Archive for September 2008
UW-Madison European Union Center of Excellence Receives 2008-2011 Award
Empowering International Organizations to Manage Climate Policy
Die US – Deutsche Mafia Politik um den Kosovo aus zu rauben, wird …
Die skurrile Idee des sich selbst regulierenden Marktes
Georgias Bid: Western Values for Western Security
Perhaps most significant to the West will be Saakashvili’s promise to increase transparency and openness of the Georgian state itself, to include reforms aimed at strengthening the opposition and liberalizing the media. Of course all good things come with a price, and for Georgia to continue its Western embrace, Saakashvili is asking for some help in return:
But the West also must respond to Russia with conviction. We cannot allow Russia's annexation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to stand. Nor can Moscow be permitted to continuously flout the cease-fire to which it has repeatedly agreed.
My government welcomed the European Union's decision to accelerate Georgia's integration into European institutions. Last week, we were heartened by the first official visit to Georgia by the North Atlantic Council, and we hope that NATO will move forward with our membership application.
Continue reading "Georgias Bid: Western Values for Western Security"
Financial Crisis: “Trans-Atlantic Sniping”
President Bush cited an influx of foreign money into the United States as one of the root causes of the tight credit market and urged European and Asian policy makers to follow the US plan of large-scale bailouts of the financial system. This call was generally rebuffed. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück described the financial market crisis as "above all an American problem."
Steinbrück predicted that "the US will lose its status as the superpower of the world financial system." Instead European banks and sovereign wealth funds will have an increased role in a multipolar financial world.
The New York Times concludes from these transatlantic disagreements that "Trans-Atlantic sniping over the global financial crisis intensified." Wow, that's harsh words. Real snipers kill. If someone just disagrees with you, he does not kill you. You just gets a slight dent in your bloated ego. Apparently some people can't stand having folks on the other side of the Atlantic disagree with them. Pride goes before a fall (Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall) and sometimes even after the fall. Well, perhaps the NYT is just trying to sell more copies and more ads...
The article is discussed on my other site "Atlantic Community." We also present several expert opinions on the bailout plan and reform of the financial system and ask our members and all of you: How to Respond to the Financial Crisis?