British Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement on Feb. 20 of a “special status” for the United Kingdom in the European Union (EU) briefly boosted support for staying in — if only because he dominated the news. However, support will decline before the referendum on June 23, particularly on the issue of “national security,” which he falsely offered … Continue reading »
EU
Syrian refugees in Turkey are pawns in a geopolitical game
In September 2015, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, alarmingly prophesied: “We are talking about millions of potential refugees trying to reach Europe, not thousands.” In a short space of time his worries were confirmed. Today, Europe’s best bet against the mounting crisis seems to be to deploy the new regime in Turkey, … Continue reading »
Why don’t refugees fly?
On Feb. 11, 2016, efforts to stop refugees from entering the safety of the European Union were militarized. The NATO alliance will immediately move three warships to the Aegean Sea to stop the flow of refugees to Europe. “This is not about stopping or pushing back refugee boats,” NATO’s commander assured us, but rather “to help … Continue reading »
Economic prospects of Ukraine
Ukraine is living through most trying times: Maidan protests, snipers killing dozens of unarmed protesters, the fall of Viktor Yanukovych’s regime, near-default of the government, Russian annexation of Crimea, and Russian-sponsored separatist mutiny in Ukraine’s East. With the victory of the February revolution, the new government, and the new elected president Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine has … Continue reading »
History’s lessons for the European debt crisis
The countries of Europe currently stand at a fork in the road: do they continue along the path toward a single European economic space, or do they begin unraveling the transnational experiment in integration inaugurated in the wake of the Second World War? The former could mean the establishment of a unified fiscal policy, including … Continue reading »