Foreign Dispatches

So Much for Egypt's "Arab Spring"

A few years ago, I made the prediction that the so-called "Arab Spring" was doomed to fail in Egypt, in light of the fact that the vote had been given to millions of Egyptians with no real grasp of literacy, let alone the rarified Enlightenment concepts upon whose foundations Western liberal democracies had been constructed. I was admonished by at least one commenter back then about my lack of faith in the good sense of the average Egyptian, and indeed, a part of me hoped to be proven wrong by succeeding developments, but that is not quite what happened (to put it mildly).

A Quarrel Between People of Whom We Know Nothing

If you know anything at all about the history of the 20th century, then you've probably read of the famous phrase uttered by Neville Chamberlain, and usually in the context of his being held up as an exemplar of craven cowardice in the face of militaristic aggression. As attractively simple as this portrayal may be, however - particularly to politicians looking to score cheap points - it does little justice to the reality of Chamberlain the man or his political efforts; as a corrective, I strongly suggest listening to all 8 minutes and 27 seconds of the full speech in which these often-quoted words were spoken, and judging for oneself whether the speaker seems at all the cowardly fool he has so often been made out to be.

Illiberal Democracy, Hungarian Style

If proof were needed about the veracity of my assertion that there is a lot more to Westminster-style liberal democracy than the mere holding of elections on a regular basis, recent events in Hungary seem to be conspiring to establish my argument for me.

Too Much Democracy Too Soon

It was only a few months that I expounded on the dangers of assuming that where democracy is concerned, "more" necessarily means "better." What I hadn't foreseen at the time was that events in the Middle East would so thoroughly vindicate my skepticism about the supposedly inerrant wisdom of "the people", especially when all segments of a society are given a voice in equal proportion to their numbers, however ignorant, illiterate and subservient to religious superstition each such voter may be.

The Folly of European Monetary Union

It's hardly ever the case that I agree with Paul Krugman about anything, but the subject of the Euro is one such rare instance.

Lately, financial news has been dominated by reports from Greece and other nations on the European periphery [...] I’ve been troubled by reporting that focuses almost exclusively on European debts and deficits, conveying the impression that it’s all about government profligacy [...] For the truth is that lack of fiscal discipline isn’t the whole, or even the main, source of Europe’s troubles [...] No, the real story behind the euromess lies not in the profligacy of politicians but in the arrogance of elites — specifically, the policy elites who pushed Europe into adopting a single currency well before the continent was ready for such an experiment.

Another Year, Another Japanese Apology

One of the topics I've visited on here multiple times in the past is the never-ending arguments Japan has with Korea and China over its alleged refusal to apologize for crimes committed during the heyday of Japanese colonialism - never mind that such claims are as false as can be. At any rate, it seems that the latest Japanese government is back in the apology game, with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada being the latest politician to engage in the obligatory groveling, directed on this occasion to Korea. Knowing how prone to amnesia Korean nationalists can be when it comes to Japanese apologies, it will be interesting to see just how long it takes after this apology before the next future outburst of rage from the Korean peninsula over Japan's supposed lack of contrition (or, when such critics are pressed on the facts, the "insufficient sincerity" of said contrition) ...

PS: What did I tell you? That didn't take long! The Hankyoreh's editorial staff exceed even the capacious limits of my cynicism: apparently the Korean meaning of Japanese "sincerity" is agreeing to any and every demand Koreans happen to make,  including sovereignty over the Liancourt Rocks.

Protest in North Korea?

The normally cowed North Korean populace is finally daring to speak out against the communist regime, after being pushed to the wall by the latest currency devaluation - or at least, so claims a certain Claudia Rosett in this Forbes article. 

Narcissistic Norwegians

It would seem that the Norwegians, having decided to bestow this year's Nobel Peace Prize on a sitting US President who clearly had done nothing to deserve it - he'd only been in office a month before being nominated! - are now throwing a tiff because the President of the United States has more important things to do with his time than spending three days in Oslo swanning about with the Norwegian figurehead.

The Glorious United Nations in Action

I don't have much patience or respect for the United Nations as an organization, nor am I able to take seriously those who insist on giving it primacy in international affairs. The shameful episode below gives one illustration of why I think the way I do.

When in Germany, Speak German

I've just discovered on Der Spiegel's English-language pages that there's currently some sort of controversy taking place due to the insistence of Guido Westerwelle, Germany's new Foreign Minister, on answering a press conference question in German. Below is the video of said incident.

Supposedly the events shown above have unleashed a wave of sarcasm and derision at Mr. Westerwelle's expense, but I really can't see what is problematic about his statements: on the contrary, I think the opposite is true, and it is the British journalist who ought to be ashamed for arrogantly expecting Germany's Foreign Minister, speaking in Germany, to cater to the journalist's linguistic ignorance, as if Westerwelle were a local tribal chief reporting to a colonial overlord. Furthermore, there are genuine reasons of statecraft which justify Westerwelle's position; international politics is a field in which even small misunderstandings can lead to severe consequences, and however skilled in English a German politicians or diplomats may be, they will almost always be more fluent in their own language. As such, to conduct any dealings of state in a foreign language is usually a mistake, unless one happens to be an ambassador or a statesman uttering a few words just for rhetorical effect (e.g. "Ich bin ein Berliner").

I can understand to a certain extent why so many Germans should think there's something odd about what Westerwelle said: part of it has to do with the pride many Germans take in their English-language abilities, and another aspect is that semi-instinctive opposition to any form of national self-assertion stemming from Germany's 20th century history. Still, historical issues notwithstanding, I imagine that most Germans would like their Foreign Minister to conduct his duties to Germany's benefit in as far as possible, and that is best done by speaking the language he knows best, not by pandering to a dumb foreign journalist (and on the journalistic side, one has to wonder who was dumb enough to send to such an important country a representative without the linguistic skills or basic modicum of sensitivity to do his job in the native language). Deutsche! Dr. Westerwelle war völlig korrekt!

Going by the evidence of the following clip, Westerwelle's English seems perfectly fine. He does pause quite a bit to think, but then again, he's no worse in this respect than a certain recent former US President, and unlike said (supposedly native English-speaking) President, Westerwelle's response actually makes complete sense.