Brussels, Brussels, Brussels.

What in the world are you doing nowadays?

It all started so nice, a couple of years after World War II. Everybody ‘understood’ that European states had to learn to work together, to respect each other, and to become interconnected. If we didn’t, a third world war might not be far off.

Making continental free trade a top priority was, indeed, a great idea.

Somewhere along the way, however, you took a wrong turn. Suddenly we were ruled by an out-of-touch European elite, who didn’t care about the wishes of voters. They had their plans, Europeans themselves be damned.

The results are horrendous: the EU – and the Eurozone – has become bigger and bigger, and at the same time weaker and weaker. Every couple of years, a new state is added. That may not have been so bad if these were strong, vibrant states. Sadly, however, that’s not the case.| MORE ›

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire.

That’s basically how one can summarize the situation in Europe. Several (Southern) European countries are on the brink of collapse. Greece is as near bankruptcy as can be. At the same time, Western and Northern Europeans are becoming increasingly disturbed by the irresponsible behavior of the Greek, and of other nations.

Other nations, you ask?

Why yes.| MORE ›

This is an excerpt of my latest post for Hot Air.

Tory leader David Cameron has caused somewhat of a controversy in Britainby saying he does not want former Prime Minister Tony Blair to become president of the European Union. Is there a president of the EU, you might ask? Why no, not as of yet, but Brussels has decided it should have more power and that, in order to have it, it also needs to have its very own president.| MORE ›

I have no idea how to interpret this:

Iran is ready to hold talks with the group of six world powers over its controversial nuclear programme, Saeed Jalili, a top official with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Monday.| MORE ›

The drama surrounding the potential closure of the ruling AKP party acquired a significant nuance with the decision of Standard & Poor’s to cut Turkey’s credit rating to three increments below investment grade (BB-) last week. The credit agency attributed its sudden decision to “the increasingly challenging political and global environment that Turkey faces in the near term”.| MORE ›

The following article by John C.K. Daly in United Press International offers readers a nice overview of Turkey’s latest string of energy dealings with Iran. Daly’s article also considers the American view of these growing energy ties.| MORE ›

Europe’s finance ministers are panicking: they’ve done everything in their power – or so they believe – to save the Euro, yet the currency is becoming worth less and less. They don’t understand what’s going on, they’ve pumped billions into the Euro and into Europe’s failing economies, yet the European stock markets continue their free fall.| MORE ›

The New York Times:

The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a longstanding American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.| MORE ›

Adding to its much coveted resume as “Europe’s bridge to the Middle East”, Turkey has now been officially recognized as the facilitator of talks between Israel and Syria. Whether or not the Israeli media agrees with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s motivations for publicizing the existence of talks, Turkey can at least shine in the warm spotlight of international recognition for a few weeks. (more…)

The following article is an exhausting, yet extremely comprehensive, sketch of the most important issues in contemporary Turkish society. The author, Niels Kadritze, is the editor of the German edition of Le Monde Diplomatique. While Mr. Kadritze’s essay is somewhat lacking in terms of the organization of ideas, the quality and range of his observations are absolutely first rate. (more…)