Sick man

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The catchphrase sick man is or was used in political parlance to denote a state laden with internal problems, for whose “healing” allegedly urgent reforms are necessary. Historically, this has often served other states or groups of states as a pretext to impose beneficial reforms on such a state.

symbolism

The symbolism of the sick man implies, among other things, that the “patient” is incapable of acting because of the “inner illness”, metaphorically bedridden . The patient needs the right care or medicine, which is usually also provided by the political commentary, in the form of the proverbial “bitter pill”. The symbolism of the sick man, however, also extends to his environment, the community of states, which, like a family, cares for the future of the “patient”: the patient and his illness are the focus of all interest, while the other states are implicitly “healthy”.

The symbolism from the 19th century also suggests that the "sick man" had already built up a stately legacy before his illness, which must be divided among his heirs in the event of a fatal course of the disease. Accordingly, the territories of ailing great powers were of particular interest to the international community in the age of colonialism. See also: The Great Game

Uses

The term sick man was coined in the late 19th century when two historical great powers had political and military weaknesses for decades:

More recently, these roles have been refilled depending on the political worldview, with increasing attention being given to economic issues and the notorious weaknesses are also subjective in nature. The term sick man (of a region) is meanwhile used in economic policy to point out the “ reform backlog ” in the economically worst off countries in the region concerned.

Ill man of Europe

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, "Sick man of Europe" was an unoccupied Anglo-Saxon nickname that was applied to Great Britain in the late 1960s and until the mid-1970s due to its ailing economy and the previous loss of world power. After the economic recovery of Great Britain, the term was later applied to the ailing EC member Greece , in 1992 even by the influential French European politician Jacques Delors .

Since the German translation of the original referred specifically to the Bosporus , the catchphrase “sick man” was practically not used in the German-speaking area for a long time. The term “Sick Man in Europe” only became popular when it was established by the economics professor Hans Werner Sinn , who in his title Can Germany still be saved? assigned the role of the "sick man" to Germany. Subsequently, with Agenda 2010, economic and welfare state reforms took place, which, according to Sinn's metaphor, brought about a “recovery” of the “sick” economy. Since then, this role has been assigned to other EU states, including France, Italy and Greece in particular, but also to Belgium, Finland or Portugal, depending on the political situation.

Other uses

Analogous terms such as Sick Man of Africa were also constructed for different countries (e.g. for the DR Congo).

Since around 2014 the claim has been circulating in the Philippines that the country was until recently the "sick man of Asia". The basis are scandals, an insignificant change in the unequal distribution in the country despite the solidly growing economy, or disenchantment with politics and educational crises. While responsible politicians emphasize again and again that the ascription as a "sick man" is no longer correct, there is also criticism that this ascription is gladly taken up in order to negate previous legislative periods and thus to emphasize one's own performance.

Also on a purely economic basis, the EU, the USA, Russia or China have already been called the sick man of the world economy ; At the same time, this emphasizes the importance of the corresponding state for the world economy, as well as diagnosing undesirable economic developments there that need to be corrected.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Scott: China and the international system, 1840-1949: power, presence, and perceptions in a century of humiliation. New York, 2008, p. 9. ISBN 978-0-7914-7627-7 .
  2. ↑ Dennis Kavanagh: Thatcherism and the End of the Post-War Consensus , on BBC History, accessed November 3, 2017
  3. ^ IAB: Great Britain: "Europe's sick man" recovered , August 1998
  4. ↑ Die Zeit : Greece: Europe's Sick Man , March 30, 1990, accessed on November 3, 2017
  5. ↑ taz: Greece, the "sick man of Europe"? , October 9, 1992, accessed November 3, 2017
  6. ↑ Introduction to Der deutsche Frühling . In: Der Spiegel . No. 20 , 2007 ( online ).
  7. ^ RP Online : France before the election: The Sick Man of Europe , April 17, 2007, accessed on November 3, 2017
  8. ↑ Reuters : Euro area is recovering - France "Europe's sick man" , December 16, 2013, accessed on November 3, 2017
  9. ↑ Berliner Zeitung : Italy is the "sick man of Europe" , December 31, 2007, accessed on November 3, 2017
  10. ↑ Focus : The Sickest Man in Europe - It's So Bad for Bella Italia , November 28, 2014, accessed on November 3, 2017
  11. ↑ Aargauer Zeitung : Italy - the sick man of Europe , March 7, 2017, accessed on November 3, 2017
  12. ↑ bpb: German-Greek Relations - Introduction , January 15, 2014, accessed on November 3, 2017
  13. ↑ Der Spiegel : Belgium - “Europe's sick man” , December 13, 2010, accessed on November 3, 2017
  14. ↑ Handelsblatt : Finland - “The new sick man in Europe” , January 20, 2016, accessed on November 3, 2017
  15. ^ Deutsche Welle : Portugal: The Sick Man of Europe , October 17, 2007, accessed on November 3, 2017
  16. ↑ Business Inquirer: PH no more the 'sick man of Asia' , January 30, 2015, accessed November 3, 2017
  17. ↑ Manila Bulletin: PH no longer 'sick man of Asia' - Pernia , July 19, 2017, accessed November 3, 2017
  18. ↑ Manila Times: President Aquino promoted our image as 'The Sick Man of Asia' , June 30, 2014, accessed November 3, 2017