The first National Human Rights Action Plan of China has just been published for the period 2009-2010.  What are the motivations behind publication?  Is this a genuine attempt to improve human rights in China or just intended to show that officials take human rights seriously?  Is it an effort to ward off domestic concerns?  Is [...]

How did the United Nations and its leading member countries make such a mess of the racism conference in Geneva this week, dubbed ‘Durham II”?To try to answer this question requires other questions to be addressed: How can the UN Human Rights Council have credibility, given its anti-Israeli bias? With the experience of Durban I [...]

The following interview was published ytesterday by EurActif :     US President Barack Obama has already taken substantial steps to improve the United States’ relations with its Western partners, seek dialogue with the Muslim world and address hotbeds of tension, Stanley Crossick, the founding chairman of European Policy Centre, told EurActiv in an interview. European Policy Centre founder Stanley Crossick, [...]

The first meeting (on 1 April in London) between Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev went very well.  Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev have pledged to agree cuts in their countries’ nuclear arsenals by December of this year, as part of a “fresh start” in US-Russian relations and a step towards “a nuclear free world”.  Obama [...]

I’ve been struggling since Barack Obama entered the White House over what attitude to take towards NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan.  One side of me does not believe we can achieve even limited goals; the other side says that we Europeans should support the new president.    The principal objective of the Obama policy is to [...]

Solidarity has always been an important part of the foundations of the European Union.  While it is clearly much more difficult to achieve solidarity among 27 Member States than 15 or less, this spirit is seriously lacking during the current economic and financial crises.  But sadly this is a reflection on human nature.  The Union [...]

During his recent visit to Europe, President Barack Obama firmly stated on more than one occasion his support for the US missile defence shield.  Previously, the impression given was that it would not be built.  Why did he express himself so positively, while seeking to improve relations with Russia?    There is more than one [...]

Commission   Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen considers that late payments by public authorities are “intolerable” and lead to SMEs going bankrupt.   How right he is.  However, the Commission is one of the worst offenders, with its cumbersome and arcane rules.  The European Ombudsman has opened a new investigation into the timeliness of payments by the [...]

This week’s meeting in London between Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev was very welcome.  They are to seek to agree a new arms control treaty this year.  Obama has ‘pressed the reset button’, as promised.  The atmosphere of the meeting was good.  With Barack Obama replacing George W Bush, hopefully western understanding of Russian [...]

I’ve been struggling since Barack Obama entered the White House over what my attitude towards NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan should be.  One side of me does not believe we can achieve even limited goals; the other side says that we Europeans should support the new president.    The principal objective of the Obama policy is [...]