'Make America Great Again'

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

'Make America Great Again' University of Amsterdam ‘English: Language and Society’ Master Thesis ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Italians First’: a comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of two right-wing populist discourses on Twitter Student: Alessia Sanghez Student Number: 11631325 Supervisor: Manon van der Laaken Academic Year 2017/2018 Index 1. Introduction 5 2. Theoretical framework 9 2.2 The socio-political background of U.S. and Italy 13 2.2.1 America First 13 2.2.2 Italy First 16 2.3 The power of political slogans in the hashtag era 18 2.4 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Social Media 21 3. Methodology 23 3.1 Critical Discourse Analysis approaches 25 4. Analysis 31 4.1. Analysis, part 1: Analysis of ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Italians First’ tweets 31 4.1.1. Categorization 31 4.1.2 Critical Discourse Analysis of ‘Make America Great Again ‘ and ‘Italians First’ tweets 33 4.2.1. Analysis, Part 2: Analysis of Trump and Salvini’s anti-immigration rhetoric 53 4.2.2. Analysis of Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric 53 4.2.3 Analysis of Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigration rhetoric 58 5. Discussion and Conclusions 63 References 69 4 1. Introduction In recent years, the upsurge of right-wing populist parties (RWPPs) across Europe and beyond has drawn the attention of many scholars and politicians (Wodak and Krzyżanowski, 2017) to the number of ‘discursive shifts’ that has affected media and public discourses (Wodak and Krzyżanowski, 2017; see also Feldman and Jackson 2013; Muller 2017; Wodak et al. 2013; Wodak 2003, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017). As Wodak (2017) notes, the Eurobarometer Poll in Autumn 2015 indicated a general feeling of disillusionment all over EU towards the European institutions (Standard Eurobarometer, 2015, 84). The origin of people’s distrust can be dated back to 2008, when a global and European crisis affected the international situation on many fronts: economic crisis, Euro-zone crisis, refugee crisis, terroristic attacks. These last two issues, in particular, have fostered “an ethno-nationalist sentiment in many European countries” and beyond (e.g. in the United States, among others) (Richardson & Colombo, 2014; Bartlett et. al., 2012 on Hungary; Bartlett et. al., 2012 on Lega Nord). Many people believe that the phenomenon of immigration is the primary channel through which Islamic terrorism finds its gateway; at the same time, they have lost trust in the EU and their own national administrations which are considered not to be concerned enough about these problems (Richardson & Colombo, 2014). This climate of political unsteadiness has encouraged the gradual appearance of right wing populists and extreme right parties: “new and self-defined saviors of ‘the people’[…] present themselves as authentic and trustworthy […] in contrast to the untrustworthy political classes, perceived (and presented)1 by them as having failed” (Wodak, 2017; see also Hochschild 2016; Krzyżanowski and Wodak, 2009; Pelinka, 2013; Wodak, 2015). After the re-election of Victor Orban in Hungary in 2010, the success of the Polish right- wing populist ‘Law and Justice Party’, and the popularity of Recep Tayyp Erdogan in Turkey, both the unexpected election of Donald J. Trump and the so-called ‘Brexit’ generated a feeling of anxiety among mainstream political institutions (Wodak and Krzyżanowski, 2017), whose attention was then addressed towards those countries where the emergence of RWPPs coincided with the period of national elections. This is the case in Austria whose right-wing populist 1 Emphasis mine. 5 Austrian Freedom Party was expected to win the elections in December 2016, and the Netherlands where RWP politician Geert Wilders was considered one of the key candidates of March 2017. Even though these populist characters eventually lost against pro-Europe and more liberal figures, “the RWP election saga is far from over” (Wodak and Krzyżanowski, 2017). On March 4, Italy held a general election which was represented in the media - e.g. Financial Times - as another political test for the EU (see Sanghez, 2018). One of the key candidates of the election was Matteo Salvini, secretary of the ‘Lega’ (League), whose anti- immigration, anti-Europe and anti-establishment rhetoric was accompanied and represented by his slogan ‘Prima gli Italiani’ (Italians first), which became viral both on Twitter and Facebook (Sanghez, 2018). Not only have the elections shown that the League is the most popular party within the right-wing coalition (the League obtained 13% more of votes compared to the elections of 2013), they have demonstrated that the left-wing coalition has definitively lost the approval of the Italian people. The most voted party has resulted to be ‘Movimento 5 Stelle’ (M5S) - the Five Star Movement, a populist party which has no political flag, guided by Luigi di Maio. These two parties together have formed the so-called ‘Governo del cambiamento’ (‘government of change’) whose Prime Minister is Giuseppe Conte (M5S), and vice-presidents are Matteo Salvini and Luigi