Posted by Joerg Wolf in
International Economics, Transatlantic Relations on Saturday, September 27. 2008
President Bush cited an influx of foreign money into the United States as one of the root causes of the tight credit market and urged European and Asian policy makers to follow the US plan of large-scale bailouts of the financial system. This call was generally rebuffed. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück described the financial market crisis as "above all an American problem." Steinbrück predicted that "the US will lose its status as the superpower of the world financial system." Instead European banks and sovereign wealth funds will have an increased role in a multipolar financial world. The New York Times concludes from these transatlantic disagreements that "Trans-Atlantic sniping over the global financial crisis intensified." Wow, that's harsh words. Real snipers kill. If someone just disagrees with you, he does not kill you. You just gets a slight dent in your bloated ego. Apparently some people can't stand having folks on the other side of the Atlantic disagree with them. Pride goes before a fall (Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall) and sometimes even after the fall. Well, perhaps the NYT is just trying to sell more copies and more ads... The article is discussed on my other site "Atlantic Community." We also present several expert opinions on the bailout plan and reform of the financial system and ask our members and all of you: How to Respond to the Financial Crisis?
Posted by Joerg Wolf in
Transatlantic Relations, US Domestic and Cultural Issues on Saturday, August 30. 2008
 The Economist has a good cover story about John McCain and explains quite well why Americans might elect him as president. It is a good summary for the average reader, who is not a news junkie.
Such an analysis is missing in the commentary of a Washington correspondent with the German public broadcaster ARD: Anna Engelke fails to understand McCain's appeal. Instead she makes a list of problems for McCain (his age, the bad shape of US economy, high debts and deficit, two wars) and concludes that a skilled politician like Barack Obama has to lead in the polls, if you take a "sober look at it."
She mentions only two reasons why Obama does not have a strong lead in the polls: It might be partly due to his inexperience, but it is primarily due to his black skin. Engelke opines that Obama would win this election "with the utmost probability," if he were white.
Continue reading "Understanding John McCain's Appeal to US Voters"
Posted by Joerg Wolf in
Transatlantic Relations on Wednesday, August 27. 2008
Stratfor describes itself as "the world's leading online publisher of geopolitical intelligence. Our global team of intelligence professionals provides our Members with insights into political, economic, and military developments to reduce risks, to identify opportunities, and to stay aware of happenings around the globe."
These intelligence professionals have learned from their super-secret "sources" that "Russia has offered Germany a security agreement." Oooh, that sounds like a great conspiracy.
Since Germany and Russia are the two big powers on the block and want to keep any other power (like the United States) from their region, it would make sense for Berlin and Moscow to want to forge an agreement to divide up the neighborhood - such as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which had secret protocol dividing the independent countries of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania into either the Nazi or Soviet spheres of influence.
Stratfor has this totally insightful and historically correct analysis:
Continue reading "How Intelligent are Stratfor's "Intelligence Professionals"?"
Posted by Joerg Wolf in
Transatlantic Relations on Tuesday, August 19. 2008
"Georgia crisis sparks Anti-American sentiment in Germany," declares Dialog International: I know George W. Bush is unpopular in Germany (as he is in the US) but I was unprepared for some of the pro-Putin opinions that have been expressed in the German media and especially in the German blogosphere. There was considerable Schadenfreude on many German fronts that Russia's invasion of Georgian territory was a blow to the foreign policy of the US, and the conflict in Georgia is viewed by some as a proxy war between Russia and the US, with jubilation that Putin has been victorious on all fronts. Is the German media really supportive of Putin? Compared to US media that might indeed be the case, because large parts of the US media tend to support poor little Georgia -- one of the first Christian nations, as McCain reminds us -- against the big Russian bear, who ran the communist, evil empire. Okay, the US media is a bit more sophisticated, but many media reports painted a picture of good guys and bad guys:
Continue reading "German and US Media Coverage of Georgia War is Biased! What a Surprise!"
Posted by Kyle Atwell in
US Domestic and Cultural Issues on Tuesday, July 29. 2008
We your Editors have received some reader emails this week that express concern we are writing about Obama too much, McCain too little.
I tend to agree Obama is covered disproportionately on AR, but I think it is important for people to realize that our main objective with AR is to identify key articles in the media, and respond to them -- the source of our problem is the fact that the media as a whole is biased toward talking about Wonder Boy Obama, and so our pool of content is limited as it is.
We are not a news organization, but a blog that responds to news. Subsequently, our disproportionate coverage of Obama reflects the media's disproportionate coverage of him. The scant coverage of McCain is not limited to our website. In fact, it seems the biggest news on McCain this week is that he is complaining about nobody wanting to write news about him. And he is correct.
