Foreign Policy (March 22)
Cuba “is experiencing its worst economic crisis since the end of the Cold War,” and the public is becoming more dismissive to government attempts to assign blame to outside interference. “The fresh demonstrations show that Havana’s role in the economic crisis has become more central in the public eye.” But “whether negative public opinion can lead to political change is another question.”
Tags: Blame, Cold war, Cuba, Demonstrations, Dismissive, Economic crisis, Government, Havana, Interference, Negative, Outside, Political change, Public, Public opinion
Washington Post (January 26)
The economic crisis may be over for the United States, “but for most other countries, not so much. Their recoveries are faltering. The obvious question is whether the global weakness will infect the U.S. expansion.”
Washington Post (May 8)
“Nicolas Sarkozy is merely the latest leader felled by Europe’s economic crisis and the lassitude of its citizens. His flamboyant, hyperkinetic persona had grown jarringly dissonant with the grayness of the times and undermined his demands for belt-tightening and sacrifice by his countrymen.” France’s new president Francois Hollande will bring a change in tone. Blasé, rather than flamboyant, Hollande “has made clear that he will be less compliant than Sarkozy in the face of Germany’s demands.” Still, Hollande is more likely to bring “changes around the margins” than radical change, excepting his obvious change in demeanor.
“Nicolas Sarkozy is merely the latest leader felled by Europe’s economic crisis and the lassitude of its citizens. His flamboyant, hyperkinetic persona had grown jarringly dissonant with the grayness of the times and undermined his demands for belt-tightening and sacrifice by his countrymen.” France’s new president Francois Hollande will bring a change in tone. Blasé, rather than flamboyant, Hollande “has made clear that he will be less compliant than Sarkozy in the face of Germany’s demands.” Still, rather than radical change, Hollande is likely to bring “changes around the margins,” in addition to his more obvious changes in demeanor.
Wall Street Journal (February 25, 2012)
“What if the euro survives the present economic crisis but the European Union—or even the United Kingdom—doesn’t?” Britain’s famed historian Norman Davies believes there’s no reason to assume countries and institutions will endure. His recent book, Vanished Kingdoms, is enjoying widespread popularity and offers “a bracing tour of Europe’s cemetery of dead nation-states, fallen empires and collapsed duchies.” Davies believes both the UK and EU could unravel. The former will soon face a vote for independence by Scotland. The latter has yet to address the fundamental issues: “They forgot to answer important questions about EU governance—that little matter of whether Europe would need a more integrated political union before it could have a currency union, for instance.”
Tags: Economic crisis, EU, Norman Davies, Scotland, UK