di Maio, respectively also Home Secretary and Minister of Labor. Even though scholars have affirmed that any expression of right-wing populism is “necessarily different” and must be approached in a context-dependent way, Wodak and Krzyżanowski (2017) note that ‘standardized models’ have emerged, such as ‘Orbanism’ or ‘Trumpism’. While the first one refers to nationalist and collectivistic versions of populism, the US-American ‘Trumpism’ came to indicate a form of populism characterized by the presence of a charismatic leader who presents himself – especially through the use of Social Media - as the savior of the country, fostering a politics of nationalism, protectionism, “our country first” and border security. Many of these Trumpist characteristics can be observed in the political campaign of the Italian politician Matteo Salvini who has personally declared his affiliation with the political project of the 45th President of the United States. In this sense, the so-called Trumpist model can function as a starting point for a comparative investigation, where Matteo Salvini’s right-wing populism is the second element of the analysis. Wodak and Krzyżanowski (2017) analyze the Trumpist model as a well-established type of populism, so searching for differences and similarities between the American and the 6 Italian variants of RWP may provide significant insights into the populist phenomenon at a global level; in particular into how Western countries (Italy, in this case, where right-wing- populist Matteo Salvini has become Home Secretary) are integrating foreign populist discourses (the American one, in this case), while developing their own national rhetoric. As both politicians have shown high skills in exploiting ‘the alternative public sphere of the web’ - in particular through the use of Social Media (Kreis, 2017; Sanghez, 2018) - the current thesis uses Twitter as the area of investigation of Salvini and Trump’s discourses. According to Wodak (2015) social platforms represent the ideal space for right-wing populists to express their rhetoric relying on the right-wing populist perpetuum mobile: namely a discursive style that includes an intentional and regular provocation of scandals, the dynamics of victimization and the launching of conspiracy theories, exploited by politicians to represent themselves as saviors. These particular discursive features characterizing the RWP way of elaborating imageries and ideologies is also indicated by Wodak (2017) as the representation of a ‘post-truth’ world in which extremely vague and provocative arguments are presented in a way that make them immune to any approval or denial. For example, Twitter has been widely used both by Trump and Salvini as a means to mobilize their voters during their political campaign, and their main slogans ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Italians First’ have been posted numerous times on their Twitter pages. Their political discourses on Twitter also included their anti-immigration rhetoric, an important part both of their political campaign as well as of their political discourse in general. Thus, considering that (a) both Trump and Salvini’s election campaigns have been characterized by the viral use of political slogans throughout public speeches and the media with a particular concentration on social platforms, and as (b) both politicians include anti- immigration rhetoric in their political discourses, the aim of the current thesis is to apply several approaches to CDA in order to: (a) investigate and compare Donald J. Trump and Matteo Salvini’s right-wing populist variants through the study of their ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Italians First’ tweets and (b) investigating and comparing their anti-immigration discourses on Twitter. As the main goals of Critical Discourse Analysis include studying how ideologies and identities are reproduced in discourse (Van Dijk, 2015; Fairclough, 2001), and considering that right-wing populist discourses always appeal to a sharp ideological division between ‘us’ and 7 ‘them’ (Mudde, 2004; Wodak, 2017), the current research aims at exploring from different perspectives the societal differentiation promoted by the American and the Italian right-wing- populist variants in order to give a contribution to the existing literature on the 21st century right- wing populist phenomenon. 8 2. Theoretical framework 2.1. Right Wing Populism (RWP) Even though RWP has grown in popularity over the last few years, it has a long history, dating back to the 1970s when Marine Le Pen created the Front National, or to the 1980s and 1990s when, while in Austria Jorg Haider was the leader of the Austrian Freedom Party, in Italy the era of Silvio Berlusconi was just at its beginning (Wodak and Krzyżanowski, 2017). Today, the political scenario of Western societies shows several examples of right-wing populist parties (RWPPs). The political landscapes of Poland, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, USA and Germany have seen the emergence of right-wing populist factions. Even though scholars argue that each variant of RWP is different and context-dependent (Wodak and Krzyżanowski, 2017) some general features can be attributed to all the expressions of RWP.
