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, …
Europe
Obama’s Iran Dilemma: How to Respond to a Plot Seemingly Designed to Provoke Escalation?
The fact that President Barack Obama on Thursday found himself insisting that the facts support his Administration’s efforts to hold Tehran accountable for a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington suggests that the world is not yet rushing to fall in line with his call for “the toughest sanctions” on Iran.
The “toughest …
A Question of 140 Characters: British MPs Vote for Twitter
A glance at the Reporters’ Gallery of the House of Commons indicates how rich and deep Britain’s tradition of political satire runs. Sketch writers—journalists employed to distill their rare understanding of Westminster’s doings and beings into intense bursts of snark—hog the front seats, craning to capture details that transform the …
French Prosecutors Drop Attempted Rape Charge Against DSK
The legal proceedings against Dominique Strauss-Kahn for sexual assault and attempted rape continued thinning out Thursday, as French prosecutors dropped their inquiry into charges the former International Monetary Fund chief attacked French author Tristane Banon during a 2003 meeting. But that decision by French justice …
French Media Errors Cause Second Death Of A “Hero”
Ours is an era where going viral is considered a sign of achievement, where being late with a trending item is the paragon of lame, yet where the mind-boggling proliferation of news sources has somehow resulted in the considerable reduction of topics and events covered by an often echoing press. One consequence of that is it’s no …
Will the Washington Bomb Plot Force Obama into War with Iran?
“We are not talking to Iran, so we don’t understand each other,” outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace last month. “If something happens, it’s virtually assured that we won’t get it right — that there will be miscalculation, which could be extremely dangerous …
Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Who Dat?
As French Socialist heavyweights Martine Aubry and François Hollande gear up for their Oct. 16 run-off in the contest to select the party’s 2012 presidential candidate, other leftist leaders have joined media pundits to hail the enormous public interest and enthusiasm generated by a primary process whose success was anything but …
Who Gains, Who Loses in Israel-Hamas Prisoner Swap to Free Gilad Shalit?
Win-win outcomes are all too rare in the Middle East, but the agreement that will see Hamas free captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for a reported 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will allow each of its stakeholders to claim victory.
Details of the deal concluded in Cairo under Egyptian mediation remain sketchy, but it is …
Will Britain’s Defense Secretary Lose His Shirt in Gamble on a Close Friend?
Say what you like about Britain’s beleaguered Defense Secretary Dr Liam Fox—and substantial sections of Westminster’s press corps have been doing just that as questions mount up about the proprieties of one of Fox’s closest friendships—he’s well connected. The compact Scot and former medical doctor was once linked by the tabloid …
Meteorite, Meet Commette: French Family Bags 4.5 Billion Year-Old Space Rock
If E.T., Martians, or other beings from outer space exist, at least we can assume they have a sense of humor. Just ask the recipients of the 88-gram meteorite that came crashing into their suburban Paris home recently—a family, as it turns out, with the entirely appropriate name Commette. Indeed, the Commettes’ deftly aimed 4.5 …
French Socialists Seek Candidate—And Unity—To Confront Sarkozy in 2012
So what are the main take-away points for international readers curious about the presidential primary being held by France’s Socialist Party (PS), and now racing towards its Oct. 16 climax? First, that with nearly 2.5 million people having turned out to participate in the opening stage of a mere primary, it seems clear France’s …
On Either Side of the Atlantic, Protesters Find Power in Vagueness
Their dilemma isn’t new, isn’t easy, and may eventually require tough choices that will impact the very existence of their movement: How can the growing ranks of the motley anti-Wall Street protest prod an entire system to change when most of the U.S.’s economic establishment, political class, and a significant portion of its …
Mogadishu Bombing Delivers a Slap to Turkey
The truck bomb attack that killed more than 100 people in Mogadishu on Tuesday was a not entirely unfamiliar horror for the residents of a city locked in a permanent state of fratricidal warfare for two decades, but it highlighted the scale of a foreign policy challenge recently accepted by the government of Turkey.
Prime Minister …