Letter from the Editor

What, Why Lyrarc

In line with the vision of Lyrarc to make the best content, the best journalism on the internet from major sites easily accessible to all, and not lost in some archive, here is a look at some of the major topics in politics, economy, business, education, social aspects, using this easy access system.  For instance clicking on the selected article for "Der Spiegel Merkel" below brings up the gist of the article, and access to the original article. Clicking on Merkel below brings up articles, groups and links on Merkel from Search as background to explore.  

If you have missed the news during a busy week of study or work, its easy to be well informed in a short time through Lyrarc.com, if you strive to follow it on a regular basis it makes it easy to do in less time. Our articles for international affairs for October 2017 cited here are from Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post for insights into the life and thought of Angela Merkel, and the Der Spiegel interview with Merkel.

German chancellor Merkel- Germany and the European Union in a fourth term

Two reports show a resilient Germany under Merkel after three years of turbulence, the eurozone financial crisis followed by the refugee crisis,  one in Der Spiegel and one in Zeit Online. In an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel chancellor Merkel covered a wide range of topics including why Merkel decided on running again, the state of democracy in the West, a cozy relationship with car companies following the diesel emissions scandal, the AfD party and whether she gave an opening to the extreme right by not following the Christian Democrats traditional policy of controlled immigration.

Merkel says she decided to run again because she found that there is still in her that curiosity about the world and eagerness to learn as the world is changing. She gets public opinion critical of her from her aides, is open to criticism on the campaign trail, and has conversation with people in her electoral district.

On democracy Merkel says that it is still strong and she will do everything to strengthen democracy in the fourth term. Merkel says for democracy to be strong it is important to have strong counterweights in democratic systems. Referring to the checks and balances, and division of powers between parliament, the executive branch and the judicial branch set up under the democratic systems by founders in the U.S. and other countries. She cites the U.S., Poland and Hungary where this counterweight strengthens democracy. 

Zeit Online report adds perspective to this sense of resilience in Germany under chancellor Merkel by looking at a Survey in 2017 from the Bonn based Infas Institute of Applied Science- even in the situation where the AfD enters the Bundestag for the first time with 11% of the vote. The Survey looks at attitudes in Germany after three years of crisis, how and whether it has changed Germany in some ways. The conclusions from the Survey are that Germany remains still the same in its international outlook, has retained a lot of its openness, tolerance and liberal outlook. This appears to suggest a level of resilience not only in chancellor Merkel but also in Germany, that gives hope for the European Union to emerge stronger from the eurozone and refugee crises, as it strives to overcome current problems.

This is also expressed in a speech Merkel gave in 2014 at a church in Templin, Germany, where she grew up: "God created every human being. We should strive for perfection. But we can make mistakes."

The mistakes led to a shift in voter support in the recent parliamentary elections in Germany, with voters shifting their vote to other parties from the coalition of the CDU/SPD parties. The CDU had 246 seats, the SPD 147 seats, the AfD 94 seats, Free Democrats 80 seats, Greens 67 seats and the Left parties 69 seats in the new parliament. The shift was to the Greens, the Free Democrats, and the anti-immigration AfD which enters the Bundestag for the first time. The impact was more on the Socialist SPD party which is now going back to its union roots in the way the Labor party has done under Corbyn in Britain. Andrea Nahles, former Labor minister who introduced the minimum wage is now heading the SPD, and will lead the Opposition in parliament. A coalition is now expected between the Christian Democrats (CDU), which continues to be the leading political party, and a combination of the Free Democrats and the Greens Party. It is called a Jamaica coalition because it has different colors and different philosophies of the Greens and Free Democrats often at odds with each other on the environment, taxes, foreign policy, likely to be partners with the Christian Democrats. 

The talks for setting up a new government have stalled in mid November 2017 with the FDP's Lindner pulling out and taking much of the blame. A new round of talks begins with President Steinmeier asking all parties to make a renewed effort for a coalition.

Offsets and Counterweights in the U.S. Democratic System

In the U.S. much of the inexperience of the Trump administration has been offset by a group of advisors around president Trump. The appointment of General Kelly as White House Chief of Staff and his effort to bring discipline to the work conducted in the White House is an added positive step in this direction. Wilbur Ross offset some of the rhetoric on renegotiating NAFTA from scratch by offering a win-win solution that would renegotiate only where needed to ensure a level playing field in international trade. This helped the Mexican economy and the peso recover.

