In The News

EU Powers to Recognize Kosovan Statehood

Mark Tran February 18, 2008
After declaring its independence, Kosovo did not have to wait long for supporters and opponents to step forward. Britain, France and Germany announced they would recognize the new state, and US President George Bush expressed unofficial enthusiasm. But states with troublesome separatist movements of their own, like Spain and Cyprus, are less enthusiastic. Both Serbia and Kosovo would like to join...

Europe’s Philosophy of Failure

Stefan Theil February 14, 2008
Two of the world’s most advanced industrial democracies use textbooks with biased and distorted lessons against capitalism, suggests an analysis by Newsweek economics editor Stefan Theil. Even as France and Germany’s political leaders attempt to open their countries’ economies to the free market and give citizens incentives to create new jobs instead of relying on the government, the schools...

Danish Newspapers Reprint Mohammed Cartoon

Rosalind Ryan February 13, 2008
In 2005, the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Denmark published a set of cartoons, including one of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb. The cartoons sparked protests and renunciation throughout the Muslim world, while the West defends the right to free speech, no topics off limit. The crisis continues to show how the intentions of any one group often produce the opposite effect...

Sharia Law in UK Is “Unavoidable”

February 8, 2008
Host nations often welcome new immigrants and attempt to accommodate cultural differences in many ways. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams takes that one step further: He suggests that some Muslims in the UK do not relate to the British legal system and adds that adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law, for example on marital or financial matters, may “help maintain social cohesion,” reports...

Europe Looks East – Part II

Shada Islam February 1, 2008
The European Union is uneasy, grappling with the effects of globalization on its economy. Public opinion leans toward protectionism and, as Shada Islam suggests in the second of a two-part series, that pushes policymakers to take an aggressive stance against China, a country often associated with the benefits and downside of globalization: In its economic boom, China has benefited from the large...

In France, Discrimination on Upswing as Violence Smolders

Katrin Bennhold December 10, 2007
About 10 percent of France’s population is Muslim. Yet Arabs, even those armed with education degrees and solid experience, struggle to find work in the country. Researchers have documented the discrimination by sending out resumes with identical experiences, from applicants with French and Arab names. The French names attract more job offers than Arab names by a ratio of 20 to one. The research...

The “China Honeymoon” Is Over

David Shambaugh December 7, 2007
Foreign investors in any land are put off by any trade and investment practices that discriminate against them. Protectionist practices in China include a lack of respect for intellectual property and market barriers. Changes in political leadership and concern over outsourcing jobs throughout Europe combined with ongoing reports of human-rights violations in the Chinese workplace have strained...