Category: Blogs

A New Declaration of Interdependence

By Frederick Kempe and Aart De Geus

On July 4, 1962, U.S. president John F. Kennedy declared “that the United States will be ready for a Declaration of Interdependence, that we will be prepared to discuss with a united Europe the ways and means of forming a concrete Atlantic partnership, a mutually beneficial partnership between the new union now emerging in Europe […]

Obama to Germany: ‘Complacency is not the Character of Great Nations’

By Barack Obama, White House

From Barack Obama, White House:  [B]ecause courageous crowds climbed atop that wall, because corrupt dictatorships gave way to new democracies, because millions across this continent now breathe the fresh air of freedom, we can say, here in Berlin, here in Europe — our values won.

Parliament Approves Participation of Finnish Air Force in Surveillance Over Iceland

By Finland Times

From Finland Times:  The cabinet committee on Foreign and Security Policy on Friday finalised the Finnish participation in training on airspace surveillance of Iceland early 2014.

When It Comes to Trade, Transatlantic Values Have Their Limits

By Sabine Muscat

Whenever American and European politicians and members of their business communities talk about their plans for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Agreement (TTIP), they wax lyrical about an economic zone consisting of Western democracies. The message to their citizens sounds compelling: “We share the same values, and we will now set standards for the rest […]

Russia Starts Delivering $1 Billion Arms Package to Azerbaijan

By Thomas Grove, Reuters

From Thomas Grove, Reuters:  Russia has begun delivering tanks, artillery cannons and rocket launchers worth $1 billion to Azerbaijan

French Network May Become Conduit to Arm Syrian Opposition

By John Irish, Reuters

Conflict and Opportunity on the Nile

By Peter Pham

Last week, Ethiopia’s parliament unanimously ratified a treaty with five of its neighbors that opens the way for broad regional cooperation on the use of the waters of the Nile River. In response, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, whose government was not part of the pact, angrily declared that “all options are open,” implying that force […]

South Korea to Buy European Missiles

By AFP

From AFP:  South Korea will buy European bunker-busting missiles as the United States refused to sell the same kind of weapons to the country, the state procurement agency said Wednesday.