Recommended publications
  • Lega Nord and Anti-Immigrationism: the Importance of Hegemony Critique for Social Media Analysis and Protest
    International Journal of Communication 12(2018), 3553–3579 1932–8036/20180005 Lega Nord and Anti-Immigrationism: The Importance of Hegemony Critique for Social Media Analysis and Protest CINZIA PADOVANI1 Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA In this study, I implement Antonio Gramsci’s hegemony critique to analyze the anti- immigration rhetoric promoted by the Italian ultraright party Lega Nord [Northern League]. Specifically, this case study focuses on the discourse that developed on the microblogging site Twitter during the Stop Invasione [Stop Invasion] rally, organized by Matteo Salvini’s party on October 18, 2014, in Milan. I argue that hegemony critique is helpful to investigate political discourse on social media and to theorize the struggle surrounding contentious topics such as immigration. The method, which is multilayered and includes content analysis and interpretative analysis, allows for the exploration of a considerable data corpus but also an in-depth reading of each tweet. The result is a nuanced understanding of the anti-immigration discourse and of the discourse that developed in favor of immigration and in support of a countermarch, which progressive movements organized in response to Lega’s mobilization on the same day in Milan. Keywords: Lega Nord, ultraright media, far-right media, anti-immigrationism, Twitter, critical social media analysis, mobilization, Gramsci, hegemony critique The rise of ultraright movements in Western Europe and the United States is an indication of the continuous crisis of capitalism and neoliberal ideologies. The financial and economic downturn that plagued Europe and North America beginning in late 2008 and the consequent Brussels-imposed austerity in the European Union have exacerbated the rift between the haves and the have-nots.
    [Show full text]
  • The Great White Hoax
    THE GREAT WHITE HOAX Featuring Tim Wise [Transcript] INTRODUCTION Text on screen Charlottesville, Virginia August 11, 2017 Protesters [chanting] You will not replace us! News reporter A major American college campus transformed into a battlefield. Hundreds of white nationalists storming the University of Virginia. Protesters [chanting] Whose streets? Our streets! News reporter White nationalists protesting the removal of a Confederate statue. The setting a powder keg ready to blow. Protesters [chanting] White lives matter! Counter-protesters [chanting] Black lives matter! Protesters [chanting] White lives matter! News reporter The march spiraling out of control. So-called Alt-Right demonstrators clashing with counter- protesters some swinging torches. Text on screen August 12, 2017 News reporter (continued) The overnight violence spilling into this morning when march-goers and counter-protesters clash again. © 2017 Media Education Foundation | mediaed.org 1 David Duke This represents a turning point for the people of this country. We are determined to take our country back. We're going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That's what we believed in. That's why we voted for Donald Trump. Because he said he's going to take our country back. And that's what we gotta do. News reporter A horrifying scene in Charlottesville, as this car plowed into a crowd of people. The driver then backing up and, witnesses say, dragging at least one person. Donald Trump We're closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides. On many sides.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evil Savage Other As Enemy in Modern U.S. Presidential Discourse
    Angles New Perspectives on the Anglophone World 10 | 2020 Creating the Enemy The Evil Savage Other as Enemy in Modern U.S. Presidential Discourse Jérôme Viala-Gaudefroy Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/angles/498 DOI: 10.4000/angles.498 ISSN: 2274-2042 Publisher Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur Electronic reference Jérôme Viala-Gaudefroy, « The Evil Savage Other as Enemy in Modern U.S. Presidential Discourse », Angles [Online], 10 | 2020, Online since 01 April 2020, connection on 28 July 2020. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/angles/498 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.498 This text was automatically generated on 28 July 2020. Angles. New Perspectives on the Anglophone World is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The Evil Savage Other as Enemy in Modern U.S. Presidential Discourse 1 The Evil Savage Other as Enemy in Modern U.S. Presidential Discourse Jérôme Viala-Gaudefroy 1 Most scholars in international relations hold the view that our knowledge of the world is a human and social construction rather than the mere reflection of reality (Wendt 1994; Finnemore 1996). This perspective, rooted in constructivist epistemology, implies that nations are not unquestionable ancient natural quasi-objective entities, as primordialist nationalists claim, but rather cognitive constructions shaped by stories their members imagine and relate.1 This was famously illustrated by Benedict Anderson’s study of nationalism that reached the compelling conclusion that any community “larger than that primordial village of face-to-face contact” can only be imagined (Anderson 1983: 6). The identity of a nation is undoubtedly dependent on stories its members imagine and relate.
