Beyond the exceptional circumstances of the crisis, Europe cannot continue to be run from a single power centre.
Twenty years after the Treaty of Maastricht created the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Europeans face the risk of being marginalised on the international scene.
Europe’s electorates continue on different trajectories. Further economic slowdown expected in the first half of this year, will exacerbate the tensions and intensify the blame-game.
There is nothing extraordinary about countries in the middle income category. When they stagnate, it is for normal economic reasons, rather that because of the mythical importance of their level of development.
A new transatlantic momentum has been set in motion by the economic crisis. Both the US and the EU need every impulse for growth they can find.
The eurocrisis has created a sense of dislocation between the EU and its citizens. The immediate concern is stability, but in the long-run Europe needs a new settlement between the citizens, nation-states and EU institutions.
Currently, the EU is facing two key challenges: internally, the euro crisis, and externally, the risk of a step back for the Arab Spring.
The European Union (EU) perceives the Western Balkans as its own internal affair. Indeed, the EU is the main centre of gravity for the region, without a serious long term alternative such as Turkey, Russia or China.
Adam Balcer, Turkey as a stakeholder and contributor to regional security in the Western Balkans, Debating Security in Turkey, Challenges and Changes in the Twenty-First Century, Edited by Ebru Canan-Sokullu, Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, 2012, pp. 219-236.
„The EU fits twice on the map of Brazil“, says a government official in Brasilia, to reflect the country’s longing for parity status with the old cousin.