In comparing Obama and McCain’s media entourages during Obama’s trip abroad last week, the Globe and Mail found that:
Trailing in [Obama’s] charismatic wake was a whole legion of the top stars of the U.S. press corps. All three news anchors of the big networks were with him... And back at home, during what was undeniably Obama Week in American journalism, when Mr. McCain touched down on a campaign stop in Manchester, N.H., there was... but one lonely local newsperson to witness the arrival of the other nominee.
However, McCain has not always been on the losing side of media bias. Steven Chapman from Real Clear Politics makes the simple observation that the media is fickle; one day’s rock star can be old news--or no news--the next:
Continue reading "Here is Your Article on McCain: There are no Articles on McCain!"
Posted by Joerg Wolf in
Transatlantic Relations on Tuesday, July 1. 2008
"The United States is simply becoming more irrelevant" to Europeans, writes Ellen Creager in Detroit Free Press:
The United States is barely mentioned on TV news networks like the BBC, Sky News, Deutsche Welt, or in newspapers, but when it is, it is with condescension. I’m not sure why, but it’s a big change from a few years ago. I can feel it: The United States is losing — or has lost — its mojo in Europe. Fewer people care what we’re doing or why. Fewer people look up to us. Our reputation is as low as the value of a dollar here, and that’s pretty low.
I don't quite agree with the analysis, but I love the mojo headline.
Another good headline I am nuts about is: "It’s Not About the T Shirts," which serves to draw attention to a Newsweek article by Matt Frei, chief anchor of BBC World News America. He argues that "Europeans should beware the perils of Obamamania."
Posted by Kyle Atwell in
European Issues on Friday, February 22. 2008
The Moscow News Weekly has published an article on Kosovo's declaration of independence, which from its tone I assumed was in the "Comment/Opinions" section. However, it turns out it was actually in the "World News" section. Here is a snippet:
While burning KFOR checkpoints may not be the best of ways for Kosovo's ethnic Serbian minority to express its anxiety and anger over recent events, global democratic leaders should think twice before voting to award a chair to Kosovo on New York's East River. In the Basque country, Quebec, Belgium, northern Cyprus, Georgia and many other places across the globe, they have TV sets, too, and are watching. Telling them Kosovo is different and unique won't work. That's the price you pay for being a hypocrite, I guess.
Not to say western newspapers are completely objective, but at least you can read multiple perspectives on a story on this side of the Urals, without worrying about whether your favorite columnist may mysteriously die one day.
Of course this is only one article in one newspaper; it may not be fair to judge the entire Russian media based on this article alone. To get a better idea of press freedom trends globally and by country, you can check out an annual report produced by Freedom House titled "Freedom of the Press." The 2007 version reported this for Russia:
Media freedom in Russia continued to be curtailed in 2006 as President Vladimir Putin’s government passed legislation restricting news reporting and journalists were subjected to physical violence and intimidation. Although the constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, authorities are able to use the legislative and judicial systems to harass and prosecute independent journalists.
Posted by Joerg Wolf in
German Politics, Transatlantic Relations on Sunday, December 23. 2007
The Moderate Voice:
Does Tom Cruise deserve to be referred to as courageous for portraying Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg - a high-ranking Nazi who tried to assassinate Adolph Hitler? According to this tribute by the publisher of one of Germanys leading newspapers, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, With his decision to lend Graf von Stauffenberg a face, Tom Cruise will change the image that the world has of us Germans.
Full translation at World Meets Us. German original at FAZ. Related Atlantic Review post: Germany Loves Tom Cruise.
Posted by Joerg Wolf in
German Politics, Transatlantic Relations on Saturday, October 27. 2007
 After her election as chancellor of Germany in November 2005, Angela Merkel received a lot of positive press coverage in the US. Her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder was blamed for the bitter transatlantic disagreements over the Iraq war.
Merkel was supposed to be a pro-American and a strong reformer, who heals German-American relations and makes Germany more supportive of US policies around the world.
I expected some honeymoon for Chancellor Merkel, but was very surprised how long it lasted and how strong the admiration of Merkel was in the US mainstream media and on blogs. Three examples from December 2006/January 2007:
(1) David Rothkopf praised her in Foreign Policy Passport:
The most powerful female political figure in Europe since Queen Victoria has turned the methodical scientific training from her upbringing in Communist East Germany into a formula for gaining admirers worldwide.
I was pointing out back then on Atlantic Review that Foreign Policy Passport might have forgotten about Margaret Thatcher. I was wondering how long this admiration for Mrs. Merkel would last: "When will they realize that Chancellor Merkel is not all that powerful? Unlike Baroness Thatcher, Merkel is in a coalition government. Besides, power depends on having international partners, but Blair, Chirac, and even Bush look more and more like lame ducks."
(2) The New Republic Online for instance featured the article "Angela Merkel, Superstar" by Clay Risen.
