Archivo categoría «Europa»
Últimamente Turquía ha estado en el primer plano de los debates internacionales de economía y política. Por un lado, a pesar de la crisis económica que envuelve a la vecina Europa, nuestro país sigue siendo la segunda economía de más rápido crecimiento después de China. Por otro lado, casi no hay tema en la agenda mundial -de Irak y Afganistán a Somalia, Irán y la Primavera Árabe, y del desarrollo sostenible a un diálogo entre las civilizaciones- en el que Turquía no tenga un papel visible.
Se trata de un fenómeno bastante nuevo. Hasta hace una década, nuestra nación era … Seguir leyendo
The euro, many now believe, will not survive a failed political class in Greece or escalating levels of unemployment in Spain: just wait another few months, they say, the European Union’s irresistible collapse has started.
Dark prophecies are often wrong, but they may also become self-fulfilling. Let’s be honest: playing Cassandra nowadays is not only tempting in a media world where “good news is no news”; it actually seems more justified than ever. For the EU, the situation has never appeared more serious.
It is precisely at this critical moment that it is essential to re-inject hope and, above all, … Seguir leyendo
Like a marriage in its last throes, the euro appears to be falling apart before our eyes. But does it really have to happen? It’s worth remembering that the eurozone as a whole is in trade balance – it’s comfortably solvent, so that settling of accounts could resolve the problem without any financing from the IMF or China. But any solution to the eurozone crisis will need to involve rejecting narratives of resentment and betrayal that can lead parties to inflict terrible damage on each other.
At the moment, the architects of the euro project still find it hard to … Seguir leyendo
Until the rerun of the Greek elections scheduled for June 17, we will witness an unprecedented game of brinkmanship. The game will be played along the following lines.
European political leaders will state unequivocally to the Greek electorate that it is time for them to make a stark choice: Vote for parties that will continue with the agreed reforms (the dreaded austerity) and stay within the European family or vote for parties opposed to the austerity measures and leave the euro and perhaps the European Union.
This clear and concise message was recently voiced by Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter. … Seguir leyendo
Marie-Jeanne Bozzi’s killers didn’t just murder her, they butchered her.
One or two 9-millimeter bullets would have been more than enough to bring her down. But on April 22, 2011, in Porticcio, a picturesque Corsican resort town, they fired eight times into her back.
The two hoodlums, who fled on a scooter, had a message to deliver. In Corsica, where men are macho and women are fragile, the massacre of a 55-year-old woman in full view of a shopping center could only promise an implacable vendetta.
Bozzi, dark-haired and plump, didn’t look like a woman living a double life. The … Seguir leyendo
Talks to form a coalition government in Greece collapsed again this week as a result of the country’s belt-tightening backlash. The country now faces an unpleasant dilemma: agreed-upon austerity measures in exchange for bailout funds, or a messy default and exit from the Eurozone. Greece’s deteriorating situation raises many questions about whether austerity is the right path for other struggling European nations trying to avoid this same fate.
For several years now, European governments have tried versions of austerity — usually understood as an attempt to reduce the ratio of government debt to gross domestic product — in hopes of … Seguir leyendo
La fulgurante ascension du parti néonazi grec n’a rien de surprenant: elle est résultat d’une application stricte de formules qui ont fait leur preuve dans la première moitié du XXe siècle. Organisation quasi militaire du parti, parades improvisées, encadrement des quartiers sensibles, intimidations de journalistes, opérations punitives contre des immigrés. Tout caricatural qu’il soit, l’adoption par le parti Aube dorée du code de conduite de l’activisme nazi des années 20 semble avoir porté ses fruits. Reste que pour trouver un écho dans la société, les singeries politico-médiatiques des hommes en noir ont besoin d’un terrain fertile: un certain racisme irréfléchi … Seguir leyendo
Ya está cerca el desenlace de la tragedia griega del euro: es muy probable que este año o el que viene, Grecia declare la cesación de pagos de su deuda y abandone la eurozona.
