John McCain on Policy

I came across an interesting article on the Der Zeit website this afternoon which consists of the German newspaper interviewing John McCain, the Republican Presidential candidate from 2008. In this interview, he discusses his views of current affairs between Egypt and Israel, Syria and more locally, America. What I was surprised by as I read the article was not so much what they talked about, but rather what they didn't say. Admittedly, I'm not the most politically aware human being in America, not even close. But I was interested to see that McCain didn't seem to blame Obama or democrats for anything, but rather just expressed hope that they would make good decisions from here on out. He also admitted weakness in the republican party by agreeing that they have largely underestimated the effects of demographic shifts on their policies. Needless to say, this was not at all what I was expecting to see when I read the article. 

Looking at the article, McCain says that Americans are tired of war and would rather not send ground troops into more war. I can agree with that statement, although I am unsure about the "no-fly zone". Again, I am not the best-informed person in this area, but I don't see how that would necessarily help anything. Thoughts? Does McCain make good points in his discussion of foreign relations? Or is he just saying what the interviewers wanted to hear?

Germany and the Eurozone

The New York Times recently started a discussion about whether or not Germany should stay in the Eurozone. This discussion prompted questions of whether or not it was beneficial to Germany's growing economy to stay in the Eurozone.
    Charles Dumas, chairman of Lombard Street Research, said that by staying in the Eurozone Germany was weakening its economy and undervaluing its labor. In contrast Astrides N. Hatzis, an associate professor of law and economics at the University of Athens, pointed out the costs of Germany leaving the Eurozone, such as having the devalued euro provide competition for an overvalued deutsche mark. He also points out that Germany will lose financial and political investments if they leave. Finally, Stephan Homburg, a professor at Leibniz University, thinks Germany should leave because the legal framework of Europe's common currency has been corrupted, it is costly to stick with the euro, and staying with common currency will poison Europe's political atmosphere even more. 
   I found it really interesting to look at the different views on this subject as well as where the people writing were from. It seems to me like place of origin has a large influence on whether or not one thinks Germany should stay in the Eurozone. 
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/11/12/should-germany-leave-the-euro-zone/germany-should-leave-the-euro-zone

Global Power in Decline

This article from the Spiegel  looks at the October 22nd U.S. presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The article states that both candidates failed to adequately adress many of the growing concerns of the American people such as climate change, the rise of Asia, education and infrastructure. More importantly, the Spiegel argues that neither candidate fully explained how they will deal with an increasingly outdated foreign policy at a time when American citizens are tired of being a world police force but still want to believe in American exceptionalism. Thoughts?

German disillusionment with Obama administration seated in violence and lack of environmental change

                                               Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Jim Young

In this article from Der Spiegel, author Bruce Stokes analyzes the changing German political view of the Obama administration. As election season encloses upon U.S. citizens, Germans are beginning to worry about the promises with which they believe Obama has not followed through.

Their grievances include Obama's use of military drones and perpetuated violence in the Middle East as well as disappointment regarding the President's failure to implement his promised environmental policies to combat global warming.

With such concerns about the President's potential reelection, only 49 percent of Germans aged 50 and older and 61 percent with Germans aged 19-28.

Do you think these are fair criticisms? Let's discuss in the comments!

—Ana Sofia Knauf