In The News

Madrid Residents Help Stranded Asylum Seekers: El País

Julia F. Cadenas December 9, 2019
About 50,000 asylum seekers have arrived at the Madrid airport in 2019 and overwhelmed social service programs. The asylum seekers head to the police station and make appointments to begin pursuing international protection. As political leaders debate who bears responsibility for the asylum seekers, ordinary citizens struggle to look at a desperate human being and not assist. Hundreds have...

Macron and International Digital Tax: Reuters

Richard Lough December 6, 2019
France seeks an international tax on digital services like internet advertising. The United States has responded with proposed tariffs on French champagne, handbags, cheese and more. “The French leader is keen to reach an international agreement on taxing big tech companies and has urged the Trump administration to help reform global corporate taxes,” reports Reuters. “Internet giants … are...

Slowed EU Expansion in Balkans: Wall Street Journal

Laurence Norman December 5, 2019
European Union member states disagree about the bloc’s enlargement in the Balkans and may add new hurdles to what is already a lengthy membership process. France has proposed changes to the accession process, suggesting that the EU should concentrate on integration for current members rather than external expansion. Proponents of enlargement, including Germany, are distracted by domestic issues...

Limits of Russian Strategy in Middle East: RAND

Becca Wasser December 3, 2019
Russia, trying to restore its great power status, accrues influence in the Middle East. “Both the unrest in Syria and the Arab Spring presented Russia with the opportunity to increase its engagement in the region and were accompanied by a rapid uptick in Russian economic and political activities across the region,” explains Becca Wasser for RAND. Shared interest in selling fossil fuels helps, yet...

Politics Overshadow NATO Anniversary: Spiegel

Matthias Gebauer, Konstantin von Hammerstein, Peter Müller and Christoph Schult December 2, 2019
Preparing to celebrate its 70th anniversary, NATO is under attack by some members. French President Emmanuel describes “brain death” and US President Donald Trump chastises allies who do not contribute 2 percent of GDP to defense. Jens Stoltenberg, general secretary of NATO, admits that the allies disagree on some issues, but agree in “substance.” Analysis from Spiegel Online describes two NATOs...

Quid Pro Quo on Ukraine Aid: Washington Post

Aaron C. Davis November 20, 2019
President Trump is described as “the boss,” who issued orders and demands, at times vague and other times specific, with little interest in details or how his cowed staff carried out the orders. That was according to congressional testimony by US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland for the presidential impeachment inquiry. Official US policy supports Ukraine in its war with Russia....

Europe Divided Again: Wall Street Journal

Bojan Pancevski November 17, 2019
Three decades after the Berlin Wall fell, political divisions are again rising between East and West Europe, reports the Wall Street Journal. “Despite the economic success of German reunification and the triumph of democracy across Eastern Europe, the two regions are drifting apart again in a clash of values that is threatening the cohesion of the Western alliance and the European Union,” the...