Author: adampaquin3

By: Adam Paquin

When looking at these weeks readings we see various definitions for populism. Both from the far-right perspective as well as the far left. March’s article shows us the multitude of answers when asking has the world fallen into a populist world, and at what point do we call all politicians populists. And do we need to re-examine the world populist so as to not classify and far left or far right activist as populist. We also need to come to terms with the fact that populism no matter what side it is on is still populism. Not just far right but far left as well, either extreme can cause larger problems down the road. So, what we spoke about earlier in the semester about a happy medium, or a “third” option. And so, what we end up seeing this week is the different but similar factors between the right and the left. Mudde and March show us that both are two sides of the same coin. Both have the possibility to spread populist views, and so who is bad or good? Well obviously, that depends on one’s own values in life, and what each side can do for you and your future. In similar cases this this we find it very difficult to explain the words good versus bad, as in all politics. When is populism not such a bad thing, and when is it evil? Again, that all depends on who is telling the story, but this of course is a common problem for the average historian so nothing new here.

By: Adam Paquin

When looking at these weeks readings we see various definitions for populism. Both from the far-right perspective as well as the far left. March’s article shows us the multitude of answers when asking has the world fallen into a populist world, and at what point do we call all politicians populists. And do we need to re-examine the world populist so as to not classify and far left or far right activist as populist. We also need to come to terms with the fact that populism no matter what side it is on is still populism. Not just far right but far left as well, either extreme can cause larger problems down the road. So, what we spoke about earlier in the semester about a happy medium, or a “third” option. And so, what we end up seeing this week is the different but similar factors between the right and the left. Mudde and March show us that both are two sides of the same coin. Both have the possibility to spread populist views, and so who is bad or good? Well obviously, that depends on one’s own values in life, and what each side can do for you and your future. In similar cases this this we find it very difficult to explain the words good versus bad, as in all politics. When is populism not such a bad thing, and when is it evil? Again, that all depends on who is telling the story, but this of course is a common problem for the average historian so nothing new here.

Adam Paquin

This week had some really interesting topics from antisemitism to islamophobia and of course it always leads back somehow to Nazism. But until this week I had never heard about this man named George Soros who is apparently responsible for everything that is bad in the world at least in Europe. And the Kalmar article goes further in depth as to how Soros main goal is to destroy life as we know it in Europe and how he has his hand in almost anything negative that has happened in the past several years. The article written by Ezgi Guner has a somewhat lighter topic focusing on the difference between white and black Turks in Turkey. And the major differences between these two groups that have been living simultaneously in the country. Guner describes the thoughts around many Turkish citizens and their thoughts on these terms of black and white. Which in Turkey not only seems very different than many other countries but not necessarily in a bad way but more so in a step forward for equality in the country. And then we look at the Stone article and read about the EU’s unwillingness to accept refugees from the Middle East and ask questions as to why this might be. As we have seen in the past, they were more than willing to accept them after the Second World War so why not now? What are the reasons behind the EU’s reluctance to take in people who are stranded after their homes are ravaged by war and famine?

By: Adam Paquin

In the past several months since Russia’s invasion on Ukraine, many countries across the world have begun cutting ties with Russia and refusing to purchase several commodities as well as oil. All of this in a hope to damage the Russian economy, slow down their flow of military funds and support Ukraine in these unprecedented times. From a far, this seemed to be an easy task as most thought that Russia was only good for exporting oil and gas, but in fact they are also massive suppliers of precious metals as well. Russia is the world’s largest producer of Palladium which is used in many electronics and cars. And they are also the world’s second largest producer of platinum which is used in jewelry and many medical devices. They are also major producers of gold, aluminum, and nickel.

In the eyes of the rest of the world this is their first step in an attempt to put Russia economy and their development several decades. As over the past few decades we as a complete human race have discovered that working as a whole world speeds up development of knowledge and technology. If Russia as a country was no longer part of this international development, they would have to create many of their own internal domestic technology and technology firms all from scratch. Now this comes with many advantages and disadvantages for not only European countries but for the Unites States as well. Let’s say that Russia never existed, and Europe ended right at the edge of Finland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and China who would the United States have to fight with in an arms race. Would the United States be where they are now if not for their cold war with Russia during the late 20^th century. Would Germany have won previous wars against Europe if Russia had not been involved. Russia although in modern times is not a part of NATO and may seem like a foreign place to outsiders. The country has been a major player in the history books, and I am sure would impact the lives of everyone if one day in the near future is cut off from the rest of the western world.

