Macedonia’s Bicycle

There was an old Bill Cosby bit about an uncle who promised him that he'd get a bicycle for Christmas if he'd just be good.  Bye and bye, the uncle would find some minor transgression as an excuse and tell him that he'd ruined his changes at the bicycle.  Eventually, it dawned on Bill that the uncle never had any ...

Obama Gave Brown Unplayable DVDs

You can't make this stuff up: While not exactly a film buff, Gordon Brown was touched when Barack Obama gave him a set of 25 classic American movies – including Psycho, starring Anthony Perkins on his recent visit to Washington. Alas, when the PM settled down to begin watching them the other night, he found there was a problem. The films only worked ...

France Defies US on NATO

Who would ever have guessed that France's reentry into the NATO military command would cause headaches for the United States? French defense minister Herve Morin signaled that his country will attempt to be a counterweight to the United States now that it rejoined the NATO military command.  In addition to reiterating that France will not send more troops to Afghanistan, it ...

Merging NATO and the EU

Paul Hockenos, editor of Internationale Politik-Global Edition, argues in an intriguing Spiegel piece that the United States should rethink its relationship with NATO and instead focus on the EU. In my New Atlanticist piece "Should Obama Abandon NATO for the EU?," I argue against his false dilemma and point out reasons why it benefits the United States to work with both ...

Jim Inhofe Interview

On the night before CPAC, Senator James M. Inhofe's staff reached out to me to see if I would be interested in interviewing him.  I was, indeed, but Inhofe never made it to CPAC Thursday because of a series of unscheduled votes, so it became an email exchange instead. Because Inhofe is the second ranking Republican on Armed Services Committee and ...

New Iron Curtain?

The political financial crisis came to a head yesterday in Europe, with Hungary begging for help from its fellow EU members under the peril of a new "iron curtain" dividing the Continent and getting matter-of-factly rejected.  My New Atlanticist piece on the controversy, "Economic 'Iron Curtain' Dividing Europe?" concludes: The present crisis has had the salutory effect of splashing a bit ...

US-Europe Relations Still Need Work

A series of discordant columns over the weekend makes it clear that a new American president has not been a magic fix for the transatlantic relationship. Indeed, the global financial crisis has exacerbated differences, not just between America and Europe but within Europe as well. I round up and synthesize these columns in my New Atlanticist piece "Obama Has Not ...

NATO Head Tells Europe Leadership and Burdens Go Together

You've probably never heard of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer but he's my new hero. He's secretary general of NATO and he's got a message: Europe Must 'Share the Heavy Lifting' in Afghanistan. He says it's great that Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy want a greater voice in Alliance decision-making.  But he says that comes with a price:  Taking an equal ...

Iceland’s Openly Gay Prime Minister

While the global financial crisis has spawned many predictions of political change, here's one I'm betting no one saw coming: The World's First Openly Gay Prime Minister. Not, I hasten to add, that there's anything wrong with that.

Europe Guantanamo Help Slow Coming

The title of my essay "EU Agrees to Take Non-Dangerous Gitmo Prisoners. Maybe. Some Day." is deservedly snarky. The substance, though, is this: These objections illustrate the complexity of the situation. While there is almost universal agreement that locking up accused terrorists indefinitely without due process is unacceptable, it's also the case that no democratic leader wants the responsibility ...

Europe’s Obama Love Put to Test

There's plenty of anecdotal evidence that Europe is excited about the possibilities of the Obama presidency and that the anti-American tensions of the Bush era are fading. But, I ask at New Atlanticist, "Will Europe's Obama Love Last?" There's no doubt the Bush administration rubbed Europe the wrong way. Partly, this was a matter of brusque style and ...

Euro Proves Currency Not Panacea

In a New Atlanticist piece, "Euro's Soft Underbelly Exposed by Financial Crisis," I discuss the down side of a unified European currency -- especially one that comes with outsized expectations in undersized economies.

Referendum by Riot

In a New Atlanticist essay, "Sarkozy Delays University Reforms, Feared Greek-Style Riots," I wonder if France isn't setting itself up for a vicious cycle by acceding to student protests: It's perfectly legitimate for shopkeepers to lobby to be spared reforms that would hurt their business, even if it's good for France.  Rent seeking is a fact of modern political life.  Not ...

Fixing US-UK Relations

In a New Atlanticist essay "How Special is the Special Relationship?" I take a look at claims that the US-UK relations are in bad shape and argue that, while the US may need an attitude adjustment, our friends across the pond need to step up their contribution to the partnership. While a Rumsfeldian dismissiveness and talk of "work-arounds" is decidedly ...

Amsterdam Closing Brothels, Marijuana Shops

[caption id="attachment_28387" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Amsterdam Red Light district"][/caption] Amsterdam is closing most of its brothels and marijuana shops. My wife and I spent a week in Amsterdam two years ago and found it to be incredibly clean and safe. Certainly, it was pristine in comparison to major American cities, including New York and Washington, given the virtual absence of panhandlers and ...