Social Europe BlogSocial Europe BlogThis is the blog of Social Europe. the journal of the European left. It is a place for debating politics in Europe and beyond. Articles
We are Grieving for our Founder and Chief Editor Detlev Albers
2008-06-01 00:56:00 On 31st May 2008, Social Europe Chief Editor Detlev Albers died after a short but severe illness. We are deeply saddened and shocked by his sudden death. Without Detlev, this journal would have never existed. He has shaped this project with his personal enthusiasm and visionary contributions to the European political debates. He has left big ... More About: Founder , Grieving
Where now for Iraq?
2008-05-26 02:34:00 Watch Dr Toby Dodge (International Institute for Strategic Studies and University of London) discuss the current situation and future of Iraq . More About: International Relations
Make your Point to US Voters
2008-05-20 02:40:00 Everybody knows that the result of the US presidential election later this year will have a decisive influence on the future direction of global politics. But of course only US citizens can vote… But here is an opportunity for you: make your political argument directly to US voters! Link TV has set up a website called ... More About: Make , Point , Voters
Goodbye my Cherie Amour: Is it Gordon Brown or Labour that the Voters no lo
2008-05-13 04:18:00 By Crispin Williams The ends of love affairs are never easy things. Over the weekend old flames of Labour came back to throw out Labour’s dirty laundry, specifically with accusations about UK Prime Minister Brown . Cherie Blair’s revelations from her upcoming autobiography stated that Mr. Brown had “rattled the keys” of 10 Downing Street over her husband ... More About: Gordon Brown , Gordon , Amour
PES Group Photo Competition
2008-05-12 01:16:00 In the framework of the 2008 European Year of intercultural dialogue, the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions (CoR) organises a photo competition which will enable young Europeans aged 18-25 to share their vision of the dialogue between cultures in their city and region. This competition, which is organised within the framework of ... More About: Photo , Competition
Social Europe Interview with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn
2008-05-02 10:01:00 In the last years, the number of EU member states has almost doubled from 15 to 27 members. This major extension has obviously had economic, political and cultural consequences. How do you think this enlargement was absorbed by the Union? And were there any political consequences? The fifth enlargement of the EU is a great success. ... More About: Europe , Social , Interview , Enlargement , Commissioner
Spain and Italy: More alike than we think?
2008-04-30 14:02:00 By Dexter Thillien Over the past two months, Spaniards and Italians voted in, it may seem, very different governments. On the one hand, a progressive government, mostly made up of women ministers and headed by a young leader, won the election while on the other hand, an older conservative politician got elected to his third victory ... More About: Italy , Spain
Europe and China ? Emerging Rivals or Partners?
2008-04-26 01:33:00 The new issue of Social Europe Journal deals with the dynamics of EU-China relations and the future of this pivotal connection. The primary subject of this journal is addressed in articles authored by Will Hutton, Linda Yueh, Mark Leonard, Andrew Cottey, Jörn-Carsten Gottwald and Niall Duggan. This issue also includes an exclusive interview with EU ... More About: Partners , Rivals
Europe - A Break with American Strategy?
