Politics & Diplomacy

From ‘Least Diplomatic Diplomat,’ Salty Peek at Trans-Atlantic Strains

By Mark Landler, New York Times

Victoria J. Nuland, who is the assistant secretary of state for European affairs, summed up her feelings about the European Union in what she might have described in her previous job, as the State Department spokeswoman, as a “frank exchange of views” with the American ambassador to Ukraine.

US Diplomat Apologizes for Profane Remarks on EU

By Washington Post and Department of State

From Anne Gearan, Washington Post:  The top U.S. diplomat for Europe apologized Thursday for comments about the European Union that were — to put it lightly — undiplomatic.

Egypt’s Presidential Elections: From the Outside Looking In [Part II]

By Nader Bakkar

Despite personal convictions about holding presidential elections first, mentioned in the first part of this article, the nomination of two military candidates, in Minister of Defense Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and former Chief of Staff Sami Anan, has become a foregone conclusion. (At least at the time of writing.) While some candidates may already have garnered […]

The EU at War: CAR Mission Highlights Internal Tensions

By Maxime H.A. Larivé, National Interest

Four elements need to be reflected upon concerning the CSDP and CAR. First, despite the rapid European reactions to create a military mission, approved by the UN Security Council on January 29 of this year, the EU failed to use the EU Battlegroup concept

President Gauck: Germany Must Contribute More to Regional and World Security

By Joachim Gauck, Office of the President of Germany

Germany is globalised more than most countries and thus benefits more than most from an open world order.

Trends, Actors, and Factors in India’s 2014 Elections

“Five months ago debates in India were centered around the predictions on who will win the upcoming election, but today, the discussions are more about how a BJP government [will] look,” said Milan Vaishnav, associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s South Asia Program, at an event hosted by the South Asia Center. The […]

The Danger of Divergence: Transatlantic Financial Reform and the G20 Agenda

The United States and the European Union cannot afford to follow separate paths on financial reform, according to Senator Christopher Murphy (D-CT), EU Ambassador to the US João Vale de Almeida, and a number of leading experts from the Department of the Treasury, the SEC, the European Commission, the private sector, and academia.  Following the […]

1914 – The Failure of and the Need for Diplomacy

By Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Guardian

The history of the outbreak of war 100 years ago and of the collapse of the fragile balance of power in Europe in the summer of 1914 is a disturbing tale of the failure of the governing elites and the military, but also of diplomacy.

Defense Minister: Germany Needs to Take More Responsibility Around the World

By René Pfister and Gordon Repinski, Spiegel

New Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen says that it is time for Berlin to take more responsibility. She also dreams of a European army.