General Mattis conducted the review on Afghanistan taking enough time to ensure that all the relevant issues after a decade of conflict were covered and the experience in Iraq and Syria taken into account. This led to president Trump agreeing not to follow his instincts and adopt some of the lessons learned in Iraq of the dangers of a sudden withdrawal. Landler, Haberman in the NYT, and Nakamura in the Washington Post give a detailed account of how the Afghanistan decision was made.

The decision to appoint former Senator Kay Hutchinson, a respected Republican with wide experience, as the U.S. Ambassador to NATO also adds confidence for the U.S. commitment to NATO. Kay Hutchinson offers a spirited defense of NATO in the NYT. Chancellor Merkel could have mentioned the experienced advisors, as well as Congress and the Judiciary as offsets to the inexperience of  president Trump, that are the counterweights in a democratic system.

Fading BRICS

The China-India border conflict in Bhutan in the weeks prior to the meeting of BRICS nations in Xiamen, China, developed into a stalemate with both sides agreeing to peaceful resolution. Deutsche Welle DW.com's Alexander Freund cited this in a report that pointed out the fading hopes of BRICS. BRICS started as an acronym used at an American investment bank and puts together a mixed group of countries without too much in common except the idea of emerging economies- China, India, Russia, South Africa, Brazil.

Corruption is a problem in all of the BRICS countries. President Jinping has made anti-corruption initiatives part of his platform of governance, the same is true for India under prime minister Modi. In the last 2 years before Jinping and Modi assumed leadership corruption (corruption India, corruption China) had seriously affected good governance in both countries. Brazil and South Africa are going through efforts in parliament to remove the elected presidents Temer, and Zuma of the African National Congress, on grounds of mismanagement and corruption. 

Experts questioned the idea of letting a border conflict happen just prior to an important party congress in China and at the time of the BRICS meeting in Xiamen, and with so much on China's own economic agenda for dealing with aging society, China debt to GDP exceeding 250% by some estimates, the China real estate bubble, overcapacity and international trade issues. India faces similar challenges in tackling corruption, bringing a large population in rural areas into the economy, building infrastructure, improving education and healthcare. China's dual leadership positions are shared by Jinping as president and Li Keqiang as premier. Li Keqiang has a background in economics and governance issues including the rule of law, that show a commitment to making further economic progress and tackling problems China faces. Behind Jinping Thought there is also the balancing hand of Li Keqiang Thought as Chinese leaders adapt their policies for China as it enters a new phase in its growth. 

The 19th Party Congress in Beijing was unique in that it put "Jinping Thought for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" into the Constitution putting president Jinping on a level similar to that of Deng Xiaoping who started China's shift to a market economy, and revolutionary leader Mao who led the revolution in 1949. Jinping's anti-corruption drive and other efforts to control the economy after the rampant expansion in the previous two decades, to control debt as high as 270% of GDP, are part of an effort to maintain slower but steady growth and stabilize the economy as it enters a new phase. 

Media reports show China presenting its model for government and for development as one that can be emulated by other Asian countries. This is happening as the U.S. withdraws from the international scene on issues such as climate change, infrastructure development bank funding crucial for Asian countries, and in defense for Europe and Asia as it pushes for more financial contributions from individual countries. President Trump's trip to Asia did not improve America's standing with its failure to present a coherent position and clear ideas on how America can lead in the region.

The Catalan Crisis

The Catalan Crisis largely the result of  a lack of  good sense on both sides as the Guardian and other media point out in editorial opinion. The regional government led by Mr Puigdemont declared its intention for a unilateral declaration of independence even though only 43% of the people voted in the referendum, without considering the effect on Catalonia's and Spain's economy just emerging from a harshly felt recession and high unemployment. The timing is particularly bad, and the European Union including the governments of France, Germany and the UK are showing no support for the move, instead expressing sympathy with Spain's situation. The government of Rajoy is seen by observers and the media as not having shown the sensitivity to public opinion needed in its suppression of the voting and use of police. Spain has used Article 155 of the Constitution to dismiss the Catalan government for acting irresponsibly, and taken control of the region. Spain's foreign minister says in an interview with DW.com that Spain did not fully grasp what was happening in Catalonia and acted in a "naive" way. New elections in Catalonia are set for December 21, 2017. The intervening period may give Catalans a chance to reflect on the consequences of a complete break from Spain, and whether the Puigdemont government may have gone further than public opinion as a whole would support.

Yet with these problems the economies of the eurozone are continuing the economic recovery, with OECD estimates of 2.1% growth in 2017 and 1.9% growth in 2018. Business investment is up significantly. The impact on unemployment still remains gradual.