After spending several weeks in France, the mood in France is far from being positive. A series of factors have contributed to some type of national negativism affecting any types of creativity and motivation to drive the country out of this crisis. Rightly so, France is not at its economic, financial and societal peak with […]
Nearly 500 miles of European land mass fell away, the English Channel hollowed out, the great earth shifted and the continent merged with the island to its west. When all came to rest, the medieval cityscape of Strasbourg, France, sat atop London… No, certainly not. But for many a Europe-weary Briton, it felt as such […]
Should Europe care about the Snowden’s leak? Absolutely, but don’t expect too much from the EU and its Member States to fully defend privacy rights of European citizens. Earlier this week, Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton contracted by the NSA, leaked top-secret […]
The gesture itself was subtle, but as the collection of briefing notes were set to one side, so with it went a thin layer of pulped political barricade. What remained were two government leaders seated across a table, a Russian president asking a British prime minister to state his case. David Cameron traveled to Sochi […]
May 8, 1945 symbolized the end of World War II on the European continent. It is a symbol of victory over the Nazis, not Germany. This day is of supreme importance to the making of Europe as we know it. Pictures can only tell a better story than words. This selection of photos below […]
The single band of light slashed across the shelves catches the metallic detailing on the spines of the neatly lined books set upon them. The shine creates what looks to be the only source of real illumination in an otherwise darkened room, perhaps an intentional set up to reflect the gravity of the interview. Seated […]
How can the EU still advertise itself on the global stage as being the embodiment of democracy and human rights? This question should be raised and asked in Brussels as many of EU member states are seriously flirting with the extremes. The latest developments in Greece – only to name one out of the group […]
There have been many movies made about Margaret Thatcher in recent years. Now that she has passed, here is a review of three of them. We start with “The Iron Lady” (2011), which stars Meryl Streep. Streep does a fantastic job of playing the former prime minister of the U.K. at the height of her power […]
The vice grip of prolonged violence suffocating Syria is sending the humanitarian situation there careening towards the fading lights of a blackout. With a death toll looming somewhere between 70-90,000 and a refugee population of over a million in two years time, international intervention to this point has been largely limited to food aid and […]
After spending several weeks in France for the holidays, it was not difficult the sense the current malaise floating over France. Despite the current economic difficulties, the malaise is mainly social. One of François Hollande’s platforms during his presidential campaign was to reunite all social classes, ethnic groups under one same roof; so far he […]
Finally, the French government has launched a military operation, under the code name Serval, in Mali after a distress call by the Malian President and in accordance with the U.N. Charter. The degradation of the internal situation in Mali and the growing risks of terrorism in Mali and its spread throughout the Sahel have been […]
When one reads the words ‘arms sales’ or ‘weapon systems sold’, one does not usually expect to see the word ‘Germany’ close by. Though it may be quiet global arms dealer, for the past several years (2007-2011) Germany has been the world’s third largest arms exporter. Though Berlin 9% of the total exports trails the […]
Since the loss of Nicolas Sarkozy on his bid for reelection at the presidency of France in May 2012 the French right, especially the main party, UMP – Union for a Popular Movement -, has been in disarray. The election for the presidency of the Party of the UMP taking place on November 22, 2012 […]
Could Nazi Germany happen again? Could an autocracy take hold in a democratic country? These are the questions posed by a teacher in modern Germany, a teacher who is forced to teach about autocracy to high school students for one week. When he asks those questions, many of his students say they believe the sway the Nazis […]
If there is one element that Europeans can agree on is the satisfaction of President Obama’s reelection. The European Union is currently facing visceral crises such: Cameron’s attacks on the EU budget, the uncertain future of France’s economic recovery, the movements of independence, and so on. Despite what was supposed to be a tight race, […]