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 […]
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned on Tuesday that failure to win the battle against youth unemployment could tear Europe apart, and dropping the continent’s welfare model in favor of tougher U.S. standards would spark a revolution. Read Here – Reuters
f one were to ask people on the streets of any African capital to name a union of states that readily comes to mind, they are likely to mention the United Nations, the US and possibly the European Union. And the African Union? Oh yes, yes, I have heard of it, a few might say. […]
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
When the stakes are high, it is no surprise that battling political opponents use whatever support they can garner from economists and other researchers. That is what happened when conservative American politicians and European Union officials latched on to the work of two Harvard professors – Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff – to justify their support 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
Enrico Letta, Italy’s new prime minister, says he can reinvigorate his country’s ailing economy by slashing taxes and downsizing government…Letta plans to roll back taxes imposed by his predecessor, Mario Monti, while offsetting the lost revenues with as-yet-unspecified budget reductions. Lettanomics could represent the first big test of the anti-austerity movement that has been gaining steam […]
It is not entirely clear yet when and how the Cyprus banking crisis will be resolved. But what is clear is that numerous institutional and individual Russian clients of at least two of Cyprus’ largest banks will incur serious losses because of frozen and lost assets. What lessons for the future can be learned already? The Cyprus banking crisis revealed just how deeply Russian business […]
An iron law of effective diplomacy is that if you make public demands, your credibility depends on sticking to them. European Union foreign ministers saw fit to ignore that lesson yesterday when they formally lifted all sanctions on Burma except an arms embargo. Last year, the same ministers said this step would only be taken […]
In Pakistan these days, a strange kind of schizophrenia is afoot, as the excitement over completing five, fulsome years of democratic rule competes with a growing tension with Afghanistan. Over the past couple of weeks, Pakistani officials and Afghan leaders have accused each other of fomenting terrorism, disturbingly raising the pitch and dropping all pretence […]
looking beyond borders 