Once an idea enters the world, it comes to life and affects the way we treat those around us. Reality takes on the shape of fiction. Narratives are one type of fiction. Economic models are another. Narratives are the stories we tell about ourselves and others to justify the way we behave. Economic models are […]
Turkey‘s prime minister has rallied tens of thousands of supporters in Istanbul, telling them it was his duty to clear a city square that has been the focus of anti-government unrest. Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied he was a dictator, criticised foreign media and vowed to “identify one by one those who have terrorised the streets”. Read […]
Among European publics ‘the Greek crisis’ is a phrase that invokes images of corruption, poor government, civil unrest, and social turmoil. Foreign governments and political commentators have grasped that this narrative also provides a way to provoke political change in their own countries. By threatening a future ‘akin to Greece,’ unpopular domestic reforms are passed […]
For much of this year, discrimination of immigrants and racism have been hotly debated in a country where 14% of its 9.6m people are foreign born. Now the riots could make immigration and integration the pivotal debate in Swedish politics. Read Here – The Economist
The German Green Party has introduced a potent idea in the run-up to this year’s federal elections: abolish German citizenship and replace it with a European option. Read Here – The European
Germans are less and less interested in Southern Europe as a market for exports. The driver of German exports abroad are emerging markets (and the United States, to a lesser degree). Italy is only the seventh-largest importer of German goods, and Greece, Spain and Portugal are even further down the list. Notwithstanding a collapse of […]
Martin Eiermann sat down with Martti Ahtisaari, Nobel peace laureate and former president of Finland, to discuss the need for further integration, open borders, and Europe’s new global responsibilities. Read Here – The European
For all those who had been expecting it, this is it: Italy’s Third Republic began on April 20, 2013 with the re-election of 88-year old Giorgio Napolitano as president. If you believed that the new republic had already started with the nomination of Mario Monti as prime minister in late 2011, you are mistaken. Monti was […]
Since Greece’s insolvent-grade financials first came to light, Europe has consistently and reliably emanated ripples of distress across the Atlantic. Recall the mini-panic of 2011, with its big selloffs in global markets. And periodic fears about the endearingly named PIIGS—Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain—sneezing their malaise onto France and beyond. Then there’s the latest bank-run-that-wasn’t out […]
Once, when asked for his opinion of Charles de Gaulle, Winston Churchill mused: “If I regard de Gaulle as a great man? He is selfish, he is arrogant, he believes he is the center of the world. He . . . You are quite right. He is a great man.” Churchill knew whereof he spoke: During […]
looking beyond borders 