With EU elections approaching, the Kremlin has backed some of the most noxious reactionaries now operating on the world scene.
Russia and the Future of Europe
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Czech Republic
The Global Game of Thrones
At a time of declining faith in democracy, the institution of royalty is looking surprisingly resilient.
Germany and the Rise of a ‘Fascist International’
Germany got its very own electoral shock this week when the far right won 13 percent of the vote in country's parliamentary elections. For the first time in more than half a century, the far right will be represented in the German parliament, with more than 90 seats....
NATO’s Expiration Date
If the number of eager applicants on a waiting list determines the strength of a club, then the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is in fine fettle. At its most recent gathering in July, NATO welcomed its 29th member — Montenegro — which means that the...
Celebrating Romani Resistance Day
On May 16, 1944, the Nazis scheduled the extermination of the Roma in the Auschwitz II-Birkenau’s Zigeunerlager. But the transfer of the Roma to the gas chamber met with vigorous resistance. Approximately 6,000, Roma alerted to the Nazis’ extermination plans,...
NATO: Rebellion in the Ranks?
Vladimir Putin, the wily strategist of Russian revanchism, is well on his way to reconstructing the Warsaw Pact. That, at least, is what the pundits of The Washington Post are making it out to seem. Last week, Jackson Diehl penned a column on how Putin has driven a...
Tripping on the Czech Jewish Fantastic: From the Golem to Kafka to Daniel Kumermann
Cross-posted from JohnFeffer.com. We met in 1990 at the oldest active Jewish synagogue in Europe, the Old-New Synagogue in Prague. Daniel Kumermann gave me a brief tour of the 13th-century structure, along with the adjacent cemetery. The synagogue is one of the few...
The Expansion and Contraction of the Fourth Estate in East-Central Europe
Cross-posted from JohnFeffer.com. When Communism collapsed in 1989 in East-Central Europe, many industries collapsed with it. Factories closed, workers were out of jobs, and economies shrank. But one sector of the economy grew: the media. Where there had once been a...
Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Divorce
Czechs miss Slovaks, but not the other way around.
Revisiting the Velvet Divorce
This velvet divorce might not have been the most democratically orchestrated event in history. The leaders who executed the decision have seen their political careers take a nosedive. And the two sides might well look at the results very differently. But Czechoslovakia, though it no longer exists, remains a symbol of courageous resistance and sensible conflict resolution. It’s a legacy of which the offspring of these hyphenated parents can be proud.