August 31, 2008
There are two roads to peace, according to the Maharal (the famous Chief Rabbi of Prague in the 16th century): separation or active co-existence. Of these, only the latter is durable. Although there is no overall consensus, European thinking – whether about Russia, China, Iran or wherever, tends to favour integration. This is should not… » read more
Posted by Stanley Crossick
August 29, 2008
It comes as no surprise that China has not supported Russia over its intervention in Georgia or its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. What is surprising is that Moscow either expected a different reaction or does not care. There were no crumbs of comfort for Putin and Medvedev at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit… » read more
Posted by Stanley Crossick
August 28, 2008
I recommend to you the lecture given by Gareth Evans, President of the International Crisis Group, in Singapore on 5 August which contains a clear explanation of the concept of the “responsibility to protect”, commonly referred to as “R2P”. The “responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”, which… » read more
Posted by Stanley Crossick
August 26, 2008
Paradoxically, European integration appears to be seriously faltering at the very time that it is badly needed – faltering on the fundamentals of integration, not on whether there should be more or less policy-making or legislating at EU level.The European Union consists of two groups of Member States: those which realise and accept that they… » read more
Posted by Stanley Crossick
August 24, 2008
Kishore Mahbubani rightly points out (see post of 22 August) that, while the West sees Georgia as the underdog against Russia, others see Russia resisting the bullying West. The gap “between the western narrative and the rest of the world could not be greater.”The US would not tolerate Russia intruding into its geopolitical sphere in… » read more
Posted by Stanley Crossick
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EU, international, Russia, US |
Does anyone believe in the effectiveness and usefulness of the United States missile defence system? Is it a scam, as Gwynne Dyer argues, an ‘emperor’s new clothes’ syndrome, or both? Since Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars project was launched in 1983, over $100bn has been spent. The ballistic missile defence system currently being considered is designed… » read more
Posted by Stanley Crossick
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EU, international, Russia, US |
August 23, 2008
At this time of US confrontation with Russia and failure in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan, it is well worth reading the 34th President’s Farewell Address of January 1961. It is sad but obvious that the 43th President has not read it. The messages delivered are particularly pertinent coming from a Republican and a former general,… » read more
Posted by Stanley Crossick
August 22, 2008
By remarkable coincidence, Kishore Mahbubani, with whom I have in the past exchanged views both in Singapore and by email, wrote in yesterday’s Financial Times, making the identical point that my post made: we are seeing played out in Georgia, “the return of history” – not its end and not the “triumph of western civilisation”.… » read more
Posted by Stanley Crossick
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EU, international, Russia, US |
August 21, 2008
Francis Fukiyama was wrong. We have not been witnessing the end of history, but the return of history. One reason for this is that we have not learned the lessons of history. But who did not at least think that 1989 had brought to an end four decades of Cold War in Europe and the… » read more
Posted by Stanley Crossick
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EU, international, Russia, US |
Rated 6th most influential EU blog by Waggener Edstrom. European of British nationality, for nearly 30 years Bruxellois. Deep believer in the principle of 'mutuality' and Monnet's axiom "Thought cannot be divorced from action", equivalent to Wang Yangming