    [Show full text]
  • Eui Working Papers
    Repository. Research Institute University UR P 20 European Institute. Cadmus, % European University Institute, Florence on University Access European EUI Working Paper SPS No. 94/16 Open Another Revolution The PDS inItaly’s Transition SOCIALSCIENCES WORKING IN POLITICALIN AND PAPERS EUI Author(s). Available M artin 1989-1994 The 2020. © in J. B ull Manqué Library EUI ? ? the by produced version Digitised Repository. Research Institute University European Institute. Cadmus, on University Access European Open Author(s). Available The 2020. © in Library EUI the by produced version Digitised Repository. Research Institute University European Institute. EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE, FLORENCE Cadmus, DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND AND DEPARTMENTSOCIAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCES on BADIA FIESOLANA, SAN DOMENICO (FI) University Access EUI EUI Working Paper SPS No. 94/16 The PDS in Italy’s Transition Departmentof Politics A Contemporary History Another Revolution European Open Department ofPolitical and Social Sciences European University Institute (1992-93) rodEuropean Studies Research Institute M Universityof Salford Author(s). Available artin 1989-1994 The and 2020. © J. J. in bull M anquil Library EUI the by produced version Digitised Repository. Research Institute University European Institute. Cadmus, on University Access No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form European Open Printed in Italy in December 1994 without permission of the author. I I - 50016 San Domenico (FI) European University Institute Author(s). Available The All rights reserved. 2020. © © Martin J. Bull Badia Fiesolana in Italy Library EUI the by produced version Digitised Repository. Research Institute University European paper will appear in a book edited by Stephen Gundle and Simon Parker, published by Routledge, and which will focus on the changes which Italianpolitics underwent in the period during the author’s period as a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute, Florence.
    [Show full text]
  • Italy's Atlanticism Between Foreign and Internal
    UNISCI Discussion Papers, Nº 25 (January / Enero 2011) ISSN 1696-2206 ITALY’S ATLANTICISM BETWEEN FOREIGN AND INTERNAL POLITICS Massimo de Leonardis 1 Catholic University of the Sacred Heart Abstract: In spite of being a defeated country in the Second World War, Italy was a founding member of the Atlantic Alliance, because the USA highly valued her strategic importance and wished to assure her political stability. After 1955, Italy tried to advocate the Alliance’s role in the Near East and in Mediterranean Africa. The Suez crisis offered Italy the opportunity to forge closer ties with Washington at the same time appearing progressive and friendly to the Arabs in the Mediterranean, where she tried to be a protagonist vis a vis the so called neo- Atlanticism. This link with Washington was also instrumental to neutralize General De Gaulle’s ambitions of an Anglo-French-American directorate. The main issues of Italy’s Atlantic policy in the first years of “centre-left” coalitions, between 1962 and 1968, were the removal of the Jupiter missiles from Italy as a result of the Cuban missile crisis, French policy towards NATO and the EEC, Multilateral [nuclear] Force [MLF] and the revision of the Alliance’ strategy from “massive retaliation” to “flexible response”. On all these issues the Italian government was consonant with the United States. After the period of the late Sixties and Seventies when political instability, terrorism and high inflation undermined the Italian role in international relations, the decision in 1979 to accept the Euromissiles was a landmark in the history of Italian participation to NATO.
    [Show full text]
  • The Case of Donald J. Trump†
    THE AGE OF THE WINNING EXECUTIVE: THE CASE OF DONALD J. TRUMP† Saikrishna Bangalore Prakash∗ INTRODUCTION The election of Donald J. Trump, although foretold by Matt Groening’s The Simpsons,1 was a surprise to many.2 But the shock, disbelief, and horror were especially acute for the intelligentsia. They were told, guaranteed really, that there was no way for Trump to win. Yet he prevailed, pulling off what poker aficionados might call a back- door draw in the Electoral College. Since his victory, the reverberations, commotions, and uproars have never ended. Some of these were Trump’s own doing and some were hyped-up controversies. We have endured so many bombshells and pur- ported bombshells that most of us are numb. As one crisis or scandal sputters to a pathetic end, the next has already commenced. There has been too much fear, rage, fire, and fury, rendering it impossible for many to make sense of it all. Some Americans sensibly tuned out, missing the breathless nightly reports of how the latest scandal would doom Trump or why his tormentors would soon get their comeuppance. Nonetheless, our reality TV President is ratings gold for our political talk shows. In his Foreword, Professor Michael Klarman, one of America’s fore- most legal historians, speaks of a degrading democracy.3 Many difficulties plague our nation: racial and class divisions, a spiraling debt, runaway entitlements, forever wars, and, of course, the coronavirus. Like many others, I do not regard our democracy as especially debased.4 Or put an- other way, we have long had less than a thoroughgoing democracy, in part ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– † Responding to Michael J.