Continue reading "The U.S. Media's Admiration of Chancellor Merkel is Suddenly Over"
Posted by Joerg Wolf in
Transatlantic Relations on Thursday, September 20. 2007
The New York Times starts its review of a documentary about Anti-Americanism with these two sentences: "Do Europeans hate America or love it? Lately the answer might seem a no-brainer."
Why is manichaeism so popular in the US media? Why are Europeans not allowed to feel something between love and hate?
Why is the US media addressing this "Why do they hate us?" question all the time?
Professors Katzenstein and Keohane wrote in Anti-Americanisms in World Politics: "Perhaps we care [about Anti-Americanism] because we lack self-confidence, because we are uncertain whether to be proud of our role in the world or dismayed by it." Well, uncertainty is pretty universal, but pride is not so important in Europe anymore. I think Europeans don't expect to be loved by other nations. Those nations shall love their own country.
The US media often gives the impression that many Americans want to be loved and admired by others, and that they are disappointed if foreigners are not so impressed by the land of the free and the home of the brave with the shining city upon a hill. The American people, however, are much more relaxed and not at all narcisstic, I believe.
The PBS documentary "The Anti-Americans" presents the usual European characters, if the above mentioned NY Times review is correct: First they show a condescending Brit, then a French woman talking about obese Americans and then those charming Poles, who make country music, wear cowboy hats and wave American flags. It's the usual stereotypes and the typical European dichotomy: The Anti-American Old Europe, and the US loving New Europe. Of course, they don't show one of the many German Western Dance clubs, cowboy fans or country music bands. PBS could have reported that a country band represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest, but that does not fit into the prefered characterization of Europeans.
It seems that this documentary about Anti-American stereotypes reinforces stereotypes about Europeans. Isn't that ironic?
Posted by Joerg Wolf in
Transatlantic Relations on Friday, September 14. 2007
Davids Medienkritik is concerned about the popularity of conspiracy theories in Germany, while ignoring their popularity in the US. Ray Drake accuses the German TV station ZDF of "fuelling the conspiracy underworld" because of the results of a totally unscientific poll on the ZDF website:
The results (with over 6,000 votes registered) indicate that 65% - or nearly two-thirds - of ZDF participants blame either George W. Bush (26%), US authorities (24%) or the nebulous and ever sinister arms lobby (15%) for 9/11. By comparison, only 27% selected Osama Bin Laden as the culprit and 9% said they didn't know.
The blog author and many of his readers make a huge fuss about it in the comment section, but Fuchur has good counter-arguments. Unfortunately, his comment did not stop other blogs from spreading Davids Medienkritik's message. Vodkapundit for instance concludes "German state media: Proud sponsor of 'Truther' nonsense." And Moonbattery has learned from the Medienkritik post that the ZDF documentary "suggests that the American government was actually behind the Muslim atrocities"
One American reader informed me about the poll via email and added "With friends like this, who needs Bin-Laden?...." Thank you very much! You are a real friend.
Why are these Americans (not all Americans) sooo harsh with Germany? Don't they know that CNN had a similar totally unscientific poll. For some reason America's "Most Trusted Name in News" interviewed the actor Charlie Sheen about 9/11 and then ran an online poll asking "Do you agree with Charlie Sheen that the U.S. government covered up the real events of the 9/11 attacks?" 83% of 54.000 participants answered "Yes." Conspiracy theories are at least as popular in the United States as they are in Germany.
Davids Medienkritik is popular among (neo)conservative Republican supporters. Their main concern is not Anti-Americanism, but rather criticism of conservatives. What they consider Anti-Americanism is often just leftist ideology, which is as popular in Germany as it is in the US. Therefore they do not take into consideration, that leftist conspiracy theories are at least as important in the US as in Germany. Having said that, of course there is a lot of Anti-Americanism in Germany. And Medienkritik sometimes exposes that some German media outlets stereotype Americans as obese or stupid etc.
Davids Medienkritik often calls for more diversity of opinions in the German media, but that according to another comment by Fuchur:
To give room to these opinions [=conspiracy theories], too. Besides, how is one supposed to deal with these conspiracy theories? I don't think that ignoring them solves the problem; that's just what these people claim: The media won't talk about this, they're hiding the truth, yaddayadda. It's certainly not wrong to address these things - at least once in six years.
Posted by Joerg Wolf in
International Economics on Friday, September 14. 2007
The excellent German blog Antibuerokratieteam asks: Who does not know that the moon rotates around the Earth? The stereotypically stupid and obese Americans or the graduates of a highschool in a tough district of Berlin or the French?
Answer is to be found in the first video here. It gets funnier when the quiz show moderator asks the studio audience. The second video is not for softies.
Stupidity is universal. Fascination with conspiracy theories is as well.
Endnote: I don't know what "Globenheimer" means, but a "German" character in this Simpsons' clip mentioned it and it sounded like an insult. Do you know what it means? "Wisenheimer" means "Besserwisser" in German.
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