> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Europe, old and new - The Week in 1 Minute: May 19 – 25 on openDemocracy - URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/europe-old-and-new-week-in-1-minute-may-19-25-on-opendemocracy/ - Published: 2014-05-24T23:05:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-04-23T01:39:39.000Z - Description: This week’s coverage on openDemocracy was dominated by perhaps the most significant European elections since they began in 1979. Etienne Balibar asks whether European elections are useless, drawing responses from Teresa Pullano and Anya Topolski, while Ulrike Guerot and Robert Menasse wonder wheth - Author: openDemocracy Supporters - Tags: The Week in 1 Minute, #Migrated, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:46, #appended-excerpt ***Can Europe Make it?*** includes [an interview](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/b15723df03&ref=opendemocracy.net) with two of the leading lights of *To Potami* – Greece’s newest political party – and a proposal for a new rationale for Europe: [start with the south](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/21819d4050&ref=opendemocracy.net). Michele Barbero wonders whether Alexis Tsipras could be [the saviour](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/50209876ae&ref=opendemocracy.net) of the Italian left, while Jamie Mackay argues that Italy can [no longer ignore](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/c9603745d4&ref=opendemocracy.net) its clandestine past. The You Tell Us project nears its close, with stand out blog posts on [how not to do politics](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/982b37a3df&ref=opendemocracy.net) in Bulgaria and the (lack of) discussion of the [Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/b0bbf904c6&ref=opendemocracy.net) from Poland. We also unveil our [**interactive timeline**](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/bc3c4ab3ff&ref=opendemocracy.net) feature, chronicling the discussion by our young bloggers, from the beginning of the year until the week of the euro elections. Continuing [***Joining the dots on surveillance***](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/d6efd7fa80&ref=opendemocracy.net), Amandine Scherrer and Jef Huysmans discuss the [EU’s active fight for digital rights](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/2fdf7f3cd9&ref=opendemocracy.net), while we also featured an article on the relationship between racism and state surveillance in [Sweden](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/eb5c150979&ref=opendemocracy.net). In *openSecurity*, Ozgun Topak reveals the humanitarian crisis unfolding at the [Greece-Turkey border](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/50cf3d27e1&ref=opendemocracy.net), **the flawed international response to the Central African Republic crisis** [is discussed](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/d4c45687a4&ref=opendemocracy.net) and there is an important article on the [trade union blacklist](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/be6de24996&ref=opendemocracy.net) in the construction industry. The geopolitical consequences of the energy boom [in Cyprus](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/496188af78&ref=opendemocracy.net) are debated, along with the difficulty of [administering UN](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/892231030d&ref=opendemocracy.net) aid in Syria. **We can’t leave the power to create money in the hands of banks or regulators**, [argues](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/d59bd8c416&ref=opendemocracy.net) Ben Dyson in *ourKingdom*, which also publishes a series of short interviews with [UK MEP candidates](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/60a7d631dc&ref=opendemocracy.net). In *Transformation* this week, editor Ray Filar introduces her section’s new [**Liberation**](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/42f298fa62&ref=opendemocracy.net) **series**, while also offering Caroline Walters on [Ballet without the body fascism](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/cabe56a479&ref=opendemocracy.net). And [‘Why don’t men care?’](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/5cac21dad4&ref=opendemocracy.net) asks Gary Barker. *oDR* associate editor Daniel Kennedy writes on the state of the [**Russian internet**](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/d0f96e394d&ref=opendemocracy.net) today, along with Alexandra Kulikova on the ‘[Balkanisation](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/65ee9bd1b8&ref=opendemocracy.net)’ of Russia’s internet and Vyacheslav Kozlov chronicling the increasing [censorship](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/3923a67a93&ref=opendemocracy.net) of the Russian web. Che Ramsden looks at **South Africa** [beyond the rainbow](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/7d47ab8bfd&ref=opendemocracy.net) in *50.50*, which also offers a sensitive comparison between Boko Haram in Nigeria and [jihadist groups](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/af5a7edf9d&ref=opendemocracy.net) in 90s Algeria. ***Links not to miss:*** - [The European Drug Report](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/15b6ee3b64&ref=opendemocracy.net), further indication that drug prohibition is not very effective - [Subcommandante Marcos steps down as spokesperson of EZLN](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/55401b9df0/m=1&ref=opendemocracy.net), in usual style - [Why we persist in believing things that are false](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/f75279ce7c/utm%5Fsource=www&utm%5Fmedium=tw&utm%5Fcampaign=20140519&ref=opendemocracy.net), The *New Yorker* explains **openDemocracy’s week in 1 minute is emailed to Members, Friends and authors who help pay for and create our great content. Please forward this to any contact you think might be interested and** [**want to join**](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/d67e6c82a1/openDemocracy/bb28beb484/946f39415f/51634b1085/openDemocracy/d4022f1a75/TEST/e64101092e&ref=opendemocracy.net) **or email us (**[**supporters@opendemocracy.net**](mailto:supporters@opendemocracy.net)**).** This week’s coverage on openDemocracy was dominated by perhaps the most significant European elections since they began in 1979\. [Etienne Balibar asks](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/c089856141&ref=opendemocracy.net) **whether European elections are useless**, drawing responses from [Teresa Pullano](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/43e961ddf9&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Anya Topolski](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/a243935a33&ref=opendemocracy.net), while Ulrike Guerot and Robert Menasse wonder whether we could [finally see](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/bc1ebf8099&ref=opendemocracy.net) the transformation of the “old Europe” into the “new Europe”, and a group of Open University authors ask, [“Who are the new Euro-believers?”](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/c53a73199d/7262321cfa/211ccf03e0&ref=opendemocracy.net)