{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/9a03fe9e-1ff0-4dcc-b3f6-50bd1f016ea4/715df494-af7e-4b66-a32e-900cebeb45b0?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Germany, Italy, Coalitions and Vaccines","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6195701f2eacc3a36070252a/619570bccb3c660012e3ce52.jpg?height=200","description":"<p>We look at two countries where things may be changing: Germany, as it starts to imagine life beyond Merkel, and Italy, after the resignation of the prime minister.&nbsp;Would Armin Laschet as Chancellor mean business as usual?&nbsp;Can Conte cobble together a new government?&nbsp;Where are the biggest challenges to the established order coming from?&nbsp;Plus we talk about the new politics of vaccine nationalism.&nbsp;With Helen Thompson, Hans Kundnani and Lucia Rubinelli.</p><p><br></p><p>Talking Points:</p><p><br></p><p>In some ways Germany is in a state of continuity, rather than flux.</p><ul><li>Armin Laschet is a continuity candidate. Though it’s not clear that he will be the candidate for chancellor in the September election.</li><li>Were Laschet to become chancellor, you would probably have a Black-Green coalition.&nbsp;</li><li>Has the pandemic made coalition formation less difficult? If so, it would be because the Christian Democrats are in a stronger position than they were.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The German Greens may be different from other Green parties.</p><ul><li>When the Greens emerged in the late 70s/early 80s, it wasn’t clearly a left-wing party.</li><li>The Greens have become more centrist on economic issues, and the Christian Democrats have moved left on environmental questions.</li><li>As environmental politics becomes bigger, is there a constituency that will oppose this?&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Anti-Americanism in Germany is now quite high.</p><ul><li>Ultimately, the Germany-US relation is more driven by structural factors; Germans don’t believe that they need the United States in the way they did during the Cold War.</li><li>How committed is Germany to other European states that do feel threatened by Russia?&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Conte resigned yesterday; he has 72 hours to try to come back.</p><ul><li>Conte resigned because Renzi decided to recall two of his ministers plus an undersecretary.</li><li>Renzi said he no longer shares the method that the government is using, and he accused Conte of undermining democratic institutions through emergency legislation.</li><li>Renzi accused Conte of not having a long-term plan for economic development and criticized his statist plans for the recovery fund.</li><li>He also wants the government to accept the European Stability Mechanism for healthcare.</li><li>These are a lot of demands for someone polling at close to nothing.&nbsp;</li><li>The other two coalition partners don’t want anything to do with Renzi anymore. The question is whether they will stick to it and find a different majority, which seems difficult, or, whether they decide to bring Renzi back into government and get rid of Conte.</li><li>The only disciplining effect here seems to be a fear of elections—and Salvini.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Conte was initially meant to be a placeholder prime minister.</p><ul><li>That changed with the second Conte government (from Summer 2019). The new coalition gave him more power. This grew with the pandemic.</li><li>The conflict over how Italy spends its money is coming back in full force.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Further Learning:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/17/angela-merkel-successor-armin-laschet-faces-an-uphill-struggle-to-unite-his-party\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">More on Laschet and the struggle to unite the party</a></li><li><a href=\"https://muse.jhu.edu/article/778230\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Hans’ essay on the costs of convergence&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.aicgs.org/2021/01/germany-a-different-kind-of-democratic-dysfunctionality/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">More from Hans on Germany’s democratic dysfunctionality&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/26/italys-power-struggle-raises-fears-over-covid-and-the-economy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">More on Conte’s decision to quit</a></li><li><a...","author_name":"David Runciman and Catherine Carr"}