Posponer la salida para después de la elección de junio, con un gobierno nuevo comprometido con alguna variante de las mismas políticas que ya fracasaron (austeridad recesiva y reformas estructurales), no restaurará el crecimiento y la competitividad. Grecia está atascada en un círculo vicioso de insolvencia, pérdida de competitividad, déficits externos y una depresión cada vez peor. La única forma de cortar este círculo es iniciar … Seguir leyendo
The newly elected French Socialist president, Francois Hollande, is warning Germany that Mediterranean ideas of “growth,” not Germanic “austerity,” should be the new European creed. No surprise there – reckless debtors often blame their own past imprudence on greedy creditors, especially if the latter are supposed to be guilt-ridden over causing two world wars.
All over Europe, the gospel is that tight-fisted Germans are at the root of the European Union meltdown: They worked too hard, saved too much, bought too little and borrowed not at all. All that may be true, in theory. But, in fact, faulting thrift and … Seguir leyendo
When Germany’schancellor, Hannelore Kraft, met France’s president, Francois Hollande, in a sunny Berlin earlier this week, they agreed on a compelling strategy to save the Eurozone. With no elections due in any Eurozone country for the next two years, they were able to stretch the austerity timeline for Greece, Spain and Italy, add some elements of growth stimulus but also keep up the essential pressure for fiscal discipline and structural reform. As a result, even devastated Greece began to glimpse light at the end of the tunnel.
In our dreams, fellow Europeans, in our dreams.
In reality, as Hollande and … Seguir leyendo
In the recent elections in Greece and France, voters voted loudly for politicians who argue that with record levels of unemployment, poverty and despair, only a growth plan will prevent Europe disintegrating politically, economically and socially.
The new emphasis on “growth” is due to the failure of austerity, in all countries, to kickstart a post-crisis recovery (or even reduce debt levels), and the failure of quantitative easing in achieving much but bailing out the banks that are now rich enough to start speculating again. Healthy banks in a sick economy: a bad mix. Yet this new emphasis on growth … Seguir leyendo
The decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin not to attend the NATO summit and the G-8 summit is a blow to the Obama administration’s hopes of building closer ties to Russia and underscores that the effort to “reset” relations with Russia is likely to be slow and fraught with difficulties.
Putin’s excuse — that he was too busy with the formation of the new Cabinet — is hardly credible. Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev has the responsibility to nominate the Cabinet, not Putin. But Medvedev will be in the United States attending the G-8 summit. So the prime minister, who is … Seguir leyendo
Greece is following the road taken by several other crisis-ridden emerging economies over the past 30 years. Indeed, as I argued earlier this year, there are stunning similarities between this once-proud eurozone member and Argentina prior to its default in 2001. With an equally traumatic implosion – economic, financial, political, and social – now taking place, we should expect heated debate about who is to blame for the deepening misery that millions of Greeks now face.
There are four suspects – all of them involved in the spectacular boom that preceded what will unfortunately prove to be an even more … Seguir leyendo
Las ciudades rumanas de Ploiesti y Bucarest fueron bombardeadas durante la II Guerra Mundial por soviéticos, ingleses, estadounidenses y, después, por alemanes. “No una semana, tampoco un mes ni un año, sino años enteros”, escribe en sus memorias Raúl S-W Berg, el personaje que protagoniza la Enciclopedia B-S (Periférica), donde el historiador argentino José Emilio Burucúa reconstruye los avatares del siglo XX siguiendo los pasos de una familia judía centroeuropea. La Rumanía de Antonescu se situó desde el principio al lado del Eje. El 23 de agosto de 1944, sin embargo, el rey Miguel dio un golpe de Estado y … Seguir leyendo
When Germany’s chancellor Hannelore Kraft met France’s president François Hollande in a sunny Berlin earlier this week, they agreed on a compelling strategy to save the eurozone. With no elections in any eurozone country for the next two years, they were able to stretch the austerity timeline for Greece, Spain and Italy, add some elements of growth stimulus, including increased demand in Germany itself, but also keep up the essential pressure for fiscal discipline and structural reform. As a result, even devastated Greece began to glimpse light at the end of the tunnel.
In our dreams, fellow Europeans, in our … Seguir leyendo