Germany’s Pirate Party, which campaigns on a platform of Internet freedom and political transparency, has entered the state parliament in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) — Germany’s most populous state. The party earned 7.8% of …
Germany
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 14, 2012
Hunger Pains – The Guardian writes that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned Israel of “disaster that no one could control” as Palestinian hunger strikers near death. Tony Blair, the Middle East quartet representative, …
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 10, 2012
Pakistani Push-back – In an interview with the Guardian, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani insists his country did not shelter Osama bin Laden and blames global intelligence shortcomings for allowing the late al-Qaeda …
Must-Reads Around the World, May 9, 2012
Warring Words – China’s state-run Global Times issues its most threatening commentary yet on the continuing standoff with the Philippines over disputed islands in the South China Sea. Under the headline “Peace Will Be a Miracle …
Who Is François Hollande? What You Need to Know About France’s Next President
Most of the world now knows François Hollande as the man who won France’s May 6 presidential election, and in so doing made incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy the nation’s first single-term head of state in 31 years. Many people have …
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 7, 2012
Eyes on Berlin – Germany’s Der Spiegel assesses the impact of François Hollande’s victory in the French presidential election Sunday on Chancellor Angela Merkel. “[She] can’t be pleased… but it will at least be bearable for …
After Winning the French Presidency, What Will François Hollande Do Next?
Though it’s an obvious cliché (and one that has already been used here in a related story last autumn), winning the Elysée may have been the easy part for French president-elect François Hollande. Given the severity of the …
France Election: Socialist Hollande Defeats Sarkozy for Presidency
France was poised for major change Sunday night when Socialist candidate François Hollande looked set to beat conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in runoff balloting for France’s presidency. Initial results revealed at 8 …
Why Voters in Europe Want a Change of Tactics in the Euro Crisis
Given the catastrophic mantra rising in media reports and from certain pundits, one contrarian point needs to be made clear: democracy can’t and won’t kill the debt-stricken euro. As Europeans at the ballot box are …
Between Growth and a Hard Place: Tough Choices for France’s Next President–Whoever that May Be
As the French presidential election heads into first round voting April 22, a burning question is being grafted to the issue of “who will win?” French and European observers are now also asking “what will the outcome mean …
The Günter Grass Debacle: Blowback from Anti-Israel Poem Envelopes Both Sides
Günter Grass, the German author who waited until he’d won a Nobel Prize before revealing that he’d served in Hitler’s SS, might seem an unlikely vessel for criticism of Israel (in 2006 he confessed that in 1944, at the age of …
Must-Reads from Around the World: April 6, 2012
Warring Words – Der Spiegel reports on the raging controversy surrounding German Nobel laureate Günter Grass’s new poem, which is sharply critical of Israel. The poet has taken to the airwaves to defend himself, while Israeli …
Politics, Ahoy! Germany’s Pirate Party Scores Another Election Win
Last September, when the German Pirate Party won seats in the Berlin state parliament for the first time, mainstream politicians dismissed their success as a fluke. Sure, they had secured 8.9% of the vote, pushing them well past …