Losing Iceland
By insisting that Iceland compensate former Icesave clients, Britain and the Netherlands are failing to think ahead.
Europe
A Little Atlantic Discord
President Barack Obama snubs Europeans by skipping a summit.
Future Surface Combatant and Other Myths
This is the second part in a series of reports on the current state of the Royal Navy. The first entry focused on the expeditionary tool of the Royal Navy’s future force; the aircraft carrier. This article discusses the Future Surface Combatant and the effectiveness of modular versus “hardwired” vessels. Earlier this week, the blog […]
Economic Freedom in 2010
Free markets are in retreat.
Spheres of Waning Influence
Let’s not worry too much about non-Western actors cooperating on their own. The West might even benefit.
Capitalism Under Persecution
Twenty years after the end of the Cold War, capitalism is in recession. Capitalists have become a persecuted minority.
Europe’s Egg Shortage
It’s difficult to get about some eggs in the eastern parts of the Netherlands these days. Supermarkets are experiencing serious shortages there because large supplies of eggs have been bought up by German wholesalers. The Netherlands has always been one of the world’s greatest exportors of eggs but usually not at a disadvantage to the […]
Gateway to the West
Turkey, or in the past the Ottoman Empire, has always been something of a bridge between Europe and the Near East. In recent years, it increasingly turned its attention westward, joining NATO and hoping, some day, to become part of the European Union. Decades of promises and negotiations have left the country frustrated with Europe […]
HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Future of the Royal Navy
This is the first part in a series of reports on the current state of the Royal Navy. This part focuses on the expeditionary tool of the Royal Navy’s future force; the aircraft carrier. The second entry discusses the Future Surface Combatant and the effectiveness of modular versus “hardwired” vessels. Earlier this year, public interest […]
Europe’s Uneven Recovery
Europe’s massive deficit spending is finally catching up with it. As Stefan Theil writes for Newsweek, markets reacted sharply this week “after rating agencies downgraded the public debt of Greece and warned about the outlook for several others.” With a deficit running at over 12 percent of GDP, Greece runs a serious risk of becoming […]
Merkel Government Under Pressure
Pressure is building on German chancellor Angela Merkel and her defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, to account for the German-ordered NATO attack in Afghanistan last September that killed 142 people, many of them civilians. Guttenberg, formerly minister for economics, took charge of the Defense Department last October as member of Chancellor Merkel’s second cabinet. The […]
Brown Bashing the Rich
It’s not good to be rich in Britain. One is properly punished there for making too much money as becomes a welfare state. From every Briton that earns over £150,000 (or $243,000) a year, the government takes half of that in income tax. The well-off now face a further cut to tax relief on their […]
Obama Last Transatlanticist?
Fears of Barack Obama neglecting Europe in favor of the Far East seem exaggerated.
The Potential of European Might
Obstacles to European defense cooperation are numerous and unlikely to be overcome.
The New Atlantic Order
Henry Kissinger believes “an international political regulatory system” is imminent.