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 Florian Pantazi
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 Florian Pantazi
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, 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 Florian Pantazi
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 Florian Pantazi
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 Florian Pantazi
August 2, 2017
Remember Montesquieu and his “doux commerce” ? “L’effet naturel du commerce est de porter à la paix. Deux nations qui négocient ensemble, se rendent réciproquement dépendantes: si l’une a intérêt d’acheter, l’autre a intérêt de vendre; et toutes les unions sont fondées sur des besoins mutuelles. Mais si l’esprit de commerce unit les nations, il… » read more
Posted by Florian Pantazi
July 6, 2017
Polish President Andrzej Duda’s Three Seas Initiative project is a logical outcome of the European Union’s eastward expansion since the turn of the millennium. To observers in the former Soviet satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe, the expansion of the EU looks very much like a “drang nach Osten” affair minus the tanks, that… » read more
Posted by Florian Pantazi
June 12, 2017
For the average European, a host of rather ugly events have been taking place since 2013 that make very little sense. Indeed, few of us realize that we have actually been witnessing the start of Cold War 2.0 Like the original Cold War, it was started by the CIA and associated agencies, as well. This… » read more
Posted by Florian Pantazi
April 13, 2017
News has it that White House foreign policy aides are toying with the idea of partitioning Libya in three, roughly copying the Ottoman Empire’s former administrative entities in the region. As the “America First” political philosophy seems to have lost its appeal for the Trump team’s policymakers, there is now a flurry of initiatives on… » read more
Posted by Florian Pantazi
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, Africa, E.U., Middle East |
February 7, 2017
One of the reasons why I have decided a short while ago to abandon Europe for good and to return to my adoptive country, Australia, is the proliferation of so-called “experts” in political analysis and geopolitical affairs who are quite ready to distort the truth, manipulate public opinion and sell their meagre talents to the… » read more
Posted by Florian Pantazi
