World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

Richard Grenell is the US Ambassador to Germany who was interviewed by Breitbart and made the following statement:

“I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders.  I think there is a groundswell of conservative policies that are taking hold because of the failed policies of the left.”

The quote was greeted with disbelief by many in diplomatic circles since trying to influence the domestic politics of a state is considered taboo.  But this is not Grenell’s first misstep.  After US President Trump’s decertification pf the Iranian nuclear agreement, Grenell tweeted: “German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately”.  Ambassadors do not make good friends by threatening business executives in the country with which they are supposed to be cultivating good relations.  Grenell is sabotaging relations with one of America’s most important allies.

Today marks the 29th anniversary of the clampdown of the Tiananmen Square protests in China in 1989.  The year was a heady one as the Berlin Wall fell in the same year and there was a sense that the movement for more democracy in the world was inexorable.  There was an especially gripping moment in the protests as a single man stood in front of the advancing tanks that were sent to repress the protests, preventing them from taking up positions.  The protests were remembered in Hong Kong, but not in China as a whole.  Similar protests now in China seem impossible, but they were also highly unlikely in 1989.  Next year should be an important anniversary–we will see if there still is a pro-democracy in the age of Xi Jinping.

Saudi Arabia is seeking US support in its plans to take control over the port of Hodeidah in Yemen.  The port currently serves as one of the very few humanitarian access routes to the beleaguered Yemeni civilian population.  The US is currently considering its options in the civil war, but it is already heavily involved in the conflict.  The civil war is regarded by many as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today and the loss of Hodeidah would be catastrophic.