Okay, so can we finally stop with the idiotic, divisive, and destructive efforts by “majority sections” of Western nations to bait Muslim members with petulant, futile demonstrations that “they” aren’t going to tell “us” what can and can’t be done in free societies? Because not only are such Islamophobic antics futile …
France
Why Protest-Happy France Has Snubbed The Occupy Movement (For Now)
An excellent story by Reuters just went up today describing why it is a people known to be as siege-prone, strike-happy, and demonstration-loving as the French have not followed Greek, Spanish, American, British, Indian, and other protestors staging relatively successful Occupy movements these days. The piece notes how that docility …
Greek Referendum Threatens EU Debt Accord Ahead Of Crucial G20 Summit
As predicted, the relief and relative calm produced by the Oct. 27 agreement between European Union leaders battling the tightening euro zone debt crisis didn’t last long. Markets just aren’t ready to do with the fruits of optimism when there’s still so much to be made from low-hanging pessimism. Less expected, however, were …
Sarkozy Uses Europe’s Debt Crisis To Signal Re-Election Bid
Given the enormous stakes involved in it, one would have thought the big news Thursday was the accord hammered out earlier in the day by European Union leaders to deal with the euro zone’s monstrous debt crisis. One would have thought so, but one was wrong.
The real news Thursday was French President Nicolas Sarkozy revealing …
EU Debt Deal: Déjà Vu All Over Again?
Let’s be fair: the 4 AM announcement Thursday by European Union leaders of a new and urgently needed package of measures to confront the euro zone debt crisis is a significant break-through that may eventually represent the corner being turned in the seemingly endless drama. And because the accord pledges massive sums of money to …
Could an Ultimatum from Nicolas Sarkozy Resolve the European Debt Crisis?
The European debt crisis has reached its chiche moment—or what should be its chiche moment. That’s chiche, the French for “I dare you”, “I’m calling your bluff”, or even “make my day”—something often used in situations that somehow seem too formidable or fearsome to simply give in to without an audacious (albeit …
New Zealand Wins Rugby’s World Cup–And Order In The Universe Is Restored
New Zealand may have gotten a serious case of the Bleus, but that didn’t prevent its beloved All Blacks from sending the entire country into joyous delirium Sunday by winning rugby’s World Cup final over an unexpectedly combative French side, 8-7. The victory not only handed the host Kiwis their first global title since …
Even Facing Debt Crises, Europe’s Welfare Systems Aren’t (Necessarily) Doomed
Wanted to weigh in with an additional post on the good BBC News piece by Gavin Hewitt that I flagged yesterday. Its main thrust is French Socialist candidate François Hollande—and the European left in general—needs to come up with new solutions to the current economic crisis (and more broadly, compelling visions for the future) if …
Recommended Reading: BBC’s Hewitt On The Sarko-Hollande Battle
For anyone who hasn’t done so yet, I suggest having a read of a very well-focused and evenly-argued story by Gavin Hewitt, Europe editor for BBC News, on the opportunities and challenges for power-seeking European leftist parties at the very moment when French Socialist candidate François Hollande looks like a decent bet to unseat …
French Legal Threat Against DSK Lifted, But Taint Remains
Less than a week after French prosecutors dropped their criminal investigation for attempted rape against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the woman who brought the charges against the former International Monetary Fund chief said Wednesday morning she won’t pursue her accusations further with a civil suit. The decision announced by writer …
François Hollande, France’s Anti-Sarkozy Presidential Candidate
For many people outside France, François Hollande is the man—or the name, at least—they’ve heard will be leading the French left’s effort to oust conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy in general elections next spring. But for many people beyond France, that’s all they know about Hollande–apart perhaps from the supposedly …
Hollande Wins French Socialist Primary, Looks to the Battle Ahead with Sarkozy
Though it may seem cliché to say so, it’s nevertheless true that with his party’s 2012 presidential nomination now secured, the hard work for French Socialist candidate François Hollande is about to begin. With the first round of presidential polling a bit more than six months away, the popular Hollande now becomes the …
French Revolution: Provinces Upending Myth Of Parisian Supremacy
Paris has always maintained a nervy relationship with the nation’s regions—a remnant, to some degree, of Jacobin centralization of the country from the capital, and imposition of policies, administrative structures, culture and language of Paris upon France’s diverse provincial populations. Indeed, in his brilliant 2007 book, …