Overview for europe

The Man Who Invented the Euro

The Telegraph today posts an interview of Jacques Delors by Charles Moore. I ask the man who prides himself on being an architect of European Union whether he got it all wrong. Unhesitatingly, he denies it. It is a fault in the execution, not of the architects, which he claimed to have …

Written by David Frum on Saturday December 3, 2011

Poland to Germany: We Need You to Act!

In an important speech in Berlin, Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski expressed a thought maybe has never been heard before on German soil from a Polish leader: What, as Poland’s foreign minister, do I regard as the biggest threat to the security and prosperity of Poland today, on 28 th …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 28, 2011

It's Germany's Mess as Much as Greece's

In my column for The Week I argue that Germany bears a lot of responsibility for creating the current European debt crisis: The other day, a financial friend repeated a joke. "A Greek, an Italian, a Spaniard, and a German walk into a bar. Who pays? The German of course …" Bzzzt. Let's …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday November 2, 2011

New Ideas from Old Europe

A recent study by the Martin Prosperity Institute ( Creativity and Prosperity: The Global Creativity Index ) makes it clear why a solid, intimate and fruitful transatlantic relationship is needed. While many frantically point to China’s stellar economic growth and hunger for innovation, according …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Tuesday October 4, 2011

Will America Pay for Europe's Bailout?

In my column for CNN, I discuss what sort of bailout Europe will need when it finally confronts the full scale of its debt crisis: It's been obvious for some time now what has to be done to avert the bank run: a European Super TARP, a version of the Troubled Asset Relief Program that was used …

Written by David Frum on Monday October 3, 2011

Pirates Makes Landfall on German Political Scene

The big surprise in Berlin’s recent parliamentary elections were the results for the so-called “Pirate” party. They reeled in an impressive 8.9% at the polls on Sunday. This has stunned Berlin’s political elite and pundits. Established parties in Berlin such as the Die Linke (The Left) seem …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Tuesday September 20, 2011

Greece Defies Reform

Back in May of 2010 it became clear that Greece could no longer finance her debt and her budget deficit through the markets. Since then the nations of the European Union (and the IMF) have covered the borrowing needs of Greece with new loans. This helping hand was conditional, the Greek …

Written by Napoleon Linardatos on Tuesday September 20, 2011

British Police Crack Down, But Not on Rioters

img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100892" title="London riot" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-08/london-riot.jpg" alt="" width="535" height="340" />

Written by Jonathan Foreman on Wednesday August 10, 2011

Sweden's Strong-Handed Urban Planning

Avesta in Sweden, a steel-making town of 15,000 inhabitants, doesn't look much like its American equivalents. The conference I am attending in Sweden does not directly address Swedish issues, so I cannot satisfy those readers who have asked for comprehensive comments on the current state of the …

Written by David Frum on Friday June 10, 2011

The Other French Sexual Double-Standard

Many in the French elite have sympathy for Dominique Strauss-Kahn. They weren't nearly so forgiving toward Paul Wolfowitz. Many in the French and European elite have expressed surprising sympathy for IMF president Dominique Strauss-Kahn, now under arrest for attempted rape. They were not nearly …

Written by Tessa Berenson on Tuesday May 17, 2011

America Takes the Backseat

For one of the few times since WWII, the U.S. isn't taking the lead in a necessary military action. But having the U.S. play a supporting role may be good for the West. The essential significance of the 22-nation attack on Libya is not that it’ll get rid of Muammar Qaddafi, but that it marks a …

Written by Peter Worthington on Monday March 21, 2011

On Libya: Europe Leads, Obama Stalls

There's a striking paradox over the response to Libya: those with the will to act (France) don't have the means; those with the means (the US) don't have the will. Here's text of a statement from the French government on Libya. It raises a striking paradox about Libya: those who have the will to …

Written by David Frum on Thursday March 10, 2011

Tea Party Goes Global

Heinz Christian Strache, the poster-boy of the Austrian right, is joining a Tea Party tour of the U.S. Is a transatlantic alliance of populist parties in the works? Heinz Christian Strache , the poster-boy of the Austrian right recently declared that he has received an official invitation from …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Tuesday March 8, 2011

Europe's Coming Refugee Crisis

The turmoil in Arab North Africa is not only a political crisis: It could soon trigger a global migration crisis. The turmoil in Arab North Africa is not only a political crisis: It could soon trigger a global migration crisis. Already, 5,000 Tunisians have attempted to migrate to Italy since …

Written by David Frum on Saturday February 26, 2011

Frum & Greenwald: Will Europe Prosecute Bush?

On Bloggingheads, Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald and I discuss whether a European court should put Bush on trial and what Egypt's revolution means for Israel. I recorded a new Bloggingheads with Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald. We discussed whether a European court should put George W. Bush on trial and …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday February 23, 2011