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Claire Berlinski. Profile picture
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12 Feb, 5 tweets, 2 min read
Well, it can be expected. But so far, these expectations haven't been met. Perhaps they might be met if the US could manage a solid few years of political stability and economic dynamism.
I don't really know what motivated Merkel to prioritize Germany's relationship with China over the Transatlantic alliance--though @cosmo_globalist explores the question, here:
claireberlinski.substack.com/p/no-one-can-i…
claireberlinski.substack.com/p/no-one-can-i…
But I suspect that in large part, it was because Merkel adjudged the US to be on a terminal democratic and economic trajectory.

She may be right; it's too soon to say.
But if this idea is informing German strategic thought, the best way to change it would be to get the hell off that trajectory--a policy that would have *many* benefits beyond strengthening the US' alliance with Germany.
(Here's part I: claireberlinski.substack.com/p/no-one-can-i…)

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More from @ClaireBerlinski

Claire Berlinski. Profile picture
12 Feb
The problem isn't confined to conservatives who don't understand what socialism is. As @SAFrancoC notes--here--claireberlinski.substack.com/p/the-moral-of…, many Americans are bandying about the term, and it isn't clear what they mean.
If this generation means "socialist" in the traditional sense of that word, we're in profound trouble if this ever translates into electoral success. I doubt this is what they mean, but it's hard to be sure, given their enthusiasm for the word "socialist."
It's not merely a conservative talking point: If they think socialism, as historically understood and practiced, is a good idea, people like @SAFrancoC need to explain why they're wrong.
Read 6 tweets
Claire Berlinski. Profile picture
3 Feb
Both American political parties are now committed to protectionism. No significant political constituency favors free trade. Protectionism is not a better idea because Biden endorses it. Le Monde rightly points this out-- lemonde.fr/idees/article/…
while overlooking the even greater cost to EU taxpayers of its own protectionism. (Although in fairness, they do link the document that spells it out plainly.)
My own views on protectionism have changed as a result of the pandemic; I now believe some industries need to be protected--medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, for example. We need to repatriate industries such that shortfalls can be used as a boot on our neck.
Read 4 tweets
Claire Berlinski. Profile picture
29 Jan
This is an extremely interesting document. What's everyone's guess about the author? Might it be Pottinger? Anyone familiar enough with his thought to hazard a guess? politico.com/news/magazine/…
The idea that Russia can be peeled off from China is delusional. Apart from that, this seems well-considered strategic advice--*except* that the US is in no position to execute a patient strategy over many administrations. For that, you need two functional political parties--
both of which are prepared to pursue a consistent foreign policy in which partisan politics stop at the water's edge. The GOP seems determined to drag the US into a low-level civil war, which will make it impossible for the US to project power this way over the coming decades.
Read 14 tweets
Claire Berlinski. Profile picture
27 Jan
This newsletter treats the emergence of anti-cosmopolitanism, too. I made a few points that seem deeply ominous in retrospect. claireberlinski.substack.com/publish/post/1…

Here's the genesis of @cosmo_globalist, though:
@keithmfitz, we were discussing the phenomenon I discuss in this newsletter the other day--the emptying out of American political speech and its replacement with duckspeak.
This is what looks so ominous in retrospect. Though Americans tend to make a theistic or natural-law case for liberal democracy--we speak of rights "endowed by our creator"--in reality, the power of this has long rested upon pragmatism:
Read 10 tweets
Claire Berlinski. Profile picture
27 Jan
Here are a few more things I've written in the past few years about partisanship, anti-cosmopolitanism, and the New Caesarism. I was just looking through the archives, and I thought these held up well. claireberlinski.substack.com/p/partisanship…
claireberlinski.substack.com/p/the-new-caes…
claireberlinski.substack.com/p/the-new-caes…
Read 5 tweets
Claire Berlinski. Profile picture
27 Jan
I just came across an article I wrote in 2019 about the populist instinct to celebrate provincialism and ignorance as "authentically American" traits while intimating that curiosity about the world beyond America--and education--are unpatriotic. claireberlinski.substack.com/p/i-hereby-ris…
"It’s fine, even patriotic, not to know the difference between Russia and Ukraine or to care. Indeed, if you know anything at all about this conflict, you must not be a real American—because real Americans, authentic Americans are proudly ignorant."
"Ignorance and indifference are to be celebrated as authentic American values. It’s a form of blackmail, too, this esteem of ignorance. Carlson is inviting anyone who can find Ukraine on a map to exhibit (justified) contempt for him."
Read 6 tweets

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