I am sure that the world would find the ability to replace Russian resources eventually if we lost them completely, but we would certainly struggle until we replaced them. As we are already seeing gas prices are rising drastically all over the world, and this is just the beginning. Some countries such as Germany, who rely on Russian gas much more than other countries. People would freeze to death in the winter months if cut off from natural gas instantly and completely. Nickel prices rising astronomically in London on the London Metal Exchange which forced a shut down for over a week. And the car industry and vehicle prices would also climb to unprecedented levels until we were able to find another source of palladium to supply the world.

 So now we need to ask ourselves who is being hurt more by the sanctions placed on Russia them or us, and if the answer is them does Putin really care enough to put an end to this war in order to restore his countries reputation with the world. But if the answer is us, is there any alternative to show our support for Ukraine? Either than starting World War Three, do we continue to aid Ukraine in sending military equipment and continue this outrageous war that Russia has started. Or do we stop helping Ukraine and let them fall to the hands of Putin, all of these questions have been on the minds of Members of NATO for the past several months and have put many countries aside from Russia and Ukraine in a very tough moral dilemma. I for one am more curious as to what will happen once this war comes to an end. Will all be forgiven as if it never happened or will Europe and the rest of the world put Putin on trial for his war crimes along with many of his military leaders who supported some of the travesties that have happened to innocent Ukrainian civilians.

By Adam Paquin

The articles for this week really stood out because although we have seen plenty of radical far right movements not only in this class thus far but in general that is what is portrayed by the media. In the Jarvis article we see another picture, one of a far-left radicalism. One that is even capable of extreme terrorism and fascism ideals. And with the Ruth article we got to see another side of history, one centered around women and their voices during these ruthless times. We got to hear about women and their struggle to find their voices in a vastly male centric world. The articles from this week seemed to flow really well together as they all showed different but similar sides of fascist regimes attempting to portray themselves as not being so. And this ties very well into one of our discussions from a previous week in which we see ourselves talking about Fascist leaders always stating how they are in fact not fascist. How they are not racist while at the same time shouting racist comments and spreading racism throughout their campaigns. And we certainly get a good view of this in the Jarvis article, which is centered around multiple bombings that happened in Milan. Bombings that were produced by far-right extremists but were certainly not terrorist related. And as shown throughout the article virtually no actions were taken to prevent these or punish any perpetrators. Which again sounds like things we have already spoken about in other cases from this course.  

By: Adam Paquin

In the early days of February 1980 Germany would make a deal with the devil and sign a contract with Russia a deal that would prove to result in major repercussions down the road. This deal would look like a small negotiation for the supply of Russian oil into Germany. With Germany to supply the material such as pipelines and other industrial goods Russia would in turn supply Germany with crude oil for years to come. After warning signs from NATO Germany assured the rest of the world that they would remain far from reliant on Russia for oil and only receive no more than ten percent of their nations supply from the country. This ten percent would end up slowly rising over the coming years. This brings us to present day Germany where more than half of the countries supply of crude oil is imported from Russia which places them in a very dangerous place.

Not only simply because it is Russia which over the past several decades has been proven to be a very unstable country socially and economically. But through Germany’s reliance on Russian oil can prove to put them in a very unsettling position especially for the general public living in the country. This became even more of a problem beginning at the start of the year. With the current war in Ukraine, many other countries within NATO have been cutting off their supply of Russian oil and other resources that have been coming out of the country. But this may not be as easily settled with Germany and their situation, if they were to completely cut off their supply of oil this would create a lot of chaos and confusion in the country. Especially in the coming months leading up to this coming winter this would lead to many cold homes with rely on natural gas for survival. This puts Germany in a very unsettling place because as of right now they do not have the ability to just shut off their connection with Russia without disturbing many households throughout the country.

Germany over the past several years has become known for their anti-nuclear protocols and their use of natural gas since the Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986. As many other countries searched for other alternatives for clean renewable energy such as wind, solar or nuclear. This along with the chancellor of the free democrats in 2009 decided to begin what they called a phase out of nuclear power. This would begin the process of shutting down a large amount of the nuclear reactors in the country with remaining to be completely closed by 2022. Germany although doing other research into several forms of clean energy as well, appears to be reliant on a future of natural gas heating their homes and fueling their cars.

Which brings us back to why Germany is so dependent on oil from Russia, if they were to cut off their entire supply of oil from Russia as many other countries have done in the midst of the war on Ukraine. This would severely hurt the German economy and people more than it would have any actual effect on the Russian Economy. It would end up shutting down large corporations and factories which have a heavy dependence on natural gas and put several gigantic companies out of commission. Now in the recent months they have been working with United States and other NATO countries to secure energy partnerships. This has actually resulted in them lowering their dependence on Russian oil by as much as fifteen percent. Which shows that a massive amount of work has been in the works to aid in the worldwide ban on Russian products, but this is only a start. But many are hesitant in completely cutting off the supply chain with their neighboring country Russia as this has been a major part of their economy for the past fifty years.

