Poland once again exhibited a rather narrow strategic thinking and its deep rooted, post-communist “battered wife syndrome”. Poland has been fighting along with America in the last two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, eventually to see the main benefit of its own engagement, i.e. the Bush’s antimissile defense shield project, being cancelled by Bush’s successor in the Oval office. All Poland gained from its military engagement on America’s side is: tens of lives lost, no business contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq for the Polish companies, hundreds of millions of dollars spent and perhaps one unarmed MIM 104 Patriot mobile battery for training purposes that might be delivered in the future by the U.S. Read more

AFTER THE FALL OF THE WALL   BY MO SACIRBEY | Nov 18

The fall of the Wall was truly transformational. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Euro-Atlantic democracies since the defeat of the Nazis and Axis. Some may argue even greater, in terms of altering long standing historical tides. However, the fall of the wall was neither a purely Western European or American deed nor does it erase other walls. In an odd twist of fate, it may be defining new walls by exclusion. The most obstructive, certainly dangerous walls that are being constructed now are those in the minds of citizens, particularly the leadership of a Europe that appears more intent in defining itself through exclusion rather than the broad mindedness one might expect of a continent still celebrating the tearing down of an authoritarian fence through its heart. Read more

REASSESSING POLAND-U.S. RELATIONS   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | October 23

Under the Obama Administration, the bilateral Polish-U.S. relations have reached its lowest point since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Poland’s political reorientation to the Western democratic communities. Historically, those relations have never been so immaterial even under Obama’s Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton, who despite having strong leftist leanings, kept a reasonable strategic outlook at the U.S. role in the European balance of power. Read more

THE BIRTH OF NEOSOCIALISM   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | October 3

Obama’s September decision to terminate the antimissile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic is perhaps more interesting if one considers his overall performance in the foreign affairs field. During the last several major international crises, the Obama Administration has almost always landed on the wrong side of the history. Read more

THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF POLAND?   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | June 28, 2009

Here is a short overview of the most probable presidential hopefuls in the forthcoming presidential elections in Poland in 2010. Although an official battle has not yet begun, many of the prospective candidates are positioning themselves to run for the office next year. [..] Theoretically, Kaczynski could win only under two conditions: if he does not veto any forthcoming governmental legislation to combat the economic crisis (letting the government take the full responsibility for it) and if he carefully learns the lessons of the U.S. presidential election of 1948, in which Harry Truman beat Thomas Dewey, despite tailing him in the polls. Truman was in a similar strategic situation that Kaczynski is in today, while the political scene in Poland these days remotely resembles that of t the U.S. in 1948. Can Kaczynski pull it out? Read more

EUROPE & AMERICA: VISCERAL ANTI-AMERICANISM

BY PETER C. GLOVER AND MICHAEL J. ECONOMIDES | May 17, 2009

Europe’s relentless criticism of America is not about the smoke and mirrors of ‘foreign policy’ disagreements.  Europe’s hypocritical post-WW2 antipathy toward America begins with belief that greater European unity is what kept the Cold War peace in war-torn Europe. [...] But whether it is French antipathy toward a US-dominated NATO military, the continual refusal of key European states to fulfil their own NATO commitments to actually fight the enemy as in Afghanistan all endemic in the European socialist worldview, as The Economist editors Micklethwait and Wooldridge, making the point that America, both Right and Left together, is more conservative than socialist Europe, say in The Right Nation, “At the moment, Europe is a freeloader on American military might.” Read more

EUROPE & AMERICA: SOCIALISM v. CAPITALISM

BY PETER C. GLOVER AND MICHAEL J. ECONOMIDES | May 4, 2009

In a classic display of “throwing the baby with the bathwater” the current economic crisis and the panic that always comes with situations like that are threatening to undo 50 years of progress in the world economic structure. Even more threatening is the lurking, constantly barely beneath the surface, social engineering of unrepentant socialist engineers.  [...] And it did not take long for EU leaders, political and media elites, even the Pope, to queue to read the last rites over the corpse of American Capitalism.  Read more

