German resistance

It's helpful that Trump himself is the one who refutes his flatterers. This week we heard him boast about how the rest of the world, in his opinion, wants to suck up to him (a truly unpleasant image). We've also seen his vice president, JD Vance, playing coy with the Chinese, dismissively calling them "country bumpkins," even though the most rustic peasant will always be more polite, and much more interesting to talk to, than that writer who personifies the absence of talent, both in literature and politics. For those who warn us that Trumpism is more sophisticated than we can understand, or who not long ago applauded Vance's supposed literary contributions, it's good that their role models show themselves for what they really are.

The constant Trumpian shouting means less attention is paid to news like that of the new German Grosse Koalition, which is intended, in principle, to block the neo-Nazis of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) from coming to power, that is, to impose a cordon sanitaire on the far right. But, in the current context, it also serves as a European response to American provocations. A reaffirmation of principles: Germany does not want to give in again, and will not, to authoritarianism or illiberal discourse, in any of its forms. This, coupled with China's firmness in the face of Trump's abuses in the form of grotesque tariffs (as paradoxically as one may wish, given that China is still a communist dictatorship), allows us to contemplate a geopolitical panorama that was unimaginable until recently. Europe and China on one side, the US and Russia in an uncertain dimension.

Grosse Coalitions, for their part, are ambivalent and can have diverse effects, as seen during Angela Merkel's various terms in office. They are also difficult to extrapolate to other political systems. In the case of Spain, the closest thing to a grand coalition between the PP and PSOE began with the 1981 LOAPA and culminated in 2017 with the implementation of Article 155: generally, when the two major Spanish parties have reached an agreement, it has been to recentralize power or to undermine the self-government of the regions. On the other hand, the defense of the aforementioned cordon sanitaire against the far right is valuable in the coalition agreement between a victorious CDU and CSU and a weakened SPD. Even more so when viewed from here, where the PP not only openly makes pacts with a fascist party like Vox, but also governs with them in the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands.

The German government agreement will make Friedrich Merz chancellor, a figure who is the negation of all illusions. However, it is important for Europe to have a Germany that emerges from the inaction it has recently found itself in, or that makes an effort to do so. Beyond the (misguided) rearmament policies, it is urgent that the EU begin working on responses to the challenges posed by the US, which is already heading down the path of crazed, runaway buffalo, gripped by an isolationist agenda.