Stoking further incredulity by granting an interview to a far-right news outlet and expressing rather undiplomatically his ambitions to empower conservatives across Europe and the announcement inviting the conservative Austrian prime-minster for a luncheon, there are increasingly vocal calls for the expulsion of the newly-credentialed US ambassador to Germany.
Describing such outreach and partisanship as further undermining already strained trans-Atlantic relationship, Germany knows that harbouring such political sentiments would not be tolerated in Washington and should neither be suffered kindly in Berlin. Embassies are diplomatic missions, whereas consulates—in the traditional sense, were outposts to promote the sending country’s business interests and while consular services have become an extension of the diplomatic mission itself, corporate and ideological concerns were generally kept at a distance from statecraft. Now compromise and conciliation have been removed briskly from the hands of master negotiators and deal-makers and thrust into the hamfisted realm of senseless and destructive barriers to trade—to which the rest of the world is responding with targeted, retaliatory tariffs that are designed to punish constituencies allied with the Trump regime, possibly influencing the course of elections over jobs-security.
Tuesday, 5 June 2018
auรenpolitische beziehungen
brother what a fight it really was
Though far more grim and gallowsy than another Prohibition Era map, we found this 1931 chart of Chicago’s gangland in terms of its breadth and detail to be a rather outstanding cartographical feat. Each grid and call-out is chocked full of information on violent clashes between authorities and the syndicate, heists and turf-battles—plus well-known haunts and infamous speakeasies. Be sure to visit Atlas Obscura at the link above to see the panels in full detail and context and to learn about the composition’s antecedents.
la repubblica popolare democratica di corea
Hyperallegic directs our attention to a modest gallery owner and art broker in a small Tuscan village who is responsible for the vast majority of North Korean art—inspiration, motivation placards, ephemera, propaganda posters and fine art—that enters into Western markets. The article also discusses the thousand-strong studio that produces much of what the gallery resells and that has executed monumental consignments for various institutions and world leaders at steeply discounted prices.
Monday, 4 June 2018
hang in there, baby!
