Alana Moceri

Disinformation and the 2020 campaign: what can we possibly believe¿

In an Oval Office meeting with President Trump, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan whipped out an iPad to play a propaganda video that depicted the leader of the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces as a terrorist. Erdoğan did this unabashedly in a meeting that included five Republican senators who have been the most vocal critics of Turkey’s invasion of Syria and attacks on Kurdish allies. Somehow, he thought he could lure them into changing their minds, but as the video ended, Senator Lindsey Graham reportedly asked: "Well, do you want me to go get the Kurds to make one about what you've done?"

We might be using more innocuous words for it these days, like fake news or disinformation, but attempts to manipulate our emotions, attitudes and beliefs are nothing new. We used to call it propaganda or just plain old lies. It would be jaw dropping that the president of Turkey would take a crude and clearly propagandistic video with him to the White House if it were not for the man currently occupying it.

Spain’s Socialists Lose Their Electoral Gamble, as the Far-Right Vox Gains

MADRID—Spain returned to the polls Sunday for the fourth time in four years, and just six months since its last election. After giving the center-left Socialist Party, the leftist Podemos party and center-right party Ciudadanos, or Citizens, the opportunity to form a government in April, voters punished them this time around for failing to do so. The Socialists lost three seats in parliament, again falling short of a majority despite winning the most seats. Podemos lost seven seats and Ciudadanos a jaw-dropping 47, the biggest setback yet for the centrist upstarts. While voter turnout was about 5 percent less than in April, those that did vote gave the biggest boosts to the traditionally conservative Popular Party, which gained 22 more parliamentary seats, and the far-right Vox party, which more than doubled its seats from 24 to 52, making it the third-largest party in parliament. (read article)

Why does Spain care so much what the world thinks?

One thing I learned early on as a foreigner who sometimes appears in the press here in Spain was to never, ever, under any circumstances make a public statement about Catalonian independence. Never! You may remember the former U.S. Ambassador James Costos, who made a seemingly innocuous statement about how if Catalonia separated from Spain, American companies would “make adjustments accordingly.” This kicked up quite a frenzy of speculations about whether this represented an official departure from longstanding U.S. policy until he walked his comments back later that same day on Twitter stating that it is “an internal matter for Spain.”
So, while I have spent years carefully sidestepping the issue, I find it curious that these days, both Catalonian pro-independence leaders and the Spanish government have taken this internal dispute global. Why does Spain care so much about the world's opinion on this?

To be fair, the Catalonian leaders went on the international offensive first in the fall of 2017, bashing Spain's government as undemocratic wherever they could get an interview or op-ed published. It was frustrating to see this well-planned strategy play out in the international press as Rajoy's government mostly sat on their hands. These op-eds and interviews gave the impression that the international media was biased towards Catalonia—a consistent complaint among my friends and students and something I've been hard-pressed to find any real evidence of.

¿Por qué le importa tanto a España lo que piensa el mundo?

Las campañas de marketing a corto plazo llevadas a cabo por el Gobierno español para combatir el discurso independentista catalán en el extranjero no ofrecen claros beneficios. ¿La razón? La reputación de un país tiene más que ver con lo que un Estado hace que con lo que dice.

Una cosa que aprendí desde muy pronto, como extranjera que a veces aparece en la prensa en España, fue que no debía nunca, bajo ninguna circunstancia, hacer ninguna declaración pública sobre la independencia de Cataluña. ¡Nunca! Quizá recuerden cuando el antiguo Embajador estadounidense James Costos hizo una declaración aparentemente inocua, al decir que, si Cataluña se separase de España, las empresas estadounidenses “harían los ajustes necesarios”. La frase desató una tormenta de especulaciones sobre si esa afirmación representaba el alejamiento oficial de la política tradicional de Estados Unidos al respecto, hasta el punto de que tuvo que retractarse ese mismo día y decir en Twitterque era “un asunto interno de España”. (leer articulo)

Al fin Pelosi le da a Trump el impeachment que estaba esperando

Fue un momento imponente cuando la presidenta de la Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos, Nancy Pelosi, anunció este martes que el órgano abría un proceso formal de impeachmentcontra el presidente Donald Trump. La gravedad del impeachment hace que su anuncio haya sido considerado siempre un momento histórico.

Pero lo que lo hace impresionante no es que Trump vaya a ser procesado. Ya lo fue con anterioridad por el Comité Judicial de la Cámara de Representantes y existen varias demandas contra él. Trump acumula tres años de incumplimientos a la Constitución de Estados Unidos y a su juramento al cargo. Lo que hace todo realmente formidable es que, desde que Pelosi juró su cargo de presidenta el pasado mes de enero, ha frenado diligentemente los deseos de muchos miembros de su partido de precipitarse en el impeachment . A cada escándalo que afloraba, Pelosi advertía: no, aún no. (leer articulo)

You can read the English version of this article here.

