Numerous governments across Europe have embarked on strict austerity programs. Europe is also sliding into a deep recession, with some countries already essentially in deep depression. Are the two phenomena related? Is the austerity exacerbating the economic downturn? Yes and no, and the yes should be no surprise. For context, …
Last weekend, the people of France took a sharp turn to the left, and the rest of Europe may be on the brink of rebuking its recent tack toward fiscal responsibility. With Sunday’s election of French Socialist leader Francois Hollande, France has leapt backward toward the policies that have helped …
Nicolas Sarkozy’s defeat at the hands of French Socialist leader Francois Hollande has sent shock waves throughout Europe, and will significantly challenge the fragile austerity consensus across the EU. Jean-Marc Ayrault, the likely next prime minister of France, puts it in uncompromising terms: We must get out of this austerity …
It was reported last week that Turkey has blocked the European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, and the EU’s President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, from attending the upcoming NATO Summit in Chicago. Neither has any business attending the Summit, and Turkey was correct in blocking their attendance. …
The European euro/debt/growth/banking/identity crisis is entering its third year. With so many summits, toasts, tense conference calls, and self-congratulatory pronouncements of ultimate success by Europe’s brightest lights, why won’t the crisis just go away? Instead, it is ramping up as interest rates on Spanish and Italian debt rise to critical …
You can tell how serious the situation in Syria is getting by looking at the recent actions taken by its neighbors. Earlier this week, the Gulf Cooperation Council—a regional intergovernmental grouping consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—released a condemning proclamation against the Assad …
The European Union yesterday imposed an embargo on future oil imports from Iran in an unprecedented escalation of sanctions aimed at forcing Tehran into negotiations on its uranium enrichment program. Foreign ministers from the EU’s 27 member states agreed to ban new purchases of Iranian oil and phase out oil …
As Iran’s nuclear weapons program pushes forward, the European Union is dragging its feet on implementing sanctions that would help cripple the Iranian regime’s progress. This week, eight U.S. Senators sent a letter to Lady Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, urging the …
Philip H Gordon, US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, has just delivered a speech in Berlin outlining “the state of transatlantic relations”. His remarks, given at the Korber Foundation on January 11, are a scene-setter for the Obama administration’s European policy in “its final year in office before elections …