EUROPE & AMERICA: ENVIRONMENTAL FALLOUT

BY PETER C. GLOVER AND MICHAEL J. ECONOMIDES | April 20, 2009

In this op-ed, Peter C. Glover, a British book-writer, and Michael J. Economides, editor-in-chief at the Energy Tribune, provide their views on environmental and climate change issues that divide Europe and America. "The United States is certainly one of the cleanest, more environmentally responsible nations in the world. Virtually no European country can boast cleaner waters, more pristine rural landscapes or air quality. Even Los Angeles, the butt of all environmental jokes in the United States, is cleaner than 95 percent of all major cities in the world." Read more

UKRAINE'S QUADRUPLE CRISIS   BY YURIY KRYNYTSKYY | February 4, 2009 

Joyously watching the struggle between Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko is the Party of Regions that besieges the nation’s high offices. Controlled by industrial tycoons, supported by powerful media, based in the Russian-speaking heavily populated Eastern Ukraine, Putin’s favorites are standing a good chance to win any election, presidential and parliamentary. Except the associations with Russia and the Kuchma regime, nothing is working against the Party’s appeal as   its talking heads are enjoying the prolonged moment of the “We Told You So!” glory. Read more

OBAMA AND THE EASTERN FRONTIER  | January 10, 2009

The EuropeanCourier.org interviews Mr. Wess Mitchell, a foreign policy expert and the Director of Research at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington D.C. We talk Obama's policy toward Russia and political developments in Central Europe. Read more

UNDERMINING SECULAR STATE IN BOSNIA   BY MO SACIRBEY | December 22, 2008

There is no absolute secular state. In Germany, church financing is intertwined with that of the state. In the United States, the US Congress initiates sessions with a prayer. Some American colonies that evolved into the United States were in fact begun as a refugee for particular religious groups centuries earlier. However, today, there is no truly secular state where also eligibility to be a candidate or serve in particular office is limited by religious identity. Read more

BOSNIA TO ENTER U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL?   BY MO SACIRBEY | December 18, 2008

Bosnia stands prepared to win election to a 2 year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Poland, BiH's only announced competition for the election next year, has sent note to other UN member states that it is withdrawing its candidacy. Poland probably came to the conclusion that it could not beat BiH, and quietly indicated that it would withdraw in favor of and support BiH. Read more

LITTLE SARKOZY THAT COULDN'T   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | December 3, 2008

Speaking on May 28th in Polish Sejm, Nicolas Sarkozy said that Poland has been the only country in Europe against which France never waged a war. Ironically, only a few months later, Sarkozy found himself in a fierce conflict not only with Poland’s top political establishment, but also became a target of humiliating criticism from many respected Central European intellectuals and leaders like Vaclav Havel. Read more

MACIEJEWSKI: EU ERRS IN ITS APPROACH TOWARD RUSSIA | November 23, 2008 

Here is an interview with Mr. Andrzej Maciejewski, a policy expert   at the Sobieski Institute, a Polish think-tank in Warsaw. We talk Poland’s foreign policy, the U.S. antimissile shield project, policy toward Russia and the crisis of leadership in the EU. Read more  [also in Polish]

REAGANISM IS NOT CLOUDY   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | November 7, 2008

There has been some buzz in the blogosphere after my last op-ed for the Central Europe Digest in which I argued that John McCain’s presidency would be better for Central Europe than that of Barack Obama’s. Mr. Adrian J. Erlinger, the Editor of the Leopolis Blog (to which I am now linking from the EuropeanCourier.org’s site), labeled my argumentation a “cloudy vision for Central Europe”. Read more

PROF. ZIĘBA: POLAND, U.S. WRONG TO SUPPORT SAAKASHVILI...

