Washington Post (April 4)
“Finland has spent the 105 years since its independence tiptoeing alongside Russia, with which it has roughly 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) of border.” The cornerstone of Finnish foreign policy remained “maintaining good relations with Russia…. until last year,” when “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its demands to stop NATO expansion” shifted public opinion overwhelmingly in favor of NATO accession, which was achieved today.
Tags: Accession, Cornerstone, Demands, Finland, Foreign policy, Independence, Invasion, NATO expansion, Public opinion, Russia, Ukraine
Financial Times (January 21)
“In a country where companies have resisted raising pay and the workforce has refrained from aggressive salary demands for most of the past three decades, Fast Retailing’s move is a watershed for the government and the Bank of Japan’s battle to lift the economy out of deflation.” Should the approach gain momentum, “the ramifications could be far-reaching,” potentially leading to “a virtuous cycle of rising wages, consumption and prices” that “would allow Japan to finally move away from the negative interest rates and ultra-loose monetary policies.”
Tags: BOJ, Consumption, Deflation, Demands, Economy, Fast Retailing, Interest rates, Japan, Prices, Raising pay, Rising wages, Salary, Ultra-loose, Virtuous cycle, Watershed, Workforce
The New Yorker (January 23)
For the 53 Republican senators, “membership in Trump’s party” is an “all-embracing and restrictive proposition.” Unlike royal membership, Trump’s team “tars reputations rather than enhances them.” Trump “never admits anything, demands total loyalty, and strikes out at anyone that transgresses these rules. As with the Windsors, you can’t be a half-in Trump Republican.”
Tags: Demands, Loyalty, Membership, Party, Republican, Reputations, Restrictive, Royal, Senators, Tars, Trump
Chicago Tribune (April 5)
“Trump is terrible at making deals. His threat to close the U.S.-Mexico border offers the latest example…. Trump tried to get Mexico to pay for his cherished wall and failed. He tried to get Congress to provide $5.7 billion to construct it and failed despite putting the country through a 35-day government shutdown.” The President “is good at making demands and issuing threats, but those are useful only if you know how to bargain and compromise. He fails at making deals because he has never learned that in negotiations, as in war, the other side gets a vote.”
Tags: Border, Compromise, Demands, Failed, Making deals, Mexico, Negotiations, Shutdown, Terrible, Threats, Trump, U.S., Wall
Australian Financial Review (January 2)
“The Trump administration’s willingness to push the Chinese harder on trade has struck a bilateral chord. Beijing is listening. So far, so good. Now the question is what the US wants to achieve. Answer: the total destruction of China as a competitor. That isn’t a trade goal, and the demands being made contradict one another. This aim also unnecessarily awakens Beijing’s deepest nationalist fears…. Things are likely to get much worse from here.”
Tags: China, Competitor, Contradict, Demands, Destruction, Fears, Nationalist, Trump
Washington Examiner (December 28)
“Trump is headed for a wake-up call on reality of divided government. That’s not a bad thing…. The early realization that a Democrat-controlled House means more trouble than investigations and subpoenas might galvanize the president to sit down and make deals rather than simply making demands.”
Tags: Deals, Demands, Democrat, Divided government, House, Investigations, Subpoenas, Trump, Wake-up
