*Twilight of sovereignty. Except in China, that is. And, come to think of it, Russia.
From Ryan Heath of POLITICO EUROPE:
THE WEAK POWERFUL
What is it with many of the West’s most powerful countries these days? Their political elites keep providing, and their citizens keep (barely) electing people unable to govern. Scandal is no longer the source of the political drama, but aimlessness. Even masters of the game like Angela Merkel are catching the virus, thanks to her coalition-building failure leaving her gravely wounded. Merkel joins Theresa May and Donald Trump today, and François Hollande and Matteo Renzi before them, as theoretically powerful leaders of powerful nations unable to get much done. Middle powers and growing economies from Spain (Mariano Rajoy) to Australia (Malcolm Turnbull) are stuck in the same boat. France’s Emmanuel Macron has so much executive power and rests atop a parliament so new — the majority of MPs were elected in 2017 — he doesn’t count as part of the sample. The upshot: A weakened Berlin is bad news for the entire EU....
