May 16, 2019
In a recent interview, German Chancellor Angela Merkel calls for the unity of EU members to better face the Union’s major rivals China, Russia and the United States. As matters now stand, according to her, the EU cannot yet convert its economic clout into equivalent political power. In reality however, the EU , through its… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
May 10, 2019
The latest EU summit – which took place yesterday in the medieval town of Sibiu, formerly the seat of power of the German community from Transylvania – was arguably one of the weirdest on record. The official agenda of the EU leaders was to discuss the future of the European Union. This was a strange… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
March 1, 2019
“The surprise is not that few democracies are liberal, but that liberal democracies exist at all.” (Dani Rodrik) Making sense of the direction of the evolution of societies has always been a challenge among philosophers and social scientists alike. Before tackling the subject of liberal democracy, viewed here as a dictatorship of minorities, it is… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
|
, democracy, E.U., neoliberalism, USA |
January 17, 2019
The British parliament’s historical anti-Brexit deal vote is the latest act in a series of events affecting the performance of Western democracies worldwide. From the US, France and England in the West to Italy and Greece in the South of the European continent, passing by Hungary, Poland or Romania, Western-style democracies and parliamentary systems are… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
|
, UK |
September 12, 2018
As a geopolitician, I have been tempted for quite a while to consider the anti-Russian and anti-Chinese propaganda in the West as being a reaction to the shift in the global balance of power in the two countries’ favour. Not anymore. Western elites’ irreconcilable differences with Russia and China lie somewhere else altogether. Think about… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
June 17, 2018
The change of government in Italy calls into question the German leadership of the European Union, which was myopic at best. Italy has never benefited from the introduction of the euro. Its GDP per capita after the introduction of the common currency has stagnated. German-imposed austerity measures and the lack of solidarity among member countries… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
February 22, 2018
When the AKP Islamic Party came to power in Turkey at the turn of the century, the event was saluted by many specialists as a victory for political Islam. For an entire decade, Turkey became a model of Islamic democracy envied by many in the Arab world. The 2011 revolutions were ignited by the hope… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
|
, E.U., Greece, Middle East, NATO, Turkey |
November 28, 2017
The ongoing US investigation into possible Russian involvement during last year’s presidential election cannot obscure the fact that the world has radically changed since the fall of the Berlin wall. Market economies are now the norm and democratic states, albeit not all of the liberal kind, have surpassed dictatorships and authoritarian countries in number.… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
October 11, 2017
Nina Khrushcheva has recently written a commentary on Project Syndicate, dealing with the madman theory of international relations. This approach – consisting of scaring one’s enemies and getting one’s allies to fall into line – has apparently been practised in the past by both Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon. Like Trump, Khrushchev brought the world… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
September 10, 2017
The current North Korean threat highlights one of the most troubling shortcomings facing today’s Western governments : the almost total inability of diplomacy to help solve such crises. For thousands of years, various states in different periods of history have nurtured the development of a special class of bureaucrats, employed exclusively in the diplomatic service.… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