2008-04-23 01:10:00 Divisions are appearing across the Atlantic between NATO allies on both the prosecution and validity of the ?global war on terrorism? and on related issues ranging from Russia to the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and on NATO itself. Some American commentators are calling this an ?existential crisis? for NATO. Professor Haseler presented a paper ... More About: Europe , Strategy , Break
The Politics of the Beijing Olympics
2008-04-10 14:08:00 By Christopher McGuinness It’s often said that sports and politics shouldn’t mix. In the case of the Olympics , however, the two are strongly intertwined; the flags, the anthems, the glory of victory and the agony of defeat felt by entire nations. In short, it’s a competition predicated on political divisions and national pride. This is acutely apparent now in regards to the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, six months before events begin. China was a controversial selection to host these Olympics, and what they thought would be their coming out party as an emerging superpower is now in great jeopardy. Recent protests in Paris, London, and San Francisco have raised awareness of China’s human rights record, and there has been much open discussion about potential Olympic boycotts. China’s dirty little secrets have never been very secret. But it’s only been recently that Western leaders have stopped spouting empty platitudes about the wonders of C... More About: Politics , Beijing Olympics
Progressive Governance 2008
2008-04-03 02:06:00 In the wake of the Progressive Governance Conference 2008 , taking place in London this Friday, Policy Network has published a series of very interesting papers covering issues such as global governance, climate change, poverty and migration. The papers are written by international epxerts and can be downloaded here: http://www.policy-network.net/events/even ts.aspx?id=2114 More About: Globalisation
Don’t forget the Chaos
2008-03-28 13:16:00 By Hannah Lucinda Smith There is a small but telling piece of Sarajevo graffiti which reads ‘Don’t forget the chaos’. For most of us in Western Europe, whose mental picture of the Bosnian capital was sketched exclusively by the BBC and CNN in the early 1990s, the chaos is in fact all there is to remember. The last time the world saw the city and its people was when it was at the centre of the longest siege in modern European history; for nearly two years a gory theatre in which anyone who could get out did, and those who remained stood a one in five chance of being killed or injured by sniper or shell: that widescreen rendition of cruelty and suffering was the last we saw of Sarajevo. And, aside from the brief but poisonous conflict in Kosovo which Milosevic served up for afters two years later, it was the last we saw of the Balkans. But much has changed in Sarajevo over the intervening years, just as much has changed in the Balkans. In the ‘land of blood ... More About: Chaos
Ethics and Human Rights in the United States
2008-03-26 13:30:00 By Christopher McGuinness Human rights are fundamentally an issue of ethics. As the American government has found, when a country displays hypocrisy in their own human rights policies, it undermines the legitimacy of any moral authority they may try to claim. In the past few weeks, the U.S. State Department released its annual International Human Rights Report, ... More About: United States , Ethics , Human Rights
Pink Wave outshines Bling-Bling
2008-03-25 16:59:00 By Chris Dalby If the US Presidential Race has so far been the political story of 2008, that of 2007, the rise of Nicolas Sarkozy, has just been brought back to the limelight. 10 months after his investiture, the second round of France’s municipal elections was to confirm or deny Sarkozy’s claim that he understood the French ... More About: Pink , Bling , Wave , Bling Bling
Globalisation and Social Europe
2008-03-19 00:10:00 I recently spoke about the issue of Globalisation and Social Europe at an event in Camden Town Hall in North London. Click below to watch some of my remarks in an abbreviated and edited form.
The Role of Businesses in tackling Environmental Change
2008-03-17 14:00:00 By Sabrina Workman Every now and then a government advert appears on the telly, asking us to change the way we live to reduce our impact upon the environment. I completely agree with us all doing a bit - recycling, being more energy efficient, switching lights off. A recent government advert has been asking us ... More About: Environmental , Change , Role , Businesses
Where now for Kosova?
2008-03-15 14:00:00 By Hannah Lucinda Smith So this was the plan ? the Arthisaari Plan. The Kosovan government would declare the country’s independence, guided by the outcome of Serbia’s parliamentary elections and timed according to the advice of the EU. The world (with a few inevitable exceptions) would agree. And then the UN, who have administered the region ...
?Never Again.?
2008-03-13 14:03:00 By Christopher McGuinness We heard these words after Serbia, Rwanda, and Somalia. In fact, we’ve heard them repeated after nearly every war, genocide, or other type of humanitarian crisis in recent memory. And in the aftermath of such conflicts, fingers are inevitably pointed. Who was to blame? How could the international community have prevented more blood from ...
