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PaperclipPerfector  29d ago (text post)   1039 thread views

Transnational Thursday for January 30, 2025

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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What CDU did is pretty much the only sensible answer to the rise of AfD. Parties like AfD only get votes because there's an issue or issues that the established parties stubbornly refuse to tackle. A major party agreeing to take on the issue kills the reason to vote AfD. Conversely, taking a CW stance on the issue like the left side typically does means keeping AfD high in the polls.

Not sure if it will affect the upcoming elections much, too late and too sharp of a turn, but in the longer run, if the stance is not reversed, AfD will likely fade away. Unless it will manage to pick up another issue to replace immigration.

The interesting question is the long run, beyond a few years. There's a reason why Germany needs immigrant workforce.

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