In a 2009 Gallup poll, Bulgaria ranked at the bottom of the world in their view of what life would be like for them five years hence.
Bulgarians Wear Their Pessimism as a Badge
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European Union
What Happened to Europe?
Back in 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the countries of East-Central Europe all had a common vision. After half a century yoked to the Soviet Union, the people of this region saw membership in the common European home as a guarantee of democratic governance, economic prosperity, and social stability. Twenty years later, membership in the European Union comes with no guarantees.
The Idea of Europe
“Euroskepticism” has crept into the hearts of eastern Europeans.
Europe’s Dilemma: Immigration and the Arab Spring
Much of the West voiced great support for the Arab Spring. However, the European Union in particular soon curbed its enthusiastic reaction when residents of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) began streaming into Europe after turmoil from the Arab Spring left many MENA civilians unable to remain in the region. Immigration from the Middle East and North Africa to the European Union surged over the past year, causing the leaders of many EU countries to speak out against the growing influx of Arab immigrants seeking refuge within their borders.
The End of Austerity in Europe?
A few months ago, when Occupy movements bloomed across Europe, the absence of any similar uprising in France appeared to be an anomaly in a country infamous for its people’s propensity to take the streets. One explanation was that the presidential election was just around the corner, and that after 10 years out of government, the Left was capable of channeling the French people’s indignation into electoral gains.
Irish Try to Wriggle Free of Mother Merkel’s Hair Shirt of Debt
Saints will not preserve Ireland from an invasion of the austerity snakes: the Irish people will have to do that.
Germany’s Social Democrats and the European Crisis
Germany towers over Europe like a colossus. Its economy is the biggest in the European Union, accounting for 20 percent of the EU’s gross domestic product. While most of Europe’s economies are stagnating, Germany’s will have grown by some 2.9 percent in 2011. It boasts the lowest unemployment rate, 5.5 percent, of Europe’s major economies, compared to those of France (9.5 percent), the United Kingdom (8.3 percent), and Italy (8.1 percent).
Italy: Barbarians — in Suits — at the Gates
While the headlines go to Greece, Portugal and Spain, Italy has the second highest rate of debt in Europe and one of the lowest growth rates.
Europe Taking Lead on Speculations Tax
Out of the ashes of the 2008 financial crisis, an idea that progressives have been kicking around for decades – a financial transactions tax (FTT) – took on new life. There were high hopes that the G-20, which had declared itself the “premier forum for international economic coordination,” would take up the proposal as a way to raise massive revenues to pay for the costs of the crisis and also discourage reckless short-term financial speculation.
Like It or Not, World Government May Be Inevitable
World government may be the only way to overcome international impasses and deadlocks on political crises and environmental catastrophes.