Europe

The current best-selling book in France is called “Indignez-vous!” It is said to capture France’s prevailing attitude about the moribund state of the world better than any other publication since the global recession began. Its author, Stéphane Hessel, is 93 years old, a veteran of the Resistance and a drafter of the Universal Declaration of […]

Greece, Ireland, now Portugal, then… Spain? Now that would be disastrous. Judging from the amount of denial related to the possibility of a Portugal bail-out, a financial rescue package seems to be a matter of when rather than if. Regardless of denials from Lisbon, Paris, and Berlin of any pressure on Portugal, rumor has it […]

Well that was quick. Less than a week into its EU presidency, Hungary has been blasted from most corners of Western Europe — including the EC president’s office — for two bizarrely reactionary measures it passed within its own borders that took effect Saturday. The first, a 1.05 percent “crisis tax” imposed on revenue of […]

A recent interview with Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister and the new EU Council President, is a good place to begin discussing what 2011 holds in store for Europe. The two most significant (and non-fiscal or monetary) items highlighted by Orban were strategies to manage the Roma population, and stronger integration with Southern and Eastern […]

Armenia I’ve already written at length on the wreckage of the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process, surely the biggest story of 2010 for Armenia and perhaps the entire Caucasus. So let’s turn to a few less-reported issues from Armenia, including the prosecution of journalists and activists. On 28 December, Davit Kiramijian, 19, and Sargis Gevorgian, 18, received […]

Will the doom and gloom never stop? Nope, says the London-based think tank Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) in their top ten predictions for the coming year. CEBR foresees another euro crisis in the spring of 2011stemming from Spain and Italy having to refinance their bonds. If the euro does not break up […]

This winter break has not been short on interesting, worrisome international developments like the new START Treaty, the latest Chinese anti-naval weapon system, the unpredictable North Korean foreign policy, the meltdown of the Eurozone, Estonia joining the Eurozone, and the Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s judicial drama among many others. Nothing, however, has been more concrete and disrupting […]

There is a number of terribly unexciting and obvious, or maybe rather dubious candidates for a European Person of the Year award of course. Thus Benedict XVI slackened his church’s stance on the sinfulness of condoms, yet he was forced to deal with (or at times: ignore) constantly recurring pedophilia revelations in Ireland as well […]

What was the least expected event in Europe this year? Depends on your definition of unexpected. The most literal response, of course, is the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, though a study published three months before the eruption documented increased activity near the volcano. But it did not predict the category 4-level eruption that grounded […]

This just in: Matt Bryza was confirmed today (December 29) as the new US ambassador to Azerbaijan. About time. This was a “recess appointment” by the White House, necessitated by a “hold” placed on Bryza by California Senator Barbara Boxer and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, both Democrats responding to strenuous criticism of Bryza from […]

Hard to say Monday’s election results that keep Alexander Lukashenko in charge of Belarus for at least another four years were surprising. What have been surprising are the calls from heads of several former CIS countries voicing approval of the election results, which the OSCE called “bad,” “very bad,” and “non-transparent.” Most conspicuously, Georgian president […]

How would Mr. Solana answer the following question: “NATO and Russia: How Can We Broaden Cooperation to Enhance Security?” The former NATO Secretary General and former High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, along with other very high ranked guest speakers tackled the pressing issue of Transatlantic relations vis-à-vis Russia during a day […]