Catégorie : comment

… We Have Created a Monster – Published on Spiegel Online International, by Julia Amalia Heyer and Christoph Pauly, March 10, 2015 (Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan).

In an interview with SPIEGEL, celebrated French economist Thomas Piketty speaks about Alexis Tsipras’ election victory in Greece, Europe’s inability to fix its financial woes and what EU leaders can learn from the United States.

SPIEGEL: You publicly rejoiced over Alexis Tsipras’ election victory in Greece. What do you think the chances are that the European Union and Athens will agree on a path to resolve the crisis?   Continuer la lecture de « Interview with Thomas Piketty on the Euro Zone »

Published on Spiegel Online International, by staff, Nov 24, 2014 (Photo Gallery):

One year ago, negotations over a Ukraine association agreement with the European Union collapsed. The result has been a standoff with Russia and war in the Donbass. It was an historical failure, and one that German Chancellor Angela Merkel contributed to … (a chronology from Feb. 25, 2010 to Nov. 28, 2013).

Only six meters separated German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych as they sat across from each other in the festively adorned knight’s hall of the former Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. In truth, though, they were worlds apart.   Continuer la lecture de « Summit of Failure: How the EU Lost Russia over Ukraine – part 1 »

Published on AlJazeera, by Molly McCluskey, Oct 11, 2014:

Country’s youth apprenticeship programme is credited with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe. While nearly half of young people in some European countries cannot find work, a unique training programme in Switzerland has ensured jobs for nearly all who want one. More than 24 million people in the European Union are unemployed, and nearly 5.2 million of them are aged between 15-24 … // Continuer la lecture de « Switzerland bucks EU youth unemployment trend »

Published on Spiegel Online International, a commentary by Christiane Hoffmann, Oct 8, 2014.

• Although there is always reason to celebrate the toppling of an autocrat, the outcome of the Iraq war and the rise of Islamic State have demonstrated in horrific terms that the alternative can be even worse.
• In mid-April 2003, German author Hans Magnus Enzensberger published a piece in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in which he celebrated the fall of Saddam Hussein. He wrote of his « deep, » even « triumphant » joy upon learning of the end of Iraq’s brutal dictatorship. The article was also full of derision and mockery for the skeptics who warned against the wisdom of US President George W. Bush’s invasion.   Continuer la lecture de « Freedom vs. Stability: are Dictators Worse than Anarchy? * »

EUROPE: Civilians die in latest Ukraine offensive, on Al Jazeera, August 3, 2014.

At least ten dead as government forces continue to close in on Donetsk, forcing rebel groups out of surrounding towns. At least ten civilians have been killed in new fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists around the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk in east Ukraine, local officials say.

Six people were killed in shelling and gunfire on the outskirts of Donetsk, Deputy Mayor Kostantyn Savinov said on Sunday, while city officials said three others were killed in shelling of Luhansk over the previous 24 hours. Officials in the frontline rebel base of Gorlivka reported one dead and 16 hurt in clashes there.   Continuer la lecture de « Ukraine … questions and non-answers »