Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs
Well, no, not really. Via the BBC: Putin set to return as president Addressing the ruling United Russia party’s annual congress, Mr Putin and current President Dmitry Medvedev backed one another to switch roles. The announcements end speculation over which man should run for the top job. Or, one might just call it switching titles [...]
NATO is still seen as essential by 62 percent of both EU and U.S. respondents, demonstrating that the transatlantic military bond is still, despite a rough decade, firmly entrenched in American and European views of the world.
A new poll shows that Americans are starting to look East.
A mustachioed German has once again sent the world into panic. This time, it involves euros not tanks.
If you haven’t experienced the joys of peddling around Germany with 15 of your closest friends while enjoying several liters of Munich’s finest, you’re too late.
Via the BBC: Turkey suspends Israel defence ties over Gaza aid raid [PM Recep] Erdogan said Turkey was "totally suspending" defence industry ties with Israel, after downgrading diplomatic relations with the country. "Trade ties, military ties, regarding defence industry ties, we are completely suspending them," he told reporters in Ankara. "This process will be followed [...]
On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the coup attempt that precipitated the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev is out with some harsh words about Vladimir Putin: Mikhail Gorbachev has accused Vladimir Putin of “castrating” Russia’s electoral system and said he should not seek re-election as president. The ex-Soviet leader was interviewed [...]
British courts are handing out swift and harsh sentences for people involved in last week’s riots, including four-year prison sentences for two 20-somethings for Facebook postings in support of the mayhem.
What’s a little thing like freedom of speech when there are shops being looted and burned?
Lost in the hubbub of S&P downgrading the US bond rating is news that the Italian government has the ratings agencies under criminal investigation.
An odd coda to one of the odder incidents of World War II: BERLIN – The bones of Adolf Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess were exhumed under cover of darkness, cremated, and secretly scattered at sea, a cemetery administrator in the Bavarian town of Wunsiedel said yesterday. Workers crept in before dawn Wednesday – the 67th [...]
Via WaPo: Cameron cuts short Africa trip; police second-in-command resigns Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who years ago made the decision to drop the police probe of the hacking scandal, announced his resignation Monday, one day after his boss did the same. Yates–once considered a candidate to run Scotland Yard–had defiantly sought to hold on to [...]
I must confess to having only paid peripheral attention at first, but it is clear that there is a major story here that requires attention.
Otto von Hapsburg, the final heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, died earlier this month at the age of 98. Yesterday, he was buried after a Requim Mass in Vienna, the former Imperial Capital: The funeral of the last heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Otto von Habsburg, has taken place in the Austrian [...]
Via the BBC: Austrian driver allowed ‘pastafarian’ headgear photo An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as "religious headgear". Niko Alm first applied for the licence three years ago after reading that headgear was allowed in official pictures only for confessional reasons. Mr Alm [...]
With the Greek financial crisis still working itself out, European politicians are beginning to worry about another country that could go into crisis very soon: With fears growing that Italy could become the latest victim of the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis, and with plans for a second Greek bailout deadlocked, top European officials are [...]
Remember Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the arrogant French aristocrat whose career was ended by a courageous chambermaid, shedding light on a corrupt social system? A funny thing happened on the way to the slammer.
Trevor Phillips, chairman of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, says fundamentalist Christians are a far bigger problem than Muslims. And, no, he’s not anti-religion.
Russia’s President seems to be setting up the upcoming Presidential election, where his biggest opponent is likely to be his predecessor Vladimir Putin, as a debate over the role of government in Russia’s economy: ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday challenged the legacy of his powerful predecessor, Vladimir Putin, condemning [...]
Via the BBC: Greece: Merkel and Sarkozy urge bail-out The leaders of Germany and France have said that they want a new rescue package for debt-laden Greece to be agreed as soon as possible. Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy were speaking after Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou announced a cabinet reshuffle. [...] Mrs Merkel and [...]
