The international bailout of Ireland’s economy is another epic moment in the crisis of the eurozone. Angela Merkel’s government in Berlin is, as ever, at the heart of events. Katinka Barysch maps the political logic that guides Germany’s current strategy.
The US and Israel deadlocked over settlement negotiations. The speaker of the Lebanese National Assembly has said the Israeli withdrawal from Ghajar does not mean the end of resistance. French President Sarkozy is under increasing pressure to speak out over his complicity in using funds from arms
“If you want to build a ship, don’t gather your people and ask them to provide wood, prepare tools, assign tasks. Call them together and raise in their minds the longing for the endless sea.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Three attributes can make the difference between success and failure for nonviolent movements around the world: unity, planning, and nonviolent discipline.
This weekend world leaders are assembling in Lisbon to discuss a new NATO security concept for Europe. Yet in focusing on external threats, the alliance is likely to ignore significant back-yard tensions. The continent would be wise to look elsewhere to ensure its long-term security, writes Jana K
The mid-term election results in the United States carry implications for Israel’s military plans towards Iran.
The political transformation and social drama of the 1989 revolutions in east-central Europe promised a decisive rupture with the past. But the perspective of two decades and of a global frame offers a more complex picture of this historic moment, says George Lawson.
People power may be well-suited to a systemic approach to curbing corruption. Political will can be thwarted, because too many office-holders have a stake in the crooked status quo. Those benefiting from graft are much less likely to stand against it than those suffering from it.
Will Kyrgyzstan’s progress towards democracy, initiated after the April Revolution, be undermined by victory of the non-democratic parties at the recent parliamentary elections? Or might possibly these parties surprise everyone and accept the changes? Asel Doolotkeldieva weighs up the probable out
Viktor Bout, the man at the centre of a long-standing war of words between US and Russia, finally arrives in NYC; Millions of North Koreans face food-shortages despite better harvest, says UN report; Serbia asks Interpol for help in the hunt for Ratko Mladic. All this and more in today's global se