Germany’s triumphant World Cup team included players of Polish, Turkish, African, and Arab descent, showcasing the country’s increasingly multi-ethnic complexion. What’s less well-known is that a record flood of immigrants is also giving a big boost to the German economy. Over the past five years, Germany has surpassed Britain to become Europe’s No. 1 immigration […]
The European elections have shown how big a problem populism really is. But Cameron, Hollande and other leaders can keep the populists at bay if they start to look south. Read Here – The European
History matters, but in different ways. In some places and for some people, history means eternal clashes that are shaped by profound geopolitical forces: four centuries ago is the same as yesterday. Elsewhere and for other people, history suggests a need to find ways to escape from ancient predicaments and outdated prejudices. It is this […]
Last weekend, Helmut Schmidt and Henry Kissinger participated in a discussion at the Munich Security Conference – just as they did a half-century ago, when they took part in the first Internationale Wehrkunde-Begegnung (the forerunner of today’s conference). In the meantime, many developments around the world have given us reason to rejoice – but also to reflect. […]
Estonia may not show up on Americans’ radar too often. It is a tiny country in northeastern Europe, just next to Finland. It has the territory of the Netherlands, but 13 times less people—its 1.3 million inhabitants is comparable to Hawaii’s population. As a friend from India recently quipped, “What is there to govern? Read Here […]
Differences among Ukrainians over their world view have been increasingly exposed since the 2004-05 Orange Revolution tilted policy westward for the first time since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. This goes back generations Read Here – Reuters
Those who would turn the French economy certainly have their job cut out for them. Apart from the occasional rays of sunshine, France, since before the global financial crisis of 2008-09, has suffered a steady decline in worker productivity and business profitability. Read Here – National Interest
So Merkel-Land is looking at stasis, thanks to too much chumminess among the parties. In the next four years, we won’t be seeing any more magazine covers celebrating Angela I as “queen” or “empress” of the Continent. Read Here – Bloomberg
Angela Merkel won Germany’s parliamentary elections by a landslide. Two months later, though, she still hasn’t managed to put together a government. Read Here – BusinessWeek
One of Pope Benedict XVI’s big concerns as pontiff was the decline of Christianity in Europe as secularization has spread. For instance, he regretted that, despite strong Vatican pressure, the drafters of the EU Constitution had not seen fit to include anywhere a reference to Europe’s Christian roots. Read Here – WorldAffairsJournal
looking beyond borders 