In The News

Russia Pivots to Asia

Taehwa Hong December 20, 2016
US President Barack Obama has emphasized that Russia is a weaker country than the United States. US military spending is 12 times more than Russia’s, and the Russian economy, under sanction for interventions in Ukraine, has been crowded out of the top 10 economies in recent years. Still, Russia confounds rivals and neighbors by regarding the globe as a chessboard, weighing priorities, using...

In Turkey, a Capstone to a Violent Year; in Germany, a Realization of Fears

Tim Arango December 20, 2016
The assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey at a photography exhibit and a truck roaring through Berlin streets, targeting a Christmas market and killing at least a dozen people, demonstrate that security is tenuous. A few can destroy good relations and disrupt communities. “The two terrorist attacks … came within hours of each other Monday night, bookends to a terrible year that saw the...

Turkey’s Effort to Join the EU Is on Life Support

December 19, 2016
In the aftermath of a bloody failed coup in Turkey – including arrests of political opponents and journalists – European leaders are assessing Turkey’s bid to join the EU. They admit that the crackdown in Turkey goes against European principles, particularly as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan adopts increasingly hostile language toward Europe. Talks have been flailing for years, especially since...

Airbnb Cracks Down on Rentals in London, Amsterdam

Jasmine Enberg December 19, 2016
In an effort to appease regulators across Europe, Airbnb has implemented stringent rules for English and Dutch hosts on its home-sharing platform. These include limits on the number of days per year that one can rent out a property. With two of its top three most in-demand locations in Europe, Airbnb is trying to preempt regulations that may damage its bottom line. Germany and Spain are already...

What America Needs to Know About Trump and Russia

Evelyn Farkas December 13, 2016
In the United States, the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security and director of National Intelligence have concluded that Russia hacked email accounts, selectively releasing messages, to help Donald Trump win the presidency. “The American public doesn't have access to the data the intelligence community – all 16 agencies combined –have on the Russian government, its banks and oligarchs,...

A Europe of Merkel and Fillon?

Camille Pecastaing December 6, 2016
François Fillon and Angela Merkel lead in the polls to become the respective leaders of France and Germany. Both cater to the center-right and embrace free-trade, the EU and globalization. Their similar platforms as well as past tenure together could shore up “the French-German dynamic [that] has been so central to the construction of Europe since the 1950s,” writes Camille Pecastaing for Foreign...

Italy Sinks Into Political Limbo as Defeat Sweeps Renzi Away

John Follain and Chiara Albanese December 5, 2016
Italy is Europe’s fourth largest economy and the country is falling “into political limbo after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation, with rival parties jockeying to fill the power vacuum following his crushing defeat in a constitutional referendum,” reports Bloomberg. The constitutional reforms were intended to reduce the size of parliament, putting limits on the Senate, and...