Welcome to Hell or Hamburg?

Want to test your knowledge of international summits? Here is a short quiz on the G20. If you don’t want to find out what you don’t know (it’s a tough test!), here is a quote to ponder: “The G20 is a self-appointed group. Its composition is determined by the major countries and powers. It may be more representative than the G7 or the G8, in which only the richest countries are represented, but it is still arbitrary. We no longer live in the 19th century, a time when the major powers met and redrew the map of the world. No one needs a new Congress of Vienna.” – Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian Foreign Minister, 2010

Dear .0974 Percent of All the World’s Countries, Willkommen to Hamburg!:Each year the G20–“an annual confab of statesman from the world’s richest countries” who talk in secrecy behind closed doors about you know, the global economy–draw large numbers of protesters. This year is no different. At this weekend’s G20 summit in Germany, clashes at a “Welcome to Hell” rally have already left 76 police officers injured. Host city Hamburg (home to thriving communities of leftists, anarchists, and “other assorted enemies of ruthless capitalism”) had its streets filled with about 1,000 zombie-d performance artists, caked in gray clay and shuffling around the city, waiting for the apocalypse that is Donald Trump, Tayyip Erdogan, and Vladimir Putin in one city together.

Speaking of these three “great global disruptors”–here’s a pretty good joke we’re quoting from CNN (hopefully recovered from its knockout):

Ever heard the one about the three world leaders who walked into a meeting room?

The first says: “I’m the most powerful man in the room–33 million people follow me on Twitter.”

The second says: “I’m the most powerful man in the room–I’ve banned Twitter.”

And the third says: “No, I’m the most powerful man in the room–I’ve got all the passwords.”

Trump and Putin To Finally Meet: You may have heard that US President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time this weekend at the G20. Both leaders have said they hope to repair ties damaged by the crises in Syria and Ukraine. Putin is also strongly supportive of the Paris climate agreement, saying it is a “secure basis for long-term climate regulation” and that Russia wanted to make a “comprehensive contribution to its implementation.” President Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in early June.

The two leaders are set to meet for about an hour, according to Russian media, though other reports have said it could be as short as 30 minutes. It is still unclear if they will speak to reporters afterwards and if, or to what extent, media will be allowed into the meeting. Some members of Russian media have low expectations of the meeting, with one writer for the Rossiyskaya Gazeta saying, “The main thing is that nothing gets worse.”

The EU and Japan Lead the Way on Free Trade: While the Trump administration’s staunch stance on an ‘America First’ trade philosophy built on bilateral agreements takes shape, Japan and the EU are hard at work forging a plan to advance their own trade and geopolitical interests. They have agreed in principle to a free trade plan that would open up new avenues for their own companies to prosper, while effectively discriminating and diminishing opportunities for American companies. Lest we forget, even after decades of recession and slow growth, Japan is still the world’s third largest economy, behind the US and China. Germany is fourth.  

This will be the second massive free trade deal for the EU in less than a year, after it signed one with Canada last fall. Japan is also looking to further globalize through its participation in RCEP, a proposed free trade zone of 16 Asian nations, anchored by China and encompassing around 40 percent of the world’s population. Where is the US–the world’s largest economy–in all this? You’ll recall that President Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (itself a hedge against regional dominance by China), is renegotiating NAFTA for better terms, has threatened steel tariffs citing national security (a big trade no-no), and is contemplating pulling out of the World Trade Organization. America First? Uh-huh.

Any Win Is A Win For Transparency In Government: In the slow-going, oft-unsettling battle for governmental transparency, a small victory was won on Thursday for First Amendment advocates and those that desire more openness into the inner workings of government. A US district judge in Oakland, CA determined that the US government had failed to show the “clear and present danger” required to justify restraints on Twitter’s ability to report US government surveillance requests. Twitter filed a lawsuit in 2014 after former NSA contractor and current Moscovite Edward Snowden revealed the extent of US spying within its own borders. The suit seeks to end restrictions on the details tech companies can provide about surveillance requests they receive from the government under the broad ‘US national security’ banner. The next step in this multi-year saga is a hearing set for August.

Turkey, It’s Been 12 Years. You Still Want to Join the European Country Club?:On Thursday, the European Parliament called for Turkey’s European Union accession talks to be suspended if Ankara fully implements plans to expand President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers. Well, the problem is that Erdogan has already started. In April, after a hard fought national referendum, Erdogan gained sweeping new powers that have raised concerns among Turkey’s Western allies. Erdogan has been able to return as leader of the ruling AK Party, and members of a top judicial body have been appointed according to his wishes. Erdogan has defended his actions, saying that his crackdown on the opposition, journalists, and academics, and his vastly increased presidential powers, are necessary to ensure Turkey’s security both at home and beyond its borders. Right, right, yes–we’re stopping you because we think that we’ve heard this one before. Does anyone ever try to put a more creative spin on this tired narrative of “democrat-to-despot”?

EU parliament has limited influence on Turkey’s dogged pursuit of the keys to the EU kingdom (Turkey started negotiations for full EU membership in 2005). The resolution passed “calls on the Commission and the member states… to formally suspend the accession negotiations with Turkey without delay if the constitutional reform package is implemented unchanged.” Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister and its foreign ministry both stated they regarded Thursday’s vote as invalid. And keep in mind that, despite any concerns about Erdogan’s emerging authoritarianism, EU leaders do not want to threaten a deal struck last year in which Ankara agreed to stop migrants and refugees from reaching Greece, and thus the EU, from the Turkish coast. Again, Turkey–as you are in your third consecutive year as the country in the world hosting the most refugees, are you sure this is a club you want to join?

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