In its latest issue, the weekly British magazine the Economist called Mr. Hollande, the Socialist candidate to the French presidency, the most dangerous man of Europe. Even though this statement is not only a smart marketing move, it appears out of line considering the behavior of …
“It’s all fucked up,” reflected Mads, a Danish soldier posted in Armadillo, a Forward Operating Base located in Afghanistan. One of his comrades had been seriously wounded by an IED. Such a statement was probably the most accurate description of the then-Vietnam war, and is as …
Considering the unpredictability of fear-driven markets the eurozone is not yet out of the woods. Neverthless, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to say that Europe has ridden out the worst of the storm. The piecemeal rescue process has not been pretty, but the sum of measures taken – the …
These last several weeks Alain Juppé, French Foreign Minister, has been outspoken against the incompetence of the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and the European External Action Service (EEAS). The latest attack was a letter sent by Juppé to Ashton on March 9th, wherein the French minister lectured Ashton on …
Vladimir Putin was elected President of Russia. What a surprise! One thing is quite certain, being elected was not the problem, the real dilemma for Putin may be to stay in power as long as he envisions it. Russian citizens are seriously concerned about the problems …
What is the state of the Union? Where is the EU heading? Will it survive the current economic, democratic, and financial crises? These were some of the questions raised and tackled during a day-long workshop sponsored by the EU Center of Excellence …
“How can the world do nothing?” The massacre of the Syrian people has taken place for too long now with no end in sight. In addition to the atrocious violence perpetuated by the Al-Assad regime, American and French journalists, Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik, …
In recent months the EU security policy jargon has been filled up with catchy buzzwords, such as ‘permanent operational headquarters’ or ‘pooling and sharing.’ Some experts even coined the latter into an ironic phrase: “you pool, we share,” which to some extent reflects both the discrepancies between the standpoints of the EU states and the challenges for the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). Be it as it may, these two aspects will be crucial for the future of effective common European defense and external operational engagement. However, there is one more buzzword which still has not been fully rediscovered, although it will be of even greater importance: a new strategy.
Guest Post by Artur Kluz, Guy Billauer
The European Union is walking a thin line. Bloomberg News recently reported that European CEOs are actively considering the worst case scenario – namely, the end of the Euro. Spanish and Italian companies are increasingly moving funds to Germany in expectation of one or more Eurozone countries …
As Europe suffers a severe a cold snap, EU-Russian relations are experiencing a proverbial chill. The diplomatic cooling is the result of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s criticism of Putin’s democratic credentials. The sharpness of Ashton’s critique was for many a somewhat surprising, yet desirable …
Carlos Slim is well known in Latin America and abroad as one of, if not the wealthiest CEO in the world. He was even mentioned on the Colbert Report this past week introducing him to the American public as someone who’s net worth trumps that of Mitt …
The last two years were a bumpy ride for the European security policy. One may claim that the Europeans once again failed not only to convey a clear message about their security goals to the foreign partners, but also to take concrete actions in order to stave off the creeping erosion of the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). Do we really face a European strategic decay in that domain? Indeed, some serious doubts about this statement may be raised. Therefore, it is high time to debunk three prophecies about European security in 2012.
These last couple weeks I have been watching numerous movies on British politics. Coincidence or calculations? Yesterday night, it was Tinker, Tailor, Sailor, Spy, the night before Page Eight (which by the way is one of my favorite spy movies), tonight most likely the Iron Lady. …
Anyone watching the end of the year documentaries on stations like the BBC and other international broadcasters likely feel the sense of slight growth in the United States mixed with slowing growth in places like South America and other regions that have thus far resisted the 2008 economic collapse effectively. …
This end of year has been quite tumultuous in Europe: European citizens are in the street, rating agencies threaten to downgrade the rating of some members of the Eurozone, the race to elections is going full speed in several EU countries, all this taking place in …