OBAMA BETTER FOR CENTRAL EUROPE   | October 16, 2008

The EuropeanCourier.org interviews Prof. Ryszard Zięba, Jean Monnet Chair at the Institute of International Relations of the University of Warsaw. We talk: U.S. missile defense shield in Central Europe, the Georgian crisis, foreign policy toward Russia and U.S. presidential elections. Read more

EUROPE AND THE GEORGIAN CRISIS   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | August 20, 2008

The Russia’s invasion of Georgia may be a turning point in the history. However, it is hard to believe those voices, which claim that a new Cold War is coming and that the West will define itself once again in opposition to the Orthodox civilization. Russia is not a match to the West and never will be again. It is a utopian dream of some of Russia’s elites, who believe that their country can become a counterweight to the overwhelming power of the West. Read more

WHAT TO DO WITH THE IRISH?   BY BINOY KAMPMARK | June 16, 2008

Otto von Bismarck had one suggestion as to how to deal with the Irish Question, that burning issue of Irish independence that dogged Britain throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. If the Dutch were kind enough to come over to Ireland, they would turn it into an immaculate field of greenery and efficiency. If the Irish were good enough to go to the Netherlands, they would let the dykes fall into disrepair and drown. Read more

EUROPE AFTER LISBON   BY FAYE KARAVASILI | April 17, 2008

Perhaps European enthusiasts should pause for a second and realize that when the fruit is not yet ripe, any forced bonding would not be effective to begin with. The EU has a lot to assimilate, especially with the two latest Enlargements and all the additional complications they entail. Taking the time necessary to formulate a new identity might be the only way forward but the idea of a tight-knit political union might be to soon to pursue, no matter how alluring it might be. Read more

TRUTH UNDER SNIPER FIRE IN BOSNIA   BY MO SACIRBEY | March 30, 2008

I really do not begrudge Hillary Clinton the "misstatement" of "sniper fire" upon her landing in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Even as the Dayton Accords were concluded, in Sarajevo a Serbian fired missile from the surrounding hills tore through a tram, and its civilian occupants, just resuming operations. Around the same time, on my way out of Sarajevo with Gen. Wes Clark and several US diplomats, our US Air Force plane took evasive action presumably because of real or potential ground fire. Read more

THE REFORMED EUROPE    March 26, 2008
 

- an interview with Amb. Fernando M. Valenzuela, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the United Nations. Read more | Video

SERIOUS SECURITY CHALLENGE FOR THE REGION   February 25, 2008

- an interview with Mr. Pavle Jevremovic, Permanent Representative of Serbia to the United Nations.

Read more | Video

KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | February 23, 2008

Perhaps the best way to describe what happened in Kosovo last weekend is to say that the dispute over 11 thousand square kilometers of land divided the Earth in a very dangerous manner. The Western superpowers rushed to recognize the new state. While Russia fiercely objected and Serbian Parliament annulled the Kosovars’ declaration. So who won this diplomatic battle? Is the American diplomacy victorious and Russian’s defeated? Read more

POLISH FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY   BY DR. KERRY LONGHURST | January 12, 2008

Warsaw’s participation in the US Missile Defence Shield and on what terms, will be a litmus test for Poland’s new take on Transatlantic Relations. Sikorski and Tusk want a better balance between Poland’s obligations and the US’s commitments. Read more

SLOVENIA’S EU PRESIDENCY   December 3, 2007

- interview with Dr. Danilo Turk, the President of Slovenia, which assumes the rotating presidency of

the European Union since January 1, 2008. Read more

FUTURE OF THE BALKANS   November 8, 2007

- interview with Dr. Haris Silajdzic, the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Read more

FRANCE vs. IRAN   BY ELODIE VANDEHENDE | October 25, 2007

Despite repeated threats against Iran, it is difficult to imagine that France would become involved in a military action in the region. The war in Iraq remains a vivid example that the unilateral use of force in the Middle East can have disastrous consequences. Read more

EUROPEAN APARTHEID   August 21, 2007

[...] I am totally convinced through my experience at the United Nations that the further you are from being Christian and the less you are white, the more likely the violations against you, against international law, violations of human rights will be ignored and the genocide will be tolerated. Read more

A CONVENIENT GENOCIDE   July 30, 2007

Our first interview with Mr. Muhamed Sacirbey former Bosnia's Minister of Foreign Affairs (1995-96) and Ambassador to the United Nations (1992-2000). Read more

