The USA Dominates Our View of Politics
US regional elections dominate media coverage – thereby distorting political reality. A commentary by Stefan Haböck, International Officer of the Paneuropa Movement Austria.
House of Cards continues. Whether that is a good thing, each viewer must judge for themselves. The fact is, it was not only Kevin Spacey’s brilliant portrayal of the unscrupulous politician Frank Underwood that captivated audiences. It is US politics that fascinates Europeans. This perception is clearly shaped by strong cultural influence, be it through series, films, or music and literature. The American Way of Life – and with it, the American Way of Politics – is omnipresent. This would not be problematic at all; Americans are leaders in entertainment.
Focus on USA Distorts Political Reality
Of course, the staging of a US President is perfect. A Federal President or President of the Council cannot compete. The question is whether they need to. However, this must not lead to objective observation and analysis becoming an obsession, pushing other regions in Europe or the world into the background.
Two years ago, we criticised the utterly inadequate coverage of elections and political processes in European countries by the media. Little has improved since then. The election in Sweden was still covered due to a presumed “shift to the right”, but since the polling stations closed, hardly anything has been heard about the election in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The stability of the Balkans is essential for Europe. The presidential election in Georgia – an EU-associated country, after all – barely made it into “What else happened”.
Turning a Blind Eye Also Explains Misunderstanding of Common Security Policy
Economically, militarily, politically, and scientifically, the USA is the most powerful state on Earth. Therefore, the outcome of a US presidential election is globally more significant than an election in Georgia. However, the path Georgia or Moldova takes has a direct impact on the EU, namely geo-strategically and in terms of security policy. Yet, the conflict in the Sea of Azov, where two states face each other with warships, receives just as little attention. Baltic and Nordic politicians of all stripes have been warning for years about a breach of the INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty). It would still not be an issue today if Trump were not discussing withdrawal.
We Are Experiencing Massive Polarisation in Europe
The EU and the political system in Europe suffer from the fact that in an increasingly complex world, many decision-making processes are no longer comprehensible. This opens the door to (dis)information from non-European forces for whom a united Europe is anathema. Yet, many prejudices or conflicts result from a lack of knowledge about developments in European states. This was already criticised in a commentary on Eastern Europe. This lack of knowledge partly stems from insufficient engagement with Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in schools, but also from an imbalance in reporting.
When the US Congress had to fill a Supreme Court justice position, it made headlines here for weeks. The serious accusations against the judicial candidate, as well as his behaviour, turned the nomination process into a highly emotional issue in the (Western) world. However, who sits on the Supreme Court has virtually no impact on us.
Who rules at the ECJ, however, very much does. Austria has been searching for months for a candidate for this highest European judicial office. Yet, this high European judicial office will never make it to the front page.
The fact that everyone speaks English naturally makes things easier, but it also means there is an enormous loss of information if journalists, politicians, or too few citizens do not speak Russian or a Slavic language. What Serbian state TV announces daily remains hidden from the majority of Austrians. Fox News, CNN, or the New York Times are constantly present; no analysis from the Moscow Times is adopted here.
Midterms Are Essentially Internal American Regional Elections
Who becomes governor in the Midterm Elections is de jure and de facto irrelevant for Europe. European television channels will report live from the scene, having provided analyses, reports, and speculations in abundance for weeks.
“Name Dropping” Replaces Differentiation
This is an increasingly superficial view that is also finding its way into daily political discourse. It is less and less about analysis and the desire to understand regional differences. With “Salvini, Trump, Orban” versus “Macron and Merkel”, highly complex EU politics is simplified and arbitrarily reduced to “good – evil”. Politicians and parties who (clearly) rely on simple messages, but thereby also reinforce this polarisation, are also to be criticised here.
The fact that Orban supports Kosovo and Macedonia, unlike Macron, is just as little finely elaborated as the fact that (pro-European) Lithuania rejected the proposal for the Eurozone budget.
That this is not just a subjective feeling is also proven by a new study (analysis by APA subsidiary DeFacto, specialising in media monitoring), which examined the media mentions of politicians in Austria over the past two years. It shows that the President of the European Commission was mentioned around 5,000 times. Putin, the president of a nuclear power on the EU’s border, around 10,000 times. And a Donald Trump 44,000 times. Federal Chancellor Kurz follows in second place. Among others, Theresa May (probably due to Brexit), as well as Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, also feature. Viktor Orbán also makes it into the statistics. Probably not because of his (completely different) Ukraine, Balkan, or Turkey policies, however. Austria’s neighbouring countries and strong economic partners like the Czech Republic and Slovakia play no role.
Given such figures, one must doubt that “understanding” for Europe will grow stronger. And we are not even talking about Asia yet – terra incognita for us Europeans.
The glamour of Hollywood is simply too hard to resist.
Image source: Multimedia European Parliament | https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu
