From Cartoon War to Trade War

Europe views a recent decision by Tehran to boycott Danish products as a blatant financial attack against the EU itself. Ostensibly a response to the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, the Iranian move puts Europe on the defensive about Iran’s nuclear program. Financial Times Deutschland counsels that the EU must remain calm and not antagonize Iran. The center-left paper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, has also expressed displeasure that several European firms are helping promote the boycott in the Middle East, likening their motivation to that of foreign companies during the 1930’s that boasted about not employing Jews to maintain business with Germany. As the furor over the cartoons escalates, a natural response is to refer to an all-out “clash of cultures,” but the conservative Die Welt suggests that if this were the case, massive demonstrations would also have broken out in Europe. The editors in chief of Germany’s and Turkey’s largest newspapers have affirmed the common bonds between Muslims and Christians, offering an appeal to “respect the feelings of the other and to avoid insults, indignities or perfidy and to instead build an alliance of cultures.” – YaleGlobal