In The News

Sanctions Will Not Deter Russia

David R. Cameron May 1, 2014
Ukraine concedes that its eastern part is in pro-Russian hands, and Russian buildup along the border continues. Russia’s security concerns in Ukraine trump any discomfort over sanctions. Russia contends the removal of Ukraine’s corrupt president defied constitutional limits that allowed replacement only in the case of death, ill health or impeachment. An April 17 agreement signed by Russia, US...

Differing Approaches to Immigration on Two Sides of the Atlantic

Michael Mandelbaum April 24, 2014
Politicians opposed to immigration are making electoral gains throughout Europe, and legislators in the United States are also polarized over immigration reform, especially the status of an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants. Michael Mandelbaum, author and international studies professor, argues that “immigration has become a major and contentious political issue in the world’s...

The West’s Financial Arsenal

Harold James April 23, 2014
After Russia’s annexation of Crimea, pro-Russian militants continue efforts to occupy public buildings in Eastern Ukraine and destabilize an interim government. “Putin is attempting to boost Russia’s appeal by doubling Crimeans’ pensions, boosting the salaries of the region’s 200,000 civil servants, and constructing large, Sochi-style infrastructure,” explains history professor Harold James for...

Testing Times for Globalization

Nayan Chanda April 21, 2014
Results of the upcoming European Parliament elections will reveal if rightwing, anti-immigrant, anti-globalization parties are on the rise in Europe or if a few discontents are making noise. Anti-immigrant parties have made gains in Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands and France – and such victories force centrist parties to retreat on inclusive policies, assess citizen sentiments and appeal to...

“Partner for Russia”: Europe's Far Right Flirts With Moscow

Charles Hawley April 16, 2014
Members of the far right want to put a chokehold on government power in Europe, a goal shared by Russia. “Skepticism of immigration and a keen worry about the threat posed by Islamist extremism make Putin a natural ally for a xenophobic right whose political bread and butter is their vociferous attacks on European immigration policy,” reports Charles Hawley for Spiegel Online. “His heavy-handed...

Walgreens Urged to Leave US to Gain Tax Benefit

Ed Hammond April 15, 2014
A small group that owns shares of the largest pharmacy chain retailer in the United States wants Walgreens to relocate to Europe: “investors owning close to 5 per cent of Walgreens’ shares lobbied the company’s management to use its $16bn takeover of Swiss-based Alliance Boots to re-domicile its tax base,” reports Ed Hammond for the Financial Times. “The move, known as an inversion, would...

It’s Putin’s World

Thomas Graham March 27, 2014
Determined to restore Russia’s standing as a great power, President Vladimir Putin has his reasons for annexing Crimea and amassing troops along the border with Ukraine. “Today the former Soviet space, with the exceptions of the Baltics and Russia itself, is a region of fragile states, corrupt elites and pervasive poverty that offers little resistance to a dynamic Russia,” explains Thomas Graham...