Diplomatic Faux Pas

The Obama administration made the decision to withdraw from the highly controversial program to establish military presence in Poland and Czech Republic in form of a ballistic missile shield. The program was officially described as a protection against missiles launched from Iran, but a brief look at the map would have everyone scratching their heads, where those missiles were to be directed. Norway? Finland?
The bottom line is that the program was a tough one to sell and even tougher one to implement, given the lack of the actual proved technology to successfully shot down an active missile. Not to mention the proximity of a former rival and still a military superpower to those planned military installations. Russia from the very beginning was protesting those plans and described them as targeted against them. I have to admit, that I would agree with the Russians on this one. Again, you don't have to take my word for it, just look at the map.

So the plans are no more, the Russians are more happy, the Americans probably even too. So what do the Poles and the Czechs think? As you can imagine, they are not very thrilled. Had the entire situation been handled more diplomatically, perhaps the big disappointment and some anger could have been prevented. But it was exactly the way the announcement was handled, that sparked a lot of negative voices in both Poland and the Czech Republic against the decision and the United States in general. The call was made in the middle of the night, disregarding entirely the time difference, by Hilary Clinton to both prime ministers of the two countries. The Prime minister of Poland, actually refused to take that call and went back to sleep, having his Minister of Foreign Affairs respond to it. I actually think it wasn't a bad idea, given that he knew what the phone call was all about. But the time of the call wasn't really the worst part, it was the date. The announcement was given on September 17th. Little known date on this part of the Atlantic, but in Europe, especially in Poland, it was the date of the invasion of Russia against Poland in a plot with Hitler to wipe out Poland from the map of Europe once again, and effectively support the Nazi Germay in the Second World War.

Pretty ironic coincidence, pretty sad for people in Poland, and very much a diplomatic faux pas. How long more will Polish and Czech troops stay in Iraq and Afghanistan now?

category: International | posted by: Norbert | comments: 0

Streatching the Global Trade Muscle

The recent US announcement about an order to impose tariff on Chinese produced tires has little to no consequence to the US-China relations.
First of only, the United States has used it's right to do so. One of the conditions put in place before China could join the World Trade Organization was that it had to accept that the United States could impose such tariffs basically on any of the Chinese imports if it perceive is as a threat. So there you have it.
The Chinese, despite, some protests to the new tariff filed with the WTO, do not have in their best interest damaging the rest of the trade that's going on between the two countries. Neither does the US for that matter.
With China being the largest holder of US international debt, the cooperation between the two countries should be anything but smooth. Further tariffs are unlikely.
So what was the move for, you may ask. It appears thought as the move was to improve the image of President Obama among the US workers, unions and general public. It's all about saving local jobs after all. The fact that only several thousands of jobs are being saved is not really emphasized that much. If the US was to continue on that path, it could destabilize the world financial market. And for the country like United States, just about getting ready to get out of a bad recession, it's the last thing it would want.
In summary, it's simply politics as usual.

category: International | posted by: Norbert | comments: 0

70th Anniversary of the World War II

Today is the exact 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the World War II. A lot of the world as we know it has been shaped by the events that occurred 70 years ago. To this day countries, nations and individuals struggle with the memories, need for forgiveness and tragic memories.
The war started in Poland, to be exact in the little town of Westerplatte, which is now the suburbs of Gdansk ( Danzig). The first shots were fired by the German battleship that came with a "friendly" visit to Gdansk and was parked with its guns overlooking the coast. Gdansk at that time was a free town, administered independently from Polish and German authorities, much like Vatican is today. Yet it was surrounded by Polish territory. You can go today to Westerplatte and see the beautiful magnificent monument in memory of those who fought and died there on that day.
The bravery of those who were unsuspectingly attacked and protected the small Polish military post in Westerplatte is probably best visualized by the fact that the Germans allowed the Polish soldiers who finally gave up the fight to surrender with their white weapons on. It was considered an honorable surrender and it was a sign of honoring the defeated by the aggressors. Unfortunately, throughout the rest of the war, that honor was lost.
Today, in Westerplatte, the leaders of over 20 countries that were involved in the war are gathering together to commemorate those who died and the events that took place. In a remarkable scene of unity and forgiveness the leaders of Poland, Germany and Russian are standing side by side, paying their respects. Although we heard it over and over again throughout the history, it's one of those phrases describing wars that deserves repeating no matter what: Let's hope it never happens again.

category: Europe | posted by: Norbert | comments: 1