EU’s ENERGY POLICY   BY BINOY KAMPMARK | July 19, 2007

Measures taken by the EU have been targeted by Russia as potential threats to energy hegemony.  The EU finds itself caught between its energy needs and a country to the East intent on modernising its economy along ideas formulated by Soviet economists. Such a policy has outflanked European efforts to take the golden road to energy independence. Read more

TURKEY’S EUROPEAN DREAM   BY FAYE KARAVASILI | April 21, 2007

The fact that Turkey is a Muslim country should not be considered an obstacle on its European path. The very fact that Turkey is so different than the rest of the European states could be a positive catalyst, helping Europe with the creation of a multicultural society [...] she claims to envision in her fledgling constitution. After all, there is no good reason why Europe should be exclusively a “club” of Christian states. Read more

UNITED STATES OF EUROPE?   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | April 8, 2007

One may argue that Europe still has a lot of influence over the U.S. and that the deterioration of transatlantic relations, which has been undermining Europe’s global importance, was only temporary. This comeback to close cooperation between the U.S. and EU is supposedly seen in coordination of endeavors to peacefully resolve the crisis over Iranian nuclear program. This argument is questionable. Read more

EUROPE’S MUSLIMS: THEIR IMPACT ON TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS

BY DR. KONRAD PEDZIWIATR | January 15, 2007

Muslim partners and experts are in growing demand. [...] For example the magazine  European Voice in late November, 2006, nominated the Swiss-Muslim intellectual and preacher, Tarik Ramadan, as Citizen of the Year. The same person is in the U.S. being accused of supporting terrorism and treated as persona non grata. Read more

USA-EU: TRANSATLANTIC CATHARSIS   BY GRZEGORZ LEWICKI | January 5, 2007

The United States will be unable to claim a position of moral correctness for many years. They unintentionally brought about the conflict of cultures with Europe [...] Winston Churchill used to say that America has a habit of committing every possible mistake but making proper choices in the final outcome and in decisive matters. The first part of Churchill’s statement has been proven. The second has yet to be seen. Read more

USA-EU: GOOD COP – BAD COP?   BY MARTA CICHOMSKA | December 3, 2006

America is a danger to global security. Its plans for global hegemony, its self-centered efforts to secure its own interests, and its disregard for the views of other nations, have to be stopped. An anti-American counter-force needs to be created in the shape of a new, European superpower. Read more

USA-EU: RIVALRY OR COOPERATION? (THE EUROPEAN VIEW.)

BY ALEKSANDRA KORYCKA | October 14, 2006

The discussion of whether the United States and the European Union remain partners or become rivals in the years ahead, may seem to be a debate between political liberals and realists. But how the two most important economic and political centers in the world behave toward each other will not be determined by current doctrines or by today's decision-makers. Read more

USA-EU: FUTURE OF TRANSATLANTIC ECONOMIC RELATIONS   BY MACIEJ JARECKI | September 3, 2006

The United States and the European Union are, along with Japan, the most important and influential players in global economy. Nowadays, we can observe not only sophisticated cooperation between the U.S. and the EU but also some forms of serious conflicts as well. Read more

EUROPE: HUMAN RIGHTS FOR APES   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | July 9, 2006

In April, 2006, the ruling socialist coalition in Spain proposed a bill, which would give great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos) the basic, fundamental rights, which are enjoyed by human beings under international human rights law. This legislative action started a wide public discussion and attracted criticism from numerous right wing politicians. Read more

RACISM AND INTOLERANCE IN EUROPE   BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | July 3, 2006

On June 15, 2006, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the increase in racist and homophobic violence in Europe. The adoption of the document was a reaction to a rapid and worrying rise of anti-discriminatory, racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic behavior in many European states. Read more

THE EUROPEAN UNION’S PATH TO GLOBAL ECONOMIC DOMINANCE

BY SEBASTIAN AULICH | June 15, 2006

In March of 2000, the European Council which met in Lisbon, Portugal, adopted so-called Lisbon Strategy/Project designed to transform the European Union to the most competitive and dynamic economy block in the world. Read more