The inconvenient truth
Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, was yesterday chosen as the new head of the International Monetary Fund after Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a fellow Frenchman, stepped down from the post earlier last month, due to sexual-assault charges. While many highlight the fact that Madame Lagarde is fluent in English and well-respected in the world of politics, [...]
A window of opportunity
It should not surprise anyone that the USA is withdrawing from Afghanistan soon after Osama bin Laden has been killed. Combined with the pullout from Iraq and the shaky political situation in other Middle Eastern countries, the European Union is on its way to face the greatest security threat of its existence. US President Barack [...]
The country where growth stopped
The country which by many experts was once regarded as the economic powerhouse of Central Europe has stopped growing. Newly published data by the European Union’s statistical body, Eurostat, clearly show that in the last 7 years Hungary’s GDP (when compared to the EU per capita average) has almost started to stagnate. This means that [...]
Europe and Asia together against non-traditional security challenges
The results of the Tenth ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Ágnes Szunomár The relationship between Europe and Asia – although more and more common interests and challenges connect them – for a long time has consisted of bilateral relations without a formal supporting structure or framework such as for transatlantic relations in the case of Europe [...]
Wake up EU, it’s 2011!
So, here it is. The third term with the AKP, the political party that has been making the reforms for the accession negotiations with the EU, the party which the hard-core secular Turks are scared of, the party that made Turkey much more confident in its foreign policy by expanding its range. This more independent [...]
A European vision for the Middle East
In this introductory article, I will examine what kind of threats and possibilities does the current power vacuum in the Middle East present to Europe. I will argue that the way the European Union can influence the region will be an indicator of whether Europe can become a great power in the XXI century. The [...]
Leaderless Europe
In the last few months I have found myself constantly bumping into articles that speak of the dawn of social democracy and with the observation that precisely because of this, we are facing a new conservative (i.e. centre-right) modern age in Europe. I would argue that it is too early to call a clear winner [...]
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