So needless to say, with all the debates between positives of cutting off a massive country with is in the middle of self-provoked war on a smaller neighboring country. A country that has for the past year been creating catastrophe and chaos under the leadership of an insane dictator. While they may have been essentially keeping your country afloat for the last half century being the largest supply of power to your economy. It can certainly be a large decision and a very difficult one at that. But a decision that needs to be made and cannot simply be put on the back burner for this could potentially create a rather large problem down the road both politically and economically. Ones that may leave the citizens of the country into literal dark and cold times.

‘We were all wrong’: how Germany got hooked on Russian energy | Germany | The Guardian

How Germany Became so Dependent on Russian Natural Gas (businessinsider.com)

Germany’s Reliance on Russian Energy Forces a Nearly Impossible Choice (businessinsider.com)

Why is Germany so reliant on Russian gas? Investment Monitor

Germany is Dependent on Russian Gas, Oil and Coal: Here’s Why – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

By: Adam Paquin

The readings from this week have several things in common in my opinion and that centers around the changing of the tides of European politics shortly after the second world war. During a time of recovery, there are several individual things going on, one of which is a changing of not only extreme right views but to an extent left views as well. We see this in the Biess article when he writes about all the changes going on throughout the system many similar to their past tactics some may argue were verging totalitarianism, while some state they were just rebuilding a destroyed economy from the dirt.

He also goes in depth into the student riots/protest that go on and how out of hand they become. He gives many quotes to insight the true extreme of the events that unfolded. I kind of blew me away the intensity that it was driven to with the police not only working on a protective basis. But in fact, beating and shooting the students to the extent that one is shot in the back while running away from the chaos. When reading this article, it becomes obvious that although the country of Germany was obviously hurting after the war. Many of the people in authority during the time of the Nazi regime could have very possibly still been in power. And article such as this one sort of tell the public that it was certainly time for a change in tactics to weave out the corrupt people in power.

By: Adam Paquin

The readings for this week bring up many interesting insights into Germany after the second world war. And although we see from the Fullbrook article that many of the German citizens during the war were simply bystanders that did not stand up for fear of being prosecuted themselves. This would bring up many questions about the everyday German citizen and one of the ways in which the west attempted to find the ones that did in fact participate with Hitler’s regime was shown in the Sollors article about the Nazi Questionnaire. Although it may have not been one hundred percent accurate, it showed that the western countries did in fact want to prosecute those in charge of any Nazi crimes committed during the war.

As to be expected not everyone was actually innocent in Germany and although many people did not agree with many of the Nazi regime and its laws. There was in fact a large portion that did and were now trying to hide in plain sight. In the Moeller article he goes in depth on many of the Nuremberg trials and explains how several of the former Nazi leaders now faced the American court system and the death penalty for their crimes. It was a particularly insightful article as it showed us the post war ramifications that would occur for the known leaders of the Nazi regime.  And one part that surprised me when reading this was how the media even went out of their way to prevent any ads being sent over the airways. Ones specifically for the sale of gas stoves, as this could potentially trigger remind the country about the atrocities that happened in Germany during the war.  

By Adam Paquin

The reading from this week showed some very interesting aspects of the Nazi regime and fascism in general. While also showing how well some governments can hide a strict dictatorship to the public through the means of immense tourism. In the Huhne article we see typical stereotypes of masculinity in the military which I am sure was of no surprise to anyone. I was slightly surprised to see the extent as to how this masculinity was upheld. Having men unable to show any sort of femininity towards their family or even children.

With the Marhoefer article we did get to see a different light of the Nazi regime that I sound quite astonishing and that was how they ran the country while in power. I always pictured the SS as an overarching entity that watched and paid close attention to everything that happened under their reign. But this in fact was not entirely true. In her article she shows us that if you were Aryan, there was quite a few things you could get away with. This was simply because if you were not on their radar, they were essentially to busy to be bothered by you. And in circumstances such as speaking out against the regime or hanging out with Jews again as long as you were Aryan they would give you a warning or a slap on the wrist.

One last thing that stood out to me was the way that they acted towards lesbianism, it is well known that Hitler was not fond of homosexuality. But this pretty much only pertained to male homosexuality and not female. Which I guess should not have surprised me, but it did certainly catch me off guard because they certainly would not help maintain or grow the German population or produce future mini-Nazis.