    [Show full text]
  • The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV
    School of Economics and Finance The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV Ruben Durante, Paolo Pinotti and Andrea Tesei Working Paper No. 762 December 201 5 ISSN 1473-0278 The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV∗ Ruben Durantey Paolo Pinottiz Andrea Teseix July 2015 Abstract We investigate the political impact of entertainment television in Italy over the past thirty years by exploiting the staggered intro- duction of Silvio Berlusconi's commercial TV network, Mediaset, in the early 1980s. We find that individuals in municipalities that had access to Mediaset prior to 1985 - when the network only featured light entertainment programs - were significantly more likely to vote for Berlusconi's party in 1994, when he first ran for office. This effect persists for almost two decades and five elections, and is es- pecially pronounced for heavy TV viewers, namely the very young and the old. We relate the extreme persistence of the effect to the relative incidence of these age groups in the voting population, and explore different mechanisms through which early exposure to en- tertainment content may have influenced their political attitudes. Keywords: television, entertainment, voting, political participa- tion, Italy. JEL codes: L82, D72, Z13 ∗We thank Alberto Alesina, Antonio Ciccone, Filipe Campante, Ruben Enikolopov, Greg Huber, Brian Knight, Valentino Larcinese, Marco Manacorda, Torsten Persson, Barbara Petrongolo, Andrei Shleifer, Francesco Sobbrio, Joachim Voth, David Weil, Katia Zhuravskaya, and seminar participants at Bocconi, CREI, NYU, MIT, Sciences Po, Brown, Dartmouth, Sorbonne, WZB, Surrey, Queen Mary, Yale, EIEF, LSE, Namur, and participants at the 2013 AEA Meeting, the 2013 EUI Conference on Communica- tions and Media Markets, and the Lisbon Meeting on Institutions and Political Economy for helpful comments.
    [Show full text]
  • The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV∗
    The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV∗ Ruben Durantey Paolo Pinottiz Andrea Teseix August 2018 Abstract We study the political impact of commercial television in Italy exploiting the stag- gered introduction of Berlusconi's private TV network, Mediaset, in the early 1980s. We find that individuals with early access to Mediaset all-entertainment content were more likely to vote for Berlusconi's party in 1994, when he first ran for office. The effect persists for five elections and is driven by heavy TV viewers, namely the very young and the elderly. Regarding possible mechanisms, we find that individ- uals exposed to entertainment TV as children were less cognitively sophisticated and civic-minded as adults, and ultimately more vulnerable to Berlusconi's populist rhetoric. Keywords: Entertainment TV, Voting, Cognitive Abilities, Civic Engagement JEL codes: L82, D72, Z13 ∗We thank Alberto Alesina, Filipe Campante, Antonio Ciccone, Stefano DellaVigna, Ruben Enikolopov, Ray Fisman, Greg Huber, Brian Knight, Valentino Larcinese, Marco Manacorda, Torsten Persson, Barbara Petrongolo, Andrei Shleifer, Francesco Sobbrio, Joachim Voth, David Weil, Katia Zhu- ravskaya, and seminar participants at Bocconi, CREI, NYU, MIT, Sciences Po, Brown, Dartmouth, Sorbonne, WZB, Surrey, Queen Mary, Yale, EIEF, LSE, Namur, Bank of Italy, Warwick, UPF, and participants at the AEA Meetings, the EUI Conference on Communications and Media Markets, and the Lisbon Meeting on Institutions and Political Economy for helpful comments. We are very grateful to Ben Olken and Ruben Enikolopov for their help with the ITM software. We thank Nicola D'Amelio and Giuseppe Piraino for their assistance with data collection and Laura Litvine for her outstanding help with the digitization of the transmitters data.
