Foreign Policy Blogs

Europe

Stakes High in Northern Kosovo as Elections Loom

Stakes High in Northern Kosovo as Elections Loom

Life has been good for Serbs living in northern Kosovo. For the past 14 years, since the NATO-led bombing campaign forced Serbia’s government out of power, some 50,000 residents in the four municipalities north of the Ibar River in Kosovo, which is mostly ethnic Albanian, have inhabited a sort of gray area in which both […]

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Russia’s Bullying Pushes Ukraine Further West

Russia’s Bullying Pushes Ukraine Further West

The European Union (EU) is approaching a major milestone in its relations with Ukraine. Next month, the most valuable state in eastern Europe that remains a non-member will have the opportunity to expand its relations with the West by signing an Association Agreement with the EU. Once signed, the agreement will provide a new framework […]

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And in this corner of Europe…

And in this corner of Europe…

The Catalans are upset and, depending on whom you speak with, have been upset since being defeated by the Spanish monarchy in 1714. Now, almost three hundred years later, they are doing what many other ethnic groups throughout Europe aspire – holding a vote to become independent. Or at least show support to be independent because […]

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Tyranny of the Minority or the Romanticism of a never-past

Tyranny of the Minority or the Romanticism of a never-past

The West is currently fighting a new type of political disease: the tyranny of the minority. This tyranny is a direct threat to the democratic system of the US, France and other European countries. In the US, the Tea Party is hurting an entire country; while in Europe, the extreme right in France, Italy, Britain, […]

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Stalemates, not Soulmates

Stalemates, not Soulmates

If you thought Washington’s ongoing political dysfunction was unrivaled, think again.  There are any number of running political stalemates on the European side of the Atlantic.  They don’t get the attention that the impasse in Washington has recently garnered, but one in particular, in Bosnia-Herzogovina, may be just as intractable as the no-holds-barred struggle between […]

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Rise of the Far Right Unlikely to Stem EU Migration

Rise of the Far Right Unlikely to Stem EU Migration

Five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, its reverberations are still being felt throughout the world. GDP in many wealthy countries remains well below its pre-crisis peak, and in Europe the global financial crisis has morphed into the Euro crisis.  The downturn has been most pronounced along Europe’s southern coast, as countries wrestle with […]

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The EU and Syria – Waiting for Superman?

The EU and Syria – Waiting for Superman?

  After a two-week marathon, wherein the world was expecting military strikes against Syria in order to punish the Assad regime, the situation is finally settling down. Two reasons behind this abrupt shift from missiles to diplomacy: Russia and western public opinions. First, Russia, a close Syrian ally, has been trying to avoid any sort […]

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Now in EU, Croatia Asks: Where are the Leaders?

Now in EU, Croatia Asks:  Where are the Leaders?

For those who follow developments along the geographic periphery of the European Union, this was a good weekend to be in Croatia, the EU’s 28th — and newest — member.  The weather along the Adriatic coast is still summer-like, and many of the region’s media movers and shakers gathered at the seaside town of Rovinj […]

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Whither Bulgaria?

Whither Bulgaria?

For nearly four months now Bulgaria’s major cities have witnessed the country’s largest protests in over 16 years. Calling for greater transparency, less corruption, a robust campaign against organized crime, and the resignation of the entire government, protestors have gathered by the thousands, taking to the streets daily to voice their outrage with a dysfunctional […]

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Miranda Writes: Guardian vs. Government

Miranda Writes: Guardian vs. Government

Metal surrenders to the heat, slinking away to dust.  The remnants, lumped on the floor, are loomed over by an audience of intelligence agents — dispatched to watch the burn and all too pleased with the task – and journalists confounded by the absurdity of the scene.  As if ripped from the old celluloid of […]

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European Defense: Efficiency, Wealth and Will

European Defense: Efficiency, Wealth and Will

McKinsey and Company recently collaborated with the Munich Security Conference to release a report: The Future of European Defence. It recommends how European Union (EU) nations might improve the cost efficiency of military operations. The report raises, but does not address directly, broader political challenges facing the EU that encompass its efforts on defense. First […]

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Reflections on the EEAS review

Reflections on the EEAS review

The European External Action Service matters; the foreign policy instrument of the Union is active and well alive. Despite severe criticism of the head of the EEAS, HR Catherine Ashton, she has become a key international player. For instance, she is the sole international leader to have visited Mohammed Morsi of Egypt, held prisoner by […]

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Germany’s EU

Germany’s EU

The European Coal and Steel Community, the antecedent to today’s European Union (EU), was founded in 1951 to stabilize Europe upon Germany’s resurgence. Skip forward to 2013, and the keys to the EU’s future are in German hands. Over the past 62 years, “Ever Closer Union” became the EU’s “E Pluribus Unum.” The “bicycle theory” […]

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France says yes to a European army

France says yes to a European army

A recent poll demonstrates that a large majority of French citizens, at 67 percent, is in favor of the creation of a European army. Such poll produced by the excellent IFOP comes as a surprise considering the long history of failed attempts to do so. Based on such result one question must be asked: why […]

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Revisiting the Shoah

Revisiting the Shoah

Traveling across France earlier this summer, I went back to one of my favorite childhood locations, le Chambon-sur-Lignon, in the middle of France, Haute-Loire. In between catching up with relatives and grand-parents, I had the time to go visit a new museum, lieu de mémoire, that received national attention at its grand opening earlier on in June […]

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