In The News

Threaten One, Intimidate a Million

Henryk M. Broder February 2, 2006
With bomb explosions, assassinations and riots coloring the recent history of Islam in Europe, the already tense state of relations took a serious turn for the worse over some cartoons. Drawings in the right-wing Danish daily “Jyllands-Posten” last autumn satirically portrayed the images of Prophet Mohammad – unleashing outrage throughout the Muslim world, including a boycott of Danish goods in...

Rock of Agents

Nick Paton Walsh January 30, 2006
The recent spying spat between the UK and Russia has injured more than British pride. Russian officials allege that an NGO-liaison at the UK’s embassy in Moscow maintained links with the British intelligence agency MI6, conducting espionage. The timing is troubling: The revelation not only adds substance to ongoing Russian accusations of Western spying involved in NGO activities, but offers...

Migration: Illegal But Integral to Economy

Sanjay Suri January 25, 2006
Europeans often blame illegal immigrants for a number of social ills, including high rates of crime and unemployment. Yet “people with irregular status” are the invisible bedrock for many social institutions in the developed world, suggests this article in Terraviva Europe. Without the work of illegal immigrants from Africa, Asia and parts of Eastern Europe in fundamental sectors like healthcare...

Europe’s Improving Economy Still Faces Some Hurdles Amid Global Competition

Marcus Walker January 24, 2006
With exports to the US, Asia, and oil-producing countries boosting corporate profits, Europe’s economy has attracted increasing optimism ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. Wall Street Journal reporter Marcus Walker, however, warns us not to “count on Europe to float the global economy yet.” Cheap global competition—particularly from China and Eastern Europe—has inhibited...

The Dying Fish Swims in Water

January 6, 2006
Within Russia, a small group of ethnic minorities fight for the survival of their languages and cultures, prompting a strong reaction from the Russian government. Finno-Ugric groups such as the Komi, Mari, and Udmurt resist a Russocentrism that makes traditional ways of life increasingly tenuous. The nationalist self-preservation in this case is a wistful nod to the origins of Finland and...

Entr’acte: On Screen, Globalization and a Deadly Discontent

Alan Riding January 4, 2006
The Greek director Constantin Costa-Gavras has made a French film that some describe as a disturbing combination of the ludicrous and the all-too-real. “Le Couperet” is a thriller based on the 1997 novel, “The Ax,” by US author Donald Westlake. In the book, a downsized paper mill executive in his mid-fifties is unemployed for two years before he starts killing off competitors for a dream job....

Politicus: U.S. Model for Europe: Immigrant Work Ethic

John Vinocur December 14, 2005
As the recent riots in France show, Europe faces a conundrum when it comes to integrating its immigrant populations into their host societies. Some acknowledged and indisputably real factors need to be addressed, including discrimination and lack of education. However, a new notion is garnering attention from some European politicians – the idea that the US has had more success integrating...