The leaders of the world met last weekend for the G7 gathering in Taormina, Sicily. This gathering was a chance for the leaders to get to know Trump´s stance towards key global issues. There was a lot of disagreement between President Trump and the rest of the G7 on a range of key issues. One big point of difference was climate change – Trump threatened to bail out of the 2015 Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. He said he needs time and will decide in the course of the week.
Other topics of disagreement were trade protectionism and how to deal with Russia´s aggressions towards Ukraine. `America first and only’ seems to be the motto of Trump´s foreign politics. One point, however, that everyone could agree on was the fight against terrorism.
According to a speech Angela Merkel gave on Sunday the G7 gathering left a crack in the relation between the US and Germany, an alliance that has defined the post-World War II global order. Now Merkel says that Germany cannot fully count on another nation and we have to take our destiny into our own hands. It seems like the end of an era as Europe and the US drift apart.
gathering (ˈgæðərɪŋ) – die Zusammenkunft, das Treffen
stance (stɑ:n(t)s) – die Haltung
towards (təˈwɔ:d(z)) – in Richtung, hier: gegenüber
key global issue (ki: ˈgləʊbəlˈɪʃu: ) – weltweites Hauptthema
disagreement (ˌdɪsəˈgri:mənt) – die Uneinigkeit
range (reɪnʤ) – der Bereich
to bail out (beɪl out) – abspringen, aussteigen
to tackle (ˈtækl̩) – etwas in Angriff nehmen, angehen
to decide (dɪˈsaɪd) – entscheiden
in the course of (kɔ:s) – im Laufe der Zeit, hier: im Laufe der Woche
trade protectionism (treɪd prəˈtekʃənɪzəm) – die Handelsschutzpolitik
foreign policy (ˈfɒrɪnˈpɒləsi) – die Aussenpolitik
according to (əˈkɔ:dɪŋ) – nach, laut
speech (spi:tʃ) – die Rede, die Ansprache
crack (kræk) – der Riss
relation (rɪˈleɪʃən) – die Verbindung
alliance (əˈlaɪən(t)s) – das Bündnis, die Allianz
to define (dɪˈfaɪn) – etwas definieren, prägen
destiny (ˈdestɪni: ) – das Schicksal
to drift apart (drɪft əˈpɑ:t) – sich auseinanderleben, sich entfernen voneinander