had some prerogative to use German stature in the EU to influence policy in member states from a financial standpoint. However, this whole migrant crisis, from start to not-even-finished-yet, has demonstrated how out of touch and unilateral Merkel is being. It's not enough to unilaterally throw open the doors and tell every poor migrant (refugee or otherwise) "come on in!" and then demand your neighbors pitch in, now she is undermining their negotiations with Turkey with more unilateral back-room deals. Now I understand why Austria and the Balkan countries did their own planning without German involvement, otherwise Merkel would have canned the border closures and those countries would be facing another season of hundreds of thousands of migrants when this Turkey deal collapses. I gotta think that stuff like this back-stabbing will only hasten the move for countries like Austria, Slovenia, and the Visegrad group to try and solve issues alone or as a sub-group. What is the opinion of the Visegrad group in Slovenia, Austria, and other nearby nations? If I were them I'd start trying to expand membership in the club to Austria. This is starting to feel like that goon CK2 LP of the HRE.
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Mar 9, 2016 17:46
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Lagotto posted:http://balkanist.net/turkeys-mysterious-disappearing-refugees/ Wouldn't surprise me in the least. Erdogan gets to claim that he's having to shoulder all 2.6 million refugees all by himself (which helps his extortion efforts) through the power of his world compassion, meanwhile he quietly lets them all through on their way to Greece and the EU. I simply do not understand why anyone takes anything the Turkish government says at face value anymore; Erdogan and the AKP is blatantly pulling a little Putin act, just without the shirtless pictures. I wouldn't be surprised if Erdogan tries to annex Cyprus or something equally retarded.
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Mar 9, 2016 23:00
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I am loathe to simply sum up Merkel's actions as "welp, there goes liberal Europe surrendering to the fundamentalist Middle East again..." as I am aware that Merkel is moving to have the portion of the law that allows such prosecutions removed. However, I do wonder what it says about the state of affairs when it's even potentially acceptable to prosecute someone for saying something insulting (slander/libel aside, as I doubt this applies), whether or not it's satire. What happened to the principles of free speech? The rapid erosion of press rights and speech rights in Turkey should be a warning to Europe, I would think.
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Apr 15, 2016 15:58
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Friendly Humour posted:Actually, It's saying that Northern Europe hosed Greece for no practical reason at all, but I know this concept is difficult for you to accept so I will forgive you. Actually, I thought the guy they were interviewing had a really good point that goes beyond Greece. A lot of politicians are making waves about "reforming the economy" or "creating jobs" but I really don't see any concerted effort around a core plan for the national economic identity. Let's take Greece as the first example: from what was said in the interview and from what I've read elsewhere, Greece hasn't taken any action to try and create for itself a sustainable system where they offer something or have some kind of primary money-maker. Right now Greece is known for shipping, tourism, and some specific agricultural exports (yogurt, olives, cheese?). However, Greece isn't really self-sufficient on a meaningful scale, if I recall correctly. One of the key arguments against leaving the Eurozone was because Greece imports most of its food and medicine, which would make the transition to the drachma a death blow to the country. However, what steps has Greece done to maybe bolster domestic agriculture? Does any of the parties in Greece have a plan forward for defining what economic niche Greece wants to occupy and grow into? All I've really heard is "funding more public services," but that's not really building an economic identity. The US kind of has this same problem, though its more focused on what politicians are promising. Trump talks big about "bringing manufacturing jobs back," but not much in the way for how to make it economically viable. Granted, he's the first one to even say that much, because most people just say "create jobs" without mentioning that most jobs created lately have been service sector jobs, which while valuable, cannot be the foundation of an entire economic order. You only need so many baristas and insurance salesmen. The Bahamas are an example of a country that does know what it is and wants to be. It intentionally markets itself as a tourist paradise to leverage it's resources and location. It identified an economic niche it could fill and worked to attain it. Granted, smaller countries are a bit more simplistic in their economic model, but Germany is another example where they try to corner the engineering and high-end manufacturing niche. The UK is going to have to have this conversation with itself, as the financial industry is probably going to dry up with the Brexit, and they're going to need something to replace that hole in the economy. I guess in summary, I wish more people would think like the economist in that video and go beyond merely saying "we'll make jobs." Great, what jobs exactly, and how will it fit with where we are, and where we want to be?
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Jul 1, 2016 18:24
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Nitrousoxide posted:Now, why should that be solved with independence as opposed to working within the system? The core essence of independence and self-determination is the idea that a consolidated people-group within a geographic area is free to express their cultural and economic identify to their satisfaction. If you look at most of the independence movements of the past fifty years, excluding colonial independence wars, they generally share the same common trait: a consolidated culture group that is part of a larger nation. Some movements are more for nostalgia's sake (Brittany, Venetia, Northern League, Corsica), and some are for cultural and economic reasons (Scotland, Catalonia, Navarra, Quebec). In the US, we don't have a strong geographic concentration of people-groups that feel disenfranchised or not respected (for the most part; you might have racial, economic, etc tensions, but they are not geographically bound). So for Spain and Catalonia, you have a culturally distinct people-group (Catalans) inside a larger state (Spain) that feels their cultural identify and economic means are being threatened and undermined by another people-group (Spaniards). While you can debate the logical absurdity of individuals seceding from a nation, you'll have a hard time doing the logical contortions to exclude the philosophical argument that for the Catalans, Madrid has lost the consent of the governed. At some point, a people-group will lose patience with a system that has no consequences for abusing said people-group (as it appears to be so here). Would you honestly argue that black South Africans should have tried to work within the apartheid system? Should the 13 colonies just sucked it up and be taken for a ride as Britain's piggy bank? A government must always aim to keep it's people satisfied, or the people will make a government that will satisfy them. If they can't do it in the system, they will leave the system. Spain seems to be showing Catalonia that they cannot work within the system.
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Jul 28, 2016 21:01
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