In The News

EU's Real Brake Isn't Britain but Franco-German Impasse

Paul Taylor February 22, 2016
Britain’s prime minister has negotiated a deal, carving out exemptions to its membership with the European Union, and analysts wonder if other members might also try their own negotiations which could “ultimately lead to a disintegration of the union,” reports Paul Taylor for Reuters. Taylor adds that more challenging than Britain’s possible exit “is a long-running Franco-German impasse on how to...

Crisis Without End: The Disintegration of the European Project

Brendan Simms and Timothy Less November 14, 2015
Europeans and their leaders increasingly struggle over integration. Writing for New Statesman, Brendan Simms and Timothy Less remind that such struggles have historical precedents, including the breakups of Austria-Hungary, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. Those examples are used to analyze a scenario for possible collapse of the European Union. EU integration has grown at a fast pace. “This was...

Matteo Renzi, Scrapper in the Swamp

Joji Sakurai October 19, 2015
A challenge for Europe is that many talented, skilled young adults cannot find work. Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi would like to jumpstart the economy by “breaking it open to competition,” journalist Joji Sakurai explains for the New Statesman. Italy confronts “a struggle of allegiances versus globalisation; gerontocracy versus meritocracy; made-in-Italy quality versus stark economic...

Eurozone Strikes Greek Deal With Tough Conditions

Paul Taylor and Renee Maltezou July 13, 2015
Greece accepted tough conditions – tougher than those rejected by Greek voters in a referendum – in exchange for aid from fellow members of the Eurozone. Greek leaders must submit public policy proposals and spending plans to bailout monitors. Aid is contingent on Greece meeting “a tight timetable for enacting unpopular reforms of value added tax, pensions, budget cuts if Greece misses fiscal...

Angela's Ashes: How Merkel Failed Greece and Europe

Peter Müller and René Pfister July 6, 2015
The Greek debt crisis, has put Europe into turmoil, and leaders could have set limits on Greece long ago. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras heightened uncertainty by scheduling a referendum on whether Greece should accept conditions for a bailout. “Tsipras' radicalism lies in his faith in the power of the decision,” write Peter Müller and René Pfister for Spiegel Online. If he doesn't...

The Grexit Dilemma: What Would Happen if Greece Leaves the Euro Zone?

Nikolaus Blome, Martin Hesse, Alexander Neubacher, Christian Reiermann, Michael Sauga, Christoph Schult and Alexander Smoltczyk March 10, 2015
Europe cannot agree on more bailouts for Greece, and since electing a new leftist government, Greece is failing to offer a plan on how it will repay its heavy debt, reports an article in Spiegel Online. This opens the possibility of the nation’s exit from the European Union: “Greece's creditors … will not just have to reach agreement with Athens on interest rates and payback periods, but...

What Germany Owes Ukraine

James Kirchick February 16, 2015
Foreign Policy Initiative Fellow James Kirchick blasts the depiction of Angela Merkel as Europe’s “Iron Lady” as she orchestrates diplomacy with Russia over aggression in Ukraine while emphasizing military confrontation is not an option. Kirchick assesses Putin’s strategy: “He intends to punish Ukraine for ousting its pro-Russian leader” through “a semi-permanent condition of low-intensity armed...