There?s more than one Way to let the People decide
2008-03-11 14:00:00 By Tim Gore Last week global citizens were presented a range of options by which democratic legitimacy might be conveyed in the 21st century world. Caught between the practices of the old East and West, Europe though is still struggling to find its own means of testing and transmitting the consent of its citizens. It better ... More About: People , The People
Why Brown must lead Europe?s new Skills Agenda
2008-03-10 16:28:00 By Kris Krasnowski Once again politicians, policy makers and political fixers from across Europe descend upon Brussels for the Spring European Summit. This will be Brown ’s first, and an opportunity to reassert his authority over the European economic reform agenda, something he was very used to in office at No. 11. As part of this new ... More About: Agenda , Skills , Lead
An Abscess on Humanity: The Israeli ? Palestinian Conflict
2008-03-08 02:17:00 By Crispin Williams A feeling of desperation is the only way to sum up the latest episode of clashes between Israel and the Palestinian s. Following the latest Israeli incursion into Gaza to suppress rocket fire that had killed 1 Israeli citizen and 2 Israeli soldiers, 120 Palestinians lay dead. Approximately half of these were civilians, with one ... More About: Conflict , Humanity
The Building Blocks of Europe?
2008-03-07 01:07:00 By Sylvia Niles This week, MPs rejected proposals to hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. The only casualty thus far appears to be Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg. His decision to hold a three-line whip forcing his colleagues to abstain has cost him three shadow ministerial colleagues. The Tories yet hope to claim a Pyrrhic ... More About: Europe , Building , Blocks
Franco - German Unease
2008-03-03 02:03:00 By Dexter Thillien Tension Paris-Berlin. This was the title of the editorial in Le Monde about the postponement of the forthcoming summit (usually occurring every 6 to 8 weeks) scheduled for March 3rd between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The next meeting should take place on June 9th. This was on ... More About: Franco
The Myth of Free Trade
2008-02-29 15:20:00 Electric Politics have an interesting and provocative post today: “Protectionism can be a good thing. Protectionism, in fact, is the only way that a developing country can become developed. And, I daresay, it’s the only way an industrial country like the U.S. can retain its industrial base and high standard of living in the face of ... More About: Free , Trade , Myth , Free Trade
Serbian Violence is not just about Kosova
2008-02-26 17:45:00 By Hannah Lucinda Smith America has been a focus of both adulation and loathing in the Balkans this week. In the Kosovan capital Pristina, the stars and stripes flew alongside the Albanian two headed eagle as the citizens of the new state partied in the streets. Virgin Kosova is that rarest of beasts; a Muslim state ... More About: Violence , Serbian
Support the Re-election of Ken Livingstone
2008-02-26 00:32:00 London’s progressive forces are rallying behind Labour mayor Ken Livingstone who is the subject of vile attacks from the left and the right. The following statement was published in the Guardian today: “On May 1 London will elect a mayor. It will either be Ken Livingstone or Boris Johnson. Ken Livingstone is not perfect. Show us ... More About: Support , Election
Is the Daily Mail anti-Polish?
2008-02-24 13:21:00 By Wiktor Moszczynski In the last 2 years Poles and other Central European workers in the UK and their families have experienced a relentless campaign from the “Daily Mail ” that has contrasted with the thoughtful and responsible coverage received from most of the media as well as from British politicians, employers and trade unions. Of course we ... More About: London , Poland , Daily Mail
Middle East Crisis? Security in an Unstable World
2008-02-23 00:29:00 Watch Professor Paul Rogers of Bradford University talk about security issues in the Middle East . Rogers is the author of the influential book “Why we are losing the War on Terror“. The event took place at the Global Policy Institute at London Metropolitan University More About: Security , Terrorism , Iraq , World
In the ?Interest of Society? ? Justifications for Taxation
2008-02-20 15:00:00 By Sabrina Workman The UK government is proposing another increase for tax on fuel in April 2008. Fuel duty currently stands at 50.35p per litre since the last increase of 2p per litre in October 2007, with the average litre of unleaded now costing over £1. The average tax on fuel in the rest of Europe ... More About: Society , Taxation , Interest
Post-Bush World: Constraints on US Foreign Policy Changes
More articles from this author:2008-02-15 19:13:00 By Crispin Williams A defining feature of these Presidential primaries has been change. The most obvious is that if, as expected the Democrat candidate goes on to win the presidential race, the US President will for the first time be a women or a man of black origin (as Mr. Obama is mixed-race and not purely ... More About: Bush , China , World , Post , Presidential Election 2008 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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