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Macron's G7 summit at Biarritz was a hypocritical exercise in making him look good and Donald Trump and Bolsonaro look bad, for self interested reasons. This is why he put sex equality, climate change and biodiversity at the top of the agenda.
Bolsonaro was right to reject the proffered cash grant of $20 million to help with the forest fires that occurred while the conference was meeting.
Donald Trump wants Russia, the 12th largest economy in the world, to rejoin the G7. The other states rightly reject this but why not admit China, India and Brazil - with bigger economies that Canada? Bolsonaro would be a more interesting and provocative interlocutor than Justin Trudeau.
Macron needs all the help he can get. He is on an approval rating of 28% in the polls.
Bolsonaro's rating has fallen to 29%.
Donald Trump is the second most popular leader at the G7 meeting in Biarritz, with an approval rating of 41.6%. Abe is the most popular with 49%. Boris has, surprisingly to me, only 31%.
Forest fires in the Amazon are very bad, but they happen all the time and they happen elsewhere. Forests can be surprisingly quickly regrown. Over a period of two days last week there were 6,902 fires in Angola and 3,395 fires in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, compared to 2,127 fires in Brazil.
What should have been at the top of the agenda were the signs that a global economic downturn is approaching - something Donald Trump said was coming in his 2016 election campaign.
Macron should look after his own huge problems at home before preaching to poorer countries. EU protectionism impoverishes countries like Brazil. Freer trade is necessary. Under Boris, the UK will lead the way.
What should have been at the top of the agenda were the signs that a global economic downturn is approaching - something Donald Trump said was coming in his 2016 election campaign.
Macron should look after his own huge problems at home before preaching to poorer countries. EU protectionism impoverishes countries like Brazil. Freer trade is necessary. Under Boris, the UK will lead the way.
Bolsonaro's rating has fallen to 29%.
Donald Trump is the second most popular leader at the G7 meeting in Biarritz, with an approval rating of 41.6%. Abe is the most popular with 49%. Boris has, surprisingly to me, only 31%.
Donald Trump wants Russia, the 12th largest economy in the world, to rejoin the G7. The other states rightly reject this
ReplyDeleteWhy are they right to reject this?
Because of her invasion of Crimea and starting proxy wars in Eastern Ukraine. In any case the Russian economy is too small - why not choose the 7 biggest economies?
DeleteThe whole Crimea thing is silliness. It's historically part of Russia.
DeleteThe Russians have as much claim to the Crimea as the U.S. has to California or Hawaii. Or as much claim as Poland has to East Prussia.
Excluding Russia makes the G7 another anti-Russia alliance, like the EU and NATO. It's Cold War foolishness.
The Crimea was historically part of Turkey and at one time Lithuania and Greece. Norway was historically part of Sweden and Uruguay was part of Brazil.
DeleteCalifornia was historically part of Mexico and was stolen from Mexico - it is now being taken back.
DeleteThe Crimea was historically part of Turkey and at one time Lithuania and Greece. Norway was historically part of Sweden and Uruguay was part of Brazil.
DeleteExactly. The idea that the Crimea should belong to Ukraine forever just because the communists decided back in the 50s to redraw some administrative boundaries is silly. It's like saying Alsace and Lorraine should be part of Germany forever because they were part of Germany for a few decades.
The Crimeans are better off being part of Russia rather than the failed state of Ukraine. And the Crimeans seem to think so too.
The carrying on about the Crimea is just part of the Cold War which for the U.S. never ended and never will end. We have always been at war with Eurasia.
Mark Griffith commented on this: The Brazilian fires aren't in the forests. If you look at the map, they are all in the south, which is farmland already.
ReplyDeleteBrazilian fires are below average compared to the last 15 years.
Twice as much of the Congo in Africa is burning right now, and that really is rainforest, but they're Africans so it's taboo for us white folk to criticise Africans in case we sound like white-supremacist colonialists, and that would be terrible.
Maybe so, but the Congo was not invited to the summit, so no discussion of the Congo fires took place there.
ReplyDeleteAnd the people currently running Brazil are low-life scum.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7419511/Brazilian-ambassador-former-MMA-fighter-threatens-CHOKE-Emmanuel-Macron.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed