Blogactiv - EU Blog Platform » External Relations

Three commissioners to act as Ashton’s deputies

2010-03-15T10:02:05Z

This story about Catherine Ashton’s deputies was published by EurActiv on 15th March 2010.
Catherine Ashton, the EU’s recently-appointed foreign policy chief, will be able to trim her busy work schedule and counter criticism of her lack of visibility thanks to the assistance of three EU commissioners, who will act as her deputies.
Štefan Füle, the Czech [...]

Chinese yuan: currency manipulation?

2010-03-14T21:32:13Z

Writing in BusinessWeek on 12 March, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said global economic growth would be about 1.5% higher if China stopped restraining the value of its currency and running trade surpluses. “We should not be afraid of what the Chinese might do if we pressure them to stop this currency manipulation,” Krugman said.
Krugman [...]

Copenhagen: a tale of ‘undiplomacy’

2010-03-14T16:14:28Z

This morning in Beijing, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao explained at his press conference what actually happened in Copenhagen on 17 December 2009 on the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference, which gave rise to criticism of Chinese behaviour and even allegations of arrogance. It is remarkable that this is the first official version of [...]

Fighting corruption in China

2010-03-13T14:47:48Z

My blog post of 12 March reported Premier Wen Jiabao, in his annual address to the National People’s Congress, stating that corruption threatened the rule of the CCP. China’s former state auditor, Li Jinhua has, in the official ‘People’s Daily’ on-line, identified the business dealings of Party officials as the main source of public dissatisfaction. [...]

Will US declare China a “currency manipulator”?

2010-03-13T13:25:19Z

The US Treasury, in its semi-annual report delivered every April and October, can formally label China as a “currency manipulator” on account of the yuan’s substantial undervalue. This would allow the Department of Commerce to impose countervailing duties on a wide range of Chinese products.
US Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee at [...]

Corruption threatens Chinese Communist Party rule

2010-03-12T13:36:13Z

Corruption has always been addressed by Premier Wen Jiabao in his annual address to the National People’s Congress, but this year he went much further than before by stating that corruption threatened the rule of the CCP.
In his speech on 5 March 2010, the Premier affirmed that the battle against graft would be a critical [...]

American exceptionalism is alive and well!

2010-03-11T17:04:30Z

The decision of Northrop Grumman and EADS not to bid on the tender to supply the US Air Force with $50 billion worth of air refuelling tankers is very disturbing. They won the contract in 2008 but, after Boeing’s protest, a new tender was issued, with the technical terms sufficiently changed so that the larger [...]

Israel and Palestine: The prospects of a two state solution – Interview with Prof. Sh. Feldman, Brandeis University

2010-03-10T22:53:06Z

This year’s Halki International Seminars focused on the role of the transatlantic institutions in helping local stakeholders address security challenges in the Middle East, the Black Sea and Southeastern Europe. In the interview that follows, Prof. Sh. Feldman discusses his views on the Middle East issue.
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Election Bazaar in Iraq ongoing

2010-03-10T01:15:05Z

“democracies make elections, elections don’t make democracies”
The counting of Millions of votes cast in Iraqis elections is going on to choose the right ones from more than 6,000 candidates from 86 political groups to gain seats in the 325-member assembly. Some violence occured - 38 citizens were killed and around 100 were wounded in result [...]

Greek-Turkish relations, comment by Dr. Ian Lesser

2010-03-05T15:56:20Z

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‘Difficult birth’ awaits EU diplomatic service

2010-03-05T09:05:52Z

This story about the new EU diplomatic service was published by EurActiv on 5th March 2010.
The birth of the European External Action Service, one of the most anticipated innovations of the Lisbon Treaty, will be a difficult one, admitted a top European Commission official yesterday (4 March).
João Vale de Almeida, director-general at the European Commission’s [...]

Il faut regarder au milieu

2010-03-03T13:55:44Z

Tout le monde sait comment les Etats-Unis ont battu l’URSS, comment ils ont remporté la Guerre Froide.
La réponse s’appelle Star Wars, et je ne parle pas uniquement de l’épopée cinématographique.
Le quarantième président, une des personnalités préférées outre-Atlantique, Ronald Reagan a relancé la course à l’armement et étouffé financièrement ledit “Empire du Mal”. Bien sûr, certains [...]

“Chantage a la marmite”

2010-03-03T12:08:53Z

Bunul meu prieten Liviu Antonesei mi-a trimis recent unul din editorialele sale, pe care le publica mai nou in Adevarul . Intitulat sugestiv “Monopol pe anticomunism”, articolul descrie modul samavolnic in care “anticomunisti de ziua a saptea” ca Ioan Stanomir sau Vladimir Tismaneanu l-au inlaturat de la conducerea Institutului pentru Studierea Crimelor Comunismului pe istoricul [...]

President Obama and (his) health - an object lesson

2010-03-02T14:47:50Z

The battle for healthcare reform in the US maybe taking a toll on President Obama’s popularity, but not on his personal health. In a remarkable example of openness and transparency, the results of his last medical examination have just been released.
By any standards, he seems to be in fine fettle; being of similar vintage, a [...]

US DoE $465 Million loan to Tesla Motors

2010-03-02T10:01:33Z

The Department of Energy has closed its $465 million loan with Tesla Motors, Inc. for construction of a manufacturing facility in southern California on the Model S electric sedan and a power-train manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California. The Palo Alto facility will assemble electric vehicle battery packs, electric motors, and related electric vehicle control [...]