My latest piece for The Atlantic, “Is the U.S.-European Relationship Really in Decline?” is posted.
Turkey has had elections, and the ruling AKP has retained a majority in parliament. The next major issue appears to be constitutional reform.
Rumors that Robert Gates would deliver a provocative farewell to the European allies were well founded. Going further than he had to date, he bluntly warned that NATO has become a two-tiered Alliance and said it faces a “dim, if not dismal” future. Gates has been displaying increasing frustration with the European Allies and pointedly [...]
To the shock of no one (via the BBC): Ex-IMF chief Strauss-Kahn pleads not guilty The foundation of the case can be found here: The prosecution says it is confident it has DNA samples which prove the woman’s allegations against Mr Strauss-Kahn. Strauss-Kahn lawyer Benjamin Brafman insisted last month that any forensic evidence would not [...]
Despite what appear to be the fond hope of European central bankers that it will just all go away, something needs to be done. But what?
Not in Germany, anyway. Via the AFP: Germany to scrap nuclear power by 2022. This is in response to the disaster in Japan. Of course, with growing concerns about the environmental impact of the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity, the abandonment of nuclear power begs the question of where the energy is going [...]
Holland is going to make it harder for tourists to smoke marijuana.
Former Serbian commander Ratko Mladic has been arrested for alleged war crimes committed in the 1990s.
While President Obama has had some amusing gaffes on his trip to London, including getting the year wrong in the guest book and an awkward toast to the Queen, his speech to Parliament today hit all the right notes.
It looks like Vladmir Putin is finished sitting on the sidelines: RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has decided to run for the presidency next year, raising the possibility of a power struggle with his protege Dmitry Medvedev, the incumbent Kremlin leader, say highly placed sources. The once-close relationship between Mr Putin, the tough-talking former KGB [...]
Ben Stein seems to have been out to lunch when he wrote his column about Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Some French politicians and intellectuals seem offended that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being treated like a common criminal.
The free world rallied around the United States after the 9/11 attacks–but not all back the killing of the man who ordered it.
Tomorrow, voters in the UK are being asked whether they want to trade in their current single member district, first-past-the-post electoral system (otherwise known as the same one we use to elect Congress and any number of other offices) for the alternative vote (also known as the instant run-off). For a very basic explanation, watch [...]
Singing the 1974 Carl Douglas classic “Kung Fu Fighting” can get you arrested in England.
The English are so quaint, what with their odd way of spelling colour, those double-decker buses, the way they call elevators “lifts,” and their cute little devotion to the idea of democratically debating whether their country should go to war: London – The British government won overwhelming parliamentary backing late Monday for its role in [...]
Earlier today, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin slammed the United Nations intervention in Libya as a modern-day version of The Crusades: VOTKINSK, Russia (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday likened the U.N. Security Council resolution supporting military action in Libya to medieval calls for crusades. “The resolution is defective and flawed,” Putin [...]
It would appear that the Chancellor of Germany is the primary voice of reason in Europe when it comes to intervening in the Libyan Civil War: Germany has again blocked Anglo-French plans for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya. Reports from talks held by G8 ministers in Paris said German objections, backed by [...]
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum thinks we’ve been too hard on the Crusaders.
The last leader of the Soviet Union had some pretty harsh words recently for the current leadership of Russia: Russia under prime minister Vladimir Putin is a sham democracy, Mikhail Gorbachev has said in his harshest criticism yet of the ruling regime. “We have everything – a parliament, courts, a president, a prime minister and [...]
Silvio Berlusconi has gotten himself into some hot water: An Italian judge on Tuesday ordered Premier Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with a 17-year-old Moroccan girl, then tried to cover it up. Berlusconi has stood trial on a number of business-related charges, but this is the first time the [...]
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi latest sex scandal is sparking protests across the country: Hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets across Italy on Sunday to demand better treatment for women, days after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi came under investigation for engaging in prostitution with a minor. The nationwide protest followed the filing [...]
