Europe to Trump

Protectionism and isolation won’t work

Davos: World leaders must work together to solve today’s pressing problems or risk sleepwalking to disaster, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday, reports CNN. That message was reinforced by French President Emmanuel Macron hours later as he made the case for a new framework to ensure globalization benefits everyone. “This framework should be based on cooperation and multilateralism,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Neither leader mentioned President Trump by name but both took thinly veiled digs at the American president, who has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris accord on climate change and ditched a Pacific trade deal he blasted as unfair. Trump is expected to promote his “America first” agenda when he addresses the forum on Friday. Merkel said it was far from clear that the lessons of the last century and its two World Wars had been learned.

“We think that shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world, isolating ourselves will not lead us into a good future. Protectionism is not the answer,” she said.

Macron used his address to call on top business and government leaders to come together to make global capitalism work for the many, not just the few.

“There are people who think [the] solution is to get out of globalization,” he said. “There are more and more people who are convinced that that is the right option... It means we have a major challenge to meet.” Other world leaders have already defended global cooperation at the forum.

Europe to Trump

Protectionism and isolation wont work

Davos: World leaders must work together to solve todays pressing problems or risk sleepwalking to disaster, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday, reports CNN. That message was reinforced by French President Emmanuel Macron hours later as he made the case for a new framework to ensure globalization benefits everyone. This framework should be based on cooperation and multilateralism, he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Neither leader mentioned President Trump by name but both took thinly veiled digs at the American president, who has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris accord on climate change and ditched a Pacific trade deal he blasted as unfair. Trump is expected to promote his America first agenda when he addresses the forum on Friday. Merkel said it was far from clear that the lessons of the last century and its two World Wars had been learned. We think that shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world, isolating ourselves will not lead us into a good future. Protectionism is not the answer, she said. Macron used his address to call on top business and government leaders to come together to make global capitalism work for the many, not just the few. There are people who think [the] solution is to get out of globalization, he said. There are more and more people who are convinced that that is the right option... It means we have a major challenge to meet. Other world leaders have already defended global cooperation at the forum.