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submitted 3 months ago by 0x815@feddit.de to c/europe@feddit.de

"Western allies can work around toxic decision-making in small countries such as Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia. But Germany is too big to ignore", writes Edward Lucas, non-resident Senior Fellow and Senior Adviser at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

Calling Germany "the weakest link" of its allies, Lucas claims that the country "clearly needs a new security policy".

"Ukrainians and their friends are justifiably furious about all this. The Zeitenwende [seachange] that the German leader announced after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 has proved deeply disappointing."

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[-] tillimarleen@feddit.de 36 points 3 months ago

Thanks for this piece of blatant propaganda. The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) almost sounds like CEPS, the Centre for European Policy Studies, which is a European think tank comprised of former European politicians. But it isn‘t European at all. On the board are American industrialists, including policy advisers from Meta and other industries. Keep in mind that Germany is after the US the biggest supplier of weapons to Ukraine. If the Americans want to wipe their hands off of Ukraine, don‘t accuse us of being complacent.

[-] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 25 points 3 months ago

It's wild. Germany provides almost 2/3s of what the US provides in aid, even though the US is more comparable to the whole EU (which contributed about twice as much as the US now) and they were the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum and those who forced Ukraine to give up their nukes and long range bombers. Broken down by GDP it becomes even more obvious, with Germany in 10th place with 1.2% and the US at 29th place with 0.3%. And that's all on top of the US military, which is so big that they have thousands of tanks and IFVs sitting in storage. They could've easily equipped Ukraine if they truly wanted to, to push Russia back to their borders. But instead some shit flinging is the better choice?

[-] rammer@sopuli.xyz 5 points 3 months ago

The US really believed the Russian nuclear threats. That alone explains their reticence to fully support Ukraine.

They didn't want to see a mushroom cloud over Kyiv.

Was this assessment right? I guess we will never know. But the way things are going, the price we will have to pay will be greater.

[-] poVoq@slrpnk.net 14 points 3 months ago

Indeed, I was also thinking about removing this as violating rule 3 of this community.

[-] suppenloeffel@feddit.de 12 points 3 months ago

I'd support removing the post.

CEPA receives funding from various donors, including major technology companies such as Google and Amazon Web Services and key players in the defense industry like Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. While they list supporters, CEPA doesn’t disclose specific financial amounts. This lack of transparency among think tanks raises concerns about potential biases in their research and publications.

[-] 0x815@feddit.de 3 points 3 months ago

@tillimarleen @poVoq

I won't advocate for the source (nor for some otber sources in this comm, but that's a different story), which is why I barely use Cepa as you can see from my posting history. Nor would I choose the same harsh words to describe my stance towards Mr. Scholz and his government. The reason why I posted this piece is because I feel somewhat confused about Germany's politics across a wide range of issues, and it goes in a similar direction across a variety of issues.

For example, Mr. Scholz has just met with officials from Malaysia and other Asian countries to stregthens ties with them and to cut dependence from China, but he has been supporting China in its intentions to become a shareholder of the Port of Hamburg (contrary to the recommendation of six of his own ministers). Not long ago Mr. Scholz joint protesters against the country's far right-wing AfD, but he also told media that Germany 'must deport in grand style'.

I don't understand that. What does Mr. Scholz stand for?

But that's just my opinion. Feel free to delete tbe post if you think it's inappropriate.

[-] BentiGorlich@gehirneimer.de 10 points 3 months ago

I completely understand your confusion as I am confused myself. However in Germany a single politician (even the chancellor) is not that important as in the US for example. Mr Scholz isn't Germany, heck he is not even the government. He is just a single guy who is supposed to direct the other parties which he fails to do...

[-] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

In Germany we have the proverb "the fish stinks from the head" and in this case, it's fits since Scholz is a terrible leader in a time of multiple crises. Habeck acts more like I would expect a chancellor to act, while only being Minister of Economy.

[-] Anekdoteles@feddit.de 2 points 3 months ago

Wie call that ZeItEnWeNdE.

this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
55 points (76.2% liked)

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