German voters may signal a radical change in the course of European politics – Article in the Irish Independent – BBC News Arabic.
image source, Reuters
was published
Reading time: 5 minutes
A roundup of newspapers on Friday includes articles from Ireland, Britain and the United States focusing on the possibility of a right-wing party victory in the German election, China’s development in artificial intelligence and the shortage of interceptor missiles in Ukraine.
The Irish Independent published an article entitled “German voters could signal a radical change in the course of European politics”, discussing the possibility of a far-right victory in German state elections and the implications for Europe.
The article indicated that Germany could next week witness the first far-right government since the death of Adolf Hitler in 1945.
The right-wing Alternative for Germany party is leading opinion polls by a comfortable margin ahead of the Saxony state election.
The state is currently governed by the center-right Christian Democratic Union Party, led by Friedrich Merz, in a coalition with the Democratic Party (center-left) and the Free Democratic Party (liberal).
If the Alternative for Germany party wins 40 percent of the vote, as expected, and smaller parties fail to make it into parliament, the “ultra-nationalist party with neo-Nazi roots” could rule the state alone, an Irish newspaper reported.
This would give the “hard right” power over security and public order, education and cultural policy on a scale not seen in Germany since World War II.
That potential outcome was one of the things U.S. President Harry Truman and other Allied leaders tried to avoid when they drafted West Germany’s then-constitution in 1949, the paper reported.
The paper notes that Germany is witnessing controversy, as prominent figures call for strategies to marginalize the AfD party and limit its power, while others advocate a more comprehensive approach, fearing they will reinforce the party’s claims that the political establishment is anti-democratic.
The drift to the far right is part of a political pattern spreading across the EU that is challenging EU countries, the Irish Independent reported.
The paper speaks to a growing view in the European Union that the exclusion of far-right parties could be counterproductive and harmful to the fabric of European democracy.
This European political trend towards the right reveals a new reality: some ideas previously considered extreme by the far right have become part of the mainstream, such as the widespread deportation of asylum seekers, and parties that were previously ostracized now have the opportunity to exercise real influence in Europe.
“China, whose collapse the West proudly predicted, is building a revolution in artificial intelligence.”
image source, Reuters
We turn to the British newspaper “The Guardian” and an article with the title: “China, whose collapse the West proudly predicted, is building a revolution in artificial intelligence.”
Writer Larry Elliott recounts how many predicted the collapse of China’s economy based on several factors, including the collapse of the debt and real estate markets.
The author notes that China focused on low-cost industrial goods because low labor costs provided a competitive advantage, and then began investing heavily in higher-value industries.
He adds: “China has shattered the illusion that it will forever remain a developing economy doomed to produce low-quality goods and nothing more.”
China has captured the solar panel market and become the world leader in batteries and electric cars. It no longer needs to import industrial machines from Germany because it can now manufacture them itself.
“China is now competing with the United States for dominance in the AI race,” says Elliott.
The writer uses the opinion of Eduardo Campanella from UniCredit Bank, who says that Beijing has a clear strategy in the field of artificial intelligence, which is to stay close to the advanced technological frontier, to spread its models throughout the global economy and to set standards in international markets.
The writer believes that Beijing’s strategy may not work, but there are three surprising things about the race to develop artificial intelligence, the first of which is that the current time seems to be the worst time for Washington to antagonize its traditional allies by imposing punitive tariffs on them. The United States needs as many friends as possible.
The second is that the emergence of free Chinese AI models could cause a big problem for global markets.
The writer points out that if China can develop its AI models at low cost and offer them for free, investors will soon begin to wonder whether the huge investment in the United States justifies the very high valuation of the technology company’s stock.
Finally, there are lessons that countries like Britain should learn from China if they are to rebuild their industrial base.
The author concludes his article with the following words: “The Chinese model is not without flaws, but there is a sharp contrast between it and the British approach, characterized by neglect since the late 1970s. One country takes industrialization seriously, the other does not.”
Ukraine and interceptor missiles
Turning to the American newspaper “Washington Post”, writer Mark Thiessen discusses: “How can Trump help Ukraine produce its own Patriot missiles?”
The writer begins by referring to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine: “Vladimir Putin is currently waging one of the deadliest attacks on the Kiev region since the war began.”
The writer believes that US President Donald Trump wants to help Ukraine defend itself, “but he faces the challenge of balancing the desire to protect Ukrainian civilians with the demand for Patriot interceptor missiles.”
Thiessen talks about the factors that limit what Washington can share with Kiev.
The writer believes that the solution “is to grant Ukraine a license to manufacture its own Patriot interceptor missiles.”
He’s referring to what happened at a NATO summit in Ankara in July, when Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “We’re going to give you a license to manufacture Patriot missiles,” the US newspaper reported.
But no progress has been made since then, and the writer asks the reason for the delay and himself answers: “a legitimate fear that the highly developed technology will fall into the hands of enemies.”
He adds that sharing the secrets of this technology with Ukraine, which “suffers from widespread corruption and is subject to intense targeting by Russian intelligence services, runs the risk of this technology falling into Russian hands and thus into the hands of Iran, North Korea and China.”
Thiessen suggests a solution: Allow Ukraine to participate in the production of Patriot interceptor missiles that do not include highly advanced capabilities… Ukraine could be licensed to participate in the production of an older version of the Patriot interceptor missile.
He adds: “Ukraine has the most flexible and innovative defense industrial base in Europe. This innovative spirit must be harnessed to reduce the manufacturing burden on the United States and its allies and protect Ukrainian civilians.”
Thiessen also suggests that the United States require Ukraine to supply NATO with a percentage of the interceptors it produces to replenish allied stockpiles.
He adds, “Even if Ukraine were allowed to start production tomorrow, it needs more interceptors now,” so “Trump should pressure South Korea to sell Ukraine its domestic interceptor missile, the M-SAM II, known as the Korean Patriot.”
The writer continues: “South Korea says it is legally prohibited from selling weapons to belligerent countries, but is currently selling these interceptor missiles to the belligerent country that is the United Arab Emirates.”
The writer notes that “Trump is already angry with South Korea for refusing aid in the Strait of Hormuz, and there would be no better way for Seoul to restore that relationship than to temporarily transfer these systems to Kiev, thereby easing pressure on the United States with interceptor missiles in Ukraine.