Week in Review: German Army Swallowing Its Neighbors, Russia Testing Mr. Trump, U.S. Economic Freedom Evaporating and more

Johannes Simon/Getty Images, MUSA AL-SHAER/AFP/Getty Images, Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images, STR/AFP/Getty Images

Week in Review: German Army Swallowing Its Neighbors, Russia Testing Mr. Trump, U.S. Economic Freedom Evaporating and more

All you need to know about everything in the news this week

February 17, 2017

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Highlights:

Germany set to increase domination of Europe

“No longer can the American taxpayer carry a disproportionate share of the defense of Western values,” United States Defense Secretary James Mattis told nato defense ministers on Wednesday. “Americans cannot care more for your children’s future security than you do.”

These calls for nato to do more boil down to one thing: Germany stepping up, as Politico wrote in an article titled “nato Survival Will Depend on Germany.”

Getting Germany to punch closer to its weight will not be easy. Berlin’s next coalition in the Bundestag will have to break with two powerful dogmas of post-World War ii Germany: a balanced budget and a pacifist mindset.”

“Germany’s postwar doctrines are not as intractable as they seem.”

Vladimir Putin provokes Donald Trump

Last Friday, four Russian fighter jets buzzed an American Navy destroyer in the Black Sea, in what officials described as “unsafe and unprofessional” encounters. It was the first such Russian military provocation since United States President Donald Trump became president.

On Tuesday, reports indicated that Russia deployed two battalions for its new nuclear cruise missiles. The deployment violated a 1987 Cold War treaty.

On Wednesday, a Russian spy ship was spotted 30 miles off the coast near Connecticut, close to the United States Navy’s attack submarine fleet. Though the missile-armed vessel remained in international waters, it was the closest it has ever traveled along the United States’ eastern seaboard.

Later that day, Russia defiantly affirmed that it will never return Crimea to Ukraine or discuss the issue with foreign powers.

About some of these developments, an analyst from the Middlebury Institute warned, “Old Soviet patterns are reemerging.”

Beware Iran’s new ambassador to Iraq

Iran’s newest ambassador to Iraq is Brig. Gen. Iraj Masjedi, an adviser to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (irgc) Quds Force Cmdr. Qassem Soleimani.

He is also an alleged war criminal.

“Masjedi will work to ensure that the irgc-backed network of politicians and entities emerges victorious in post-Islamic State Iraq,” wrote Amir Toumaj for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

In 1994, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry asked, “Is Iraq About to Fall to Iran ?” That question could be emphatically answered very soon.

Other news:

China is developing a nuclear-powered attack submarine that is fast catching up to the West. It likely already is “in front of the U.S. in developing hypersonic weapons,” according to the Scout Warrior.

Dutch politician Geert Wilders has said that the coming March 15 election in the Netherlands is the start of a “patriotic spring” across Europe.

For the last few decades, American policy has favored finding a two-state solution to the Middle Eastern peace process. But suddenly, United States President Donald Trump has said a one-state solution may be best after all.

The United States is no longer among the world’s top 15 freest economies. In fact, according to an annual index released by the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday, the U.S. fell from being the sixth freest economy in the world when President Barack Obama took office in 2009 to being the 17th freest economy in the world today.

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