    [Show full text]
  • Hot Topics of the Election Season Relating To
    HOT TOPICS OF THE POLITICAL ELECTION SEASON REPORT 2016 RELATING TO... ■ AMERICAN INDIAN LAW AND POLICY ■ ANTITRUST AND COMPETITION ■ COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ■ CYBERSECURITY AND ENCRYPTION ■ ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT PRE-ELECTION EDITION ■ HEALTH CARE ANALYSIS SEPTEMBER 2016 ■ INTERNATIONAL TRADE ■ TAX ■ TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE Contents American Indian Law and Policy . 2 Antitrust and Competition . 6 Communications and Information Technology. 10 Cybersecurity and Encryption . 16 Energy and Environment . 20 Health Care. 26 International Trade . 32 Tax . 36 Transportation and Infrastructure . 40 AMERICAN INDIAN LAW AND POLICY 2 Fall 2016 American Indian Law and Policy American Indian Law and Policy SUMMARY POINTS Republican Candidate Donald Trump and the • In an effort to reach out to the positions of Assistant Secretary Republican Platform as many communities as for Indian Affairs and Solicitor at Mr. Trump’s campaign has yet to possible, former Secretary the Department of the Interior, and propose specific Native American Clinton’s campaign has put tribal liaison positions at various policies, and it is impossible to together a Native American other federal agencies. A Trump determine what policies a Trump policy workgroup that has presidency is expected to take administration would ultimately adopt. advised her campaign on longer to fill such positions. However, the National Republican issues of importance to Native • The leadership of the relevant Party Platform does recognize the American individuals and committees
    [Show full text]
  • Consequences of US Trade Policy on EU-US Trade Relations and the Global Trading System
    STUDY Requested by the INTA committee Consequences of US trade policy on EU-US trade relations and the global trading system Policy Department for External Relations Directorate General for External Policies of the Union PE 603.882 - November 2018 EN DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EXTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT STUDY Consequences of US trade policy on EU-US trade relations and the global trading system ABSTRACT The Trump Administration’s trade policy is driven by the belief that previous Administrations have let other countries take advantage of the United States for foreign policy reasons, as demonstrated by America’s more open trade regime and its trade deficits. It is determined to end this perceived imbalance by demanding reciprocity instead, and is willing to use tough tactics to achieve this through strict enforcement of its procurement and trade defense law; expansive tax provisions; bringing the WTO dispute settlement to a halt; withdrawing from and forcing others to renegotiate existing bilateral and multilateral agreements; adopting a novel “national security” argument to justify breaking WTO tariff commitments for steel, aluminum and possibly autos; and enacting punitive tariffs on billions of dollars of imports from China, possibly threatening a trade war. The scenarios for U.S.-EU trade relations as well as the global trading system are anything but rosy. The EU can stand up to the Administration’s “bullying,” or it can take advantage of America’s need for a “re- balancing” to build its own stature by taking simple steps to improve EU-U.S. trade, forging a way forward in the WTO, and providing necessary leadership to address the dangers China’s economic system poses to the global trading order.
    [Show full text]
  • The Italian Communist Party 1921--1964: a Profile
    University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1-1-1966 The Italian Communist Party 1921--1964: A profile. Aldo U. Marchini University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Marchini, Aldo U., "The Italian Communist Party 1921--1964: A profile." (1966). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6438. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/6438 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript and are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was scanned as received. it This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE ITALIAN COkkUNIST PARTY 1921 - 196A: A PROPILE by ALDO U.
    [Show full text]
  • Uef-Spinelli Group
    UEF-SPINELLI GROUP MANIFESTO 9 MAY 2021 At watershed moments in history, communities need to adapt their institutions to avoid sliding into irreversible decline, thus equipping themselves to govern new circumstances. After the end of the Cold War the European Union, with the creation of the monetary Union, took a first crucial step towards adapting its institutions; but it was unable to agree on a true fiscal and social policy for the Euro. Later, the Lisbon Treaty strengthened the legislative role of the European Parliament, but again failed to create a strong economic and political union in order to complete the Euro. Resulting from that, the EU was not equipped to react effectively to the first major challenges and crises of the XXI century: the financial crash of 2008, the migration flows of 2015- 2016, the rise of national populism, and the 2016 Brexit referendum. This failure also resulted in a strengthening of the role of national governments — as shown, for example, by the current excessive concentration of power within the European Council, whose actions are blocked by opposing national vetoes —, and in the EU’s chronic inability to develop a common foreign policy capable of promoting Europe’s common strategic interests. Now, however, the tune has changed. In the face of an unprecedented public health crisis and the corresponding collapse of its economies, Europe has reacted with unity and resolve, indicating the way forward for the future of European integration: it laid the foundations by starting with an unprecedented common vaccination strategy, for a “Europe of Health”, and unveiled a recovery plan which will be financed by shared borrowing and repaid by revenue from new EU taxes levied on the digital and financial giants and on polluting industries.
    [Show full text]