Foreign Policy Blogs

Western Europe

‘Un Certain Regard’ on the U.S. Presidential Elections

‘Un Certain Regard’ on the U.S. Presidential Elections

Europe has spoken Mitt Romney is not an attractive option to lead the U.S. for the next four years. The polls published by the reliable German Marshall Fund and the British poll YouGov offer interesting results on the perceptions of Europeans on the two U.S. presidential candidates. According to the Financial Times, the poll from […]

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Syria: Sarkozy’s comeback?

Syria: Sarkozy’s comeback?

He simply could not resist. The addiction of power won over his pledge; Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy made his return to political life by igniting a new controversy over the lack of action of French President François Hollande in Syria. In a joint statement with Abdulbaset Sieda, president of the Istanbul-based Syrian National Council […]

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Assessing German Power: The Armaments Industry

Assessing German Power: The Armaments Industry

The first decade of the 21st century confirmed that the armaments industry has begun to play an important role in the economy of the country and performs a crucial function for the FRG. The armaments industry still serves four basic functions: satisfies the current needs of armed forces when it comes to arms and military equipment, provides the appropriate readiness of the mobilization base, conducts the research and developmental activities regarding the new types of arms and military equipment and increases the prestige of the country in the international arena. However, because of the global economic crisis of 2008-2010, when thinking about the armaments industry, it is the economic logic that is playing an increasingly important role, while the military logic is slowly loosing ground.

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My 1981….

My 1981….

17 years later the socialists are back in power. François Hollande was elected president of France on Sunday evening. He is the second socialist, after François Mitterrand, to assume the highest function of the state. Mr. Hollande defeated Mr. Sarkozy with 51.62% of votes. Interestingly, these numbers do not represent the reality of the votes of […]

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Réactions à chaud – The results of the first round are in

Réactions à chaud – The results of the first round are in

Prior to the May elections, the Economist and other major media had François Hollande wining the presidency. One of the latest articles in the Economist argued that voting for Hollande was only a no-Sarkozy vote rather than a belief in Hollande’s abilities, skills, and programs. François Hollande has never held a post in any government. […]

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The nightmare of elections – Thoughts on the French presidential race

The nightmare of elections – Thoughts on the French presidential race

Approximately every two, four, or five years depending on the country some sort of elections are taking place. Elections have been described as the epitome of democracy; yes, but only to a certain extent. Let’s face it, elections have simply become a nightmare as they too often remind citizens about the inaptitude of elected officials […]

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And the Next President of France is… François Hollande

And the Next President of France is… François Hollande

As a French citizen and social scientist, I could not resist reviewing a very good article published by the excellent peer-reviewed journal, PS: Political Science & Politics. Two experts from the University of Montréal, Martial Foucault and Richard Nadeau, declared François Hollande winner of the 2012 French Presidential elections in their article “Forecasting the 2012 […]

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