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 […]
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 […]
Is it in the interest of the European Union to arm Syrian rebels? Here is the real question. After almost two years of vicious civil war, over 80,000 deaths and 1,5 million refugees, the EU once again led by Paris and London has received flexibility for actions if needed through eventual shipment of weapons to […]
Nigeria increased its offensive last week against the insurgence group Boko Haram in an attempt to reclaim the northwest region where the rebel group has attempted to carve out an Islamic state for the last four years. The conflict has left more than 3,000 people dead and thousands living in a state of fear as […]
On Wednesday March 20, Seleka rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) called off a truce negotiated at the beginning of 2013 and began an invasion of several towns on their way to the capital of Bangui. The rebels claimed that President François Bozizé failed to live up to the original agreement by expelling nearly 2,000 […]
With the French military intervention in Mali shifting to a more sustained action, the reality of the long, hard slog in the Mali region has triggered inevitable questions by diplomats, policy planners and many others as to what defines success – and what comes next? Most mouthed answer: “Somalia.” That’s correct. The place […]
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 […]
Should the U.S. government ever come under threat, would the U.K.–its colonial overlords from way back when–send over troops to stabilize the situation and keep the country and democracy intact (as presently designed)? Sounds pretty far-fetched, but that is exactly what France is aiming to do now in the West African nation of Mali. In […]
Recently in my own community, one branch of the government has taken to openly violating some enshrined rights under the constitution using their own legislation that clearly violates the rights of the people. The acceptance in using the legal system to remove the rights of citizens that are governed under a constitution were surprisingly permitted. […]
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 […]
Less than a week after a controversial, anti-Islamic film incited violence throughout the Middle East, riots and protests gained momentum from a French satirical magazine’s publication of crude representations of the Prophet Muhammad. Meant to mock violence sparked by the American-made film Innocence of Muslims, the French weekly, Charlie Hebdo, included pornographic and demeaning illustrations […]
“Germany’s been going downhill for years. We’re the losers of globalization. The politicians want us to believe the only solution is to work harder. But the politicians are the puppets for big business. They say unemployment’s falling, and we’re still the world’s export champions. But in reality, the poor are getting poorer and the rich, […]
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 […]
Today, Iran and the 5+1 group of permanent UN Security Council members (plus Germany) will sit down in Baghdad to discuss the terms of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Danaiifar, explained that merely hosting the talks demonstrated a historic chapter in the history of Iraq. But what does the event actually mean […]
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 […]