Return to national currencies? Not so fast!

Oskar Lafontaine, the former Die Linke chairman and a figure of the German left, has recently called for a return to national currencies. But while frustration with the euro is widespread, his solution doesn't make sense from an economic, political or even moral point of view.

Europe’s guns, debt and corruption

This second of two essays on military spending and the EU crisis, explores the role of the European arms trade, corruption and the role of arms exporting countries in fuelling a debt crisis, and why these 'odious' debts need to be written off. See Part One here.

Discouraging developments in the German news media market

The German print media is going through a rough phase, with many newspapers closing and journalists laid off as a result of declining revenus. This structural crisis is having a negative effect on the quality of public debate on essential issues, such as the EU.

European Right to Freedom Act

We should recognize that the national context and legitimacy is here to stay for some time. We might overcome it one day, but not tomorrow. We therefore need to develop a new approach that allows for combining the national more legitimately and more democratically with the European. 

Europeans’ love-hate relationship with interdependence

Europeans both love and hate globalisation. They benefit from mobility across cosmopolitan Europe and there can be no return to the sovereign nation-state. But they want to limit their liabilities both to other EU countries and the global economy.

Enough with the European leaps of faith!

The future of Europe rests neither in a self-defeating global market, nor in a re-nationalized, German EU. What we need is a political Europe that acts in the interests of all - on the economic as well as environmental, social and educational level.

Assez de ces 'sauts de foi' européens

L'avenir de l'Europe ne repose pas sur un marché global auto-destructif, ni sur une Europe allemande rénationalisée. Il nous faut une Europe politique agissant dans l'intérêt commun tant au niveau économique qu'aux niveaux écologique, social et de l'éducation.

The infallibility of David? On anti-semitism and criticising Israeli foreign policy

Criticising Israeli foreign policy does not constitute anti-semitism. As simple as this statement appears, its reiteration becomes an urgent necessity when faced with renewed debates on anti-Semitism in Europe.

'My Turkey': Berlin, immigration and the amateur football scene

Berlin's Turkish football clubs tell the tale of a local struggle for multiculturalism and integration, far away from the politics of migration.

Stephane Hessel: the ultimate European

How could someone be more European than Hessel by origin, shared culture and values - his cross-border, supranational vision making us ashamed of our weaknesses, our lack of vision and courage?

Resisting the other of the ‘war on terror’: lessons from Japanese internment camps?

Though intended to be temporary in nature, Agamben argues that the ‘state of exception’ has become a permanent fixture of democratic governance. This ‘war’, declared by the US and its allies against a tactic, and therefore unbound by time or space, is ongoing.

Britain's European catharsis

Like Greece, Spain and Germany before, Britain now faces a cathartic moment when she needs to decide what price it is worth paying to stay in the European Union. Coolheaded rationality must prevail over emotion in the debate that is about to begin. 

Time horizons of transformation: lessons from the German unification for the eurozone

The harmonisation of national economies inside the eurozone is essentially a clash of time horizons – the future might be bright, but the transformation process in hard-hit countries is painful, and unfair. What lessons should we draw from the historical example of German reunification?

France is a universal nation: Mélenchon speaks out

In London last month to speak on a progressive alternative to the austerity policies which are being implemented across Europe (at the European Institute of UCL), France’s Left Front leader gave a follow-up interview to openDemocracy on the politics of the media, the evolving image of Marine Le Pen, colonialism, laicité, ideological hegemony, France and Europe.

Why the EU deserves the Nobel Peace Prize

The European Union's Nobel Peace Prize, which it will officially receive today, was a reminder that the EU is much more than just a market or a currency union. It is the foundation of Europe’s security, freedom, and prosperity. But this very foundation is now threatened by short-sightedness and misunderstandings.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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