Europe's Epic Fail on Handling a Bully

[spanone]

European leaders had an opportunity to push back against Donald Trump’s criticism of the Iran deal. Instead, they chose flattery – and have probably doomed the agreement in the process, argues Stephen Walt in Foreign Policy.

“Instead of getting tough with Trump and warning him that Europe would both stick to the deal and defy any subsequent US effort to impose secondary sanctions on them, all three leaders chose to mollify and flatter Trump instead,” Walt writes.

“Macron tried to persuade Trump to let him ‘mediate’ some sort of a new deal between the various parties, only to say at the end of his visit that he believed Trump would nix the deal for ‘domestic reasons.’ Next up was Merkel, who held a three-hour meeting with Trump and then told reporters that the current nuclear agreement was ‘not sufficient.’ May reportedly then conferred with Macron and Merkel after their trips to Washington, and the three leaders sought to present a united front that was crafted to support the deal without alienating Trump.

“The practical result of all this sucking up was disastrous. The top European powers had effectively caved in to the Trump administration’s view that the Iran deal is inadequate and has to be either replaced or supplemented by additional agreements.”

https://mailchi.mp/cnn/europes-epic-fail-on-handling-a-bully?e=cef30bcf7a

[Atticus]

1. Because that approach worked so well with Adolph. nt

[workinclasszero]

2. Yeah

History repeats.

[BigmanPigman]

3. Meanwhile Netanyahu shows a video that is not even current

for an audience of one. When is he going to be found guilty of his own crimes in his own country ?