Nancy Pelosi finally gives Trump the impeachment he’s been wanting

It was a breathtaking moment when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives is opening a formal impeachment investigation against President Trump Tuesday evening. Given the gravity of an impeachment, its announcement is always going to be a historic moment. What made it breathtaking, however, wasn’t that Trump would be investigated. He is already being investigated by the House Judiciary Committee, not to mention that there are several lawsuits filed against him. Trump has amassed three year’s worth of flouting the U.S. constitution and his oath of office. The moment was breathtaking because since Pelosi was sworn in as speaker last January, she has been diligently reigning in the urges of many in her party to rush into an impeachment. To every new scandal, Pelosi has warned, no, we’re not there yet.

There’s a reason why Republicans have disparaged Pelosi so much throughout the years: she’s easily among the most effective, if not the most effective House Speaker the country has ever had. This is sometimes easy to miss since she does it with a smile while wearing 4-inch heels. But this woman who raised five children before entering politics has shown us time and time again the mettle she is made of. And if there’s anything to know about Nancy Pelosi is that she is strategic. If she’s decided that now is the time, then we can be assure the she has a plan behind that decision.

As They Go to the Polls Again, Spaniards Are Fed Up With All Their Parties

Spaniards are not happy that their country is headed for its fourth election in four years. According to a recent poll in El Pais, more than 90 percent of respondents said they felt either disappointment, anger or worry at the prospect of another vote. But the parliament that was chosen in April still dissolved Monday at midnight after the leaders of its main parties were unable or unwilling to come to an arrangement that would allow one of them to form a government, triggering an election on Nov. 10.

While Sept. 23 was the final deadline for any sort of Hail Mary, it was clear the negotiations had already failed a week earlier, when King Felipe VI announced that he couldn’t put forward any candidate for an investiture vote in parliament, since the parties were deadlocked. Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the center-left Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party put the blame squarely on the three other main parties—the old-guard, conservative Popular Party and two recent upstarts, leftist Podemos and centrist Ciudadanos—for failing to support his candidacy. “I have tried by all means,” he said, “but they have made it impossible for us.” (read article)

Estados Unidos y Europa: ¿reiniciar relaciones a corto plazo?

Cuáles deberían ser las relaciones entre EE UU y la UE. He aquí las claves para entender qué les ha separado en los últimos años y cuál ha sido su trayectoria.  

Al comenzar el curso, la hija de una amiga mía, de 11 años, hizo un intento muy maduro de restablecer una relación muy envenenada con una amiga suya. Le preguntó si podían olvidarse de todos los dramas y empezar de cero. ¿Les sorprende saber que el drama volvió una semana después? Seguramente no.

Los intentos de simplificar las relaciones internacionales suelen ser ejercicios inútiles, pero las relaciones personales no son una mala analogía, e incluso pueden ser una forma muy recomendable de introducir el tema a los alumnos. Sin embargo, pese a todo lo que hemos aprendido con gran esfuerzo sobre relaciones difíciles e incluso tóxicas, en las relaciones internacionales, los políticos vuelven una y otra vez a la idea de una especie de nuevos comienzos. En el caso de la hija de mi amiga, puede tratarse de un sincero y maduro intento de cambiar las cosas. Pero todos sabemos que el resultado no suele ser bueno, ni en las relaciones personales ni, mucho menos, en las relaciones entre países, cargadas de diferencias ideológicas, culturales e históricas. (leer en esglobal)

You can read the English version of this article here. 

Don't expect a 'reset' the relationship between the U.S. and Europe anytime soon

My friend's 11-year-old daughter made a very mature attempt to reset a toxic relationship with a friend of hers at the beginning of the school year. She asked if they could leave the drama behind and start anew. Does it surprise you that the drama started up again about a week later? Probably not.

Attempts at simplifying international relations are typically fool's errands, but personal relationships are not a bad analogy and in fact, can be a pretty decent way to introduce IR theory to undergraduates. Yet, despite the hard lessons we've all learned about difficult, even toxic relationships, politicians go back time and time again to the idea of some sort of new beginning when it comes to international relationships. Lie with my friend's daughter, the intention might be a sincere and mature attempt at change. Yet, we all know that this rarely works for personal relationships, let alone, the relations between countries that are fraught with ideological, cultural and historical differences.

En Las Mañanas de RNE: "no se le puede echar la culpa a Trump de las matanzas de este fin de semana, aunque sus discursos no ayuden nada"

 

La influencia del discurso de Trump en las matanzas racistas