The surprise showing of the far-right nationalist party, Alternativ fuer Deutschland (AfD) in Sunday’s German election has struck fear in the hearts of many analysts. Is Germany’s liberal democracy and society simply a thin veneer covering the monster of virulent nationalism that has long been crouching in the dark, waiting for its chance to attack? … Continue reading »
Germany
Energy options: Just say ‘Nein’ to nukes and coal?
On March 11, 2011, I was sitting in a coffee shop in Berlin, dressed appropriately in a black turtleneck and leather jacket, reading about the terrible Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear disaster. The next day I read that the German government was pushing for “Atomausstieg,” which is German for “let’s retire all nuclear generating capacity.” Eighty percent of … 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 »