Europe is in economic dire straits and the two most powerful economies on the continent are, at least on paper, led by individuals with considerable differences.
The previous French President Nicolas…
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras would like to seek Greece withdraw from the Eurozone.
EPA/Simela Pantzartzi
Ten days ago, the political landscape in Europe changed profoundly.
Greece voted in the main to elect parties from the far right and far left who are opposed to austerity, and France elected a socialist…
This presidency has not even an hour for a honeymoon period.
EPA Guillaume Horcajuelo
So what of the winner of the recent presidential elections on 6 May in France?
Francois Hollande celebrated his victory in his adopted local region, Tulle, not in flashy Paris. Hollande claims to want…
Socialist candidate Francois Hollande's win in the first round of the French election signals more than "crazy" ideas; but a refashioning of political purpose that extends beyond French borders.
AAP
The seismic forces propelling the socialist contender to the Elysee Palace have been caustically dismissed by Bret Stephens, a prominent columnist for the Wall Street Journal, as the result of the conceited…
Protests rocked Athens as Greek legislators voted to accept a tough austerity package. So what now for the Greek people?
AAP
As Greek politicians approved a tough austerity package amid fierce protests, one question dominates: is an orderly exit from the Eurozone available for Greece? And just what might be the consequences…
Partial boycotts don't work; it's too easy to secure new buyers and sellers.
AAP
The European Union (EU) voted last week to ban oil imports from Iran. The EU will immediately ban the signing of any new oil contracts with Iran, while the existing ones will be fulfilled up to 1 July…
A proposed EU oil embargo may push Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad closer to China and Venezuela.
AAP
Last week the European Union indicated that it is likely to enact an oil embargo on Iran. The move is aimed at damaging Iran’s crucial oil export business enough so the country’s regime curtails its nuclear…
Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece face serious problems without EU-wide financial reform.
AAP
Every year, on the evening of December 31, the President of the Republic of Italy addresses the Italian people with a video message broadcast by all the major radio and television networks. This “end of…
British Prime Minister David Cameron can't escape domestic politics when it comes to Europe.
EPA/Olivier Hoslet
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to veto the new European Union agreement for greater financial stability in the Eurozone reminds us that despite the talk of greater European integration…
Merkel, Sarkozy and Monti must accept drastic fiscal reforms if they want to save the Eurozone.
The announcement by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s overnight that it could downgrade the triple-A rating of Europe’s debt rescue fund has battered market confidence, which had been buoyed…
Despite happy appearances, the two leaders disagree the way out of the Eurozone crisis.
AAP
What could be a decisive week for Europe and its common currency has begun, with the announcement of a package of fiscal austerity measures in Italy.
Markets, European partners, and – perhaps above all…
Markets responded positively to the central banks' credit lifeline, but serious problems lie ahead.
AAP
For European banks threatened by a looming credit squeeze, the US Federal Reserve’s move to cut the cost of obtaining US dollars rescue hasn’t come a moment too soon.
The Fed’s decision to engage in quantitative…
Mussolini made the trains run on time. But having a strong leader is risky.
Flickr/Galaxy FM
“If I Ruled The World” was a tune made famous decades ago by English comedian and singer Harry Secombe who sang of making every day the first day of spring as well as other miraculous improvements. It…
Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy must take drastic steps to maintain the legitimacy of EU institutions.
AAP
The European Union is in crisis – yet again. If you enter “Europe in crisis” into Google, more than 655 million entries pop up.
Europe’s current problems are being described as a Euro crisis – it is a…
Berlusconi's resignation is one step towards solving Italy's debt crisis – but many more are needed.
AAP
Italy’s sovereign debt crisis has been overshadowed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s reluctant promise to resign after the country’s parliament made clear he no longer commanded a majority.
Italy…
The Greek Prime MInister is on the way out, but the new government has a lot of work still to do.
AFP/Aris Messinis
The Greek Prime Minister will resign in an effort to save the bailout deal agreed by the European Union to dig the country out of its debt crisis.
George Papandreou agreed to go following talks with the…
Italy's disturbing debt-to-GDP ratio has been decades in the making.
AAP
During prostests in Rome last month, as groups of hooded protesters clashed with the police, set cars on fire, and smashed bank windows around the Piazza San Giovanni, two large speakers installed on a…
The first free elections borne from the Arab Spring were held in Tunisia. Over 90% of registered adults voted.
EPA/Zacarias Garcia
It has been a tumultuous week in the life and times of democracy in the Mediterranean. Seven days punctuated by joyous hope and its ugly opposite, sullen despair.
The promising news came from Tunisia…
Martin McGuinness' candidacy for the Irish Presidency calls for voters to look to the country's history.
EPA/Paul McErlane
The critical importance of the Irish presidency was underscored by current incumbent in an address to the Global Irish Economic Forum earlier this month. President Mary MacAleese welcomed 270 delegates…
15-M started in Spain, but it has sparked protests around the globe.
EPA/Jesus Diges
This weekend Spain will see the return of its “revolution”. Those involved in the 15-M movement will once again take to the streets en masse to demand urgent reforms. Under the motto “united for a global…
Jean-Claude Trichet will step down at ECB president in November.
AAP
As the Eurozone trembles at the prospect of Greece defaulting on its debt, the winds of change are at work at the European Central Bank (ECB).
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet will step down in November…
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says the FTT could raise 55 billion euros a year.
AAP
Momentum is building behind the global campaign to impose a tax on transactions in financial markets, with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso announcing plans to introduce the measure as…
Greeks protest the austerity measures put in place during the ongoing debt crisis
AAP
Europe is in crisis once again and this time it is deadly serious.
At stake is not only the survival of the European currency, but also of the entire integration project. Collapse of the Euro could trigger…
The only way out of this crisis is to dishonour some of the debt that is weighing down the global economy
AAP
The dramatic falls in share prices of Greek debt-laden French banks overnight highlights just how closely tied the current market chaos is to the world’s worsening debt woes.
Market crashes like that…
Silvio Berlusconi has blamed international economic conditions for Italy's worsening crisis.
AAP
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s reassurance to his parliamentary colleagues during a speech on Wednesday did little allay
about fears of a crisis in Eurozone’s third-biggest economy.
The Italian…
The lawyer for the self-confessed Norway killer, Anders Breivik will enter a plea of insanity AFP photo/Facebook - Youtube
Societies, if we are to take the Freudian line, prefer to subordinate chaotic urges in favour of dull order. Civilization implies stability. By the nineteenth century, human society was digesting a range…
Nicolas Sarkozy, Christine Lagarde and Angela Merkel share a joke at Thursday's Greece bailout talks.
AAP
European leaders signed off on a second, 109 billion euro bailout for Greece overnight, while also establishing what has been described as an “infant monetary fund” to intervene if the bloc’s sovereign…
Thursday's make-or-break EU finance ministers meeting looks set to be a highly charged affair.
AAP
As Margaret Thatcher’s trade minister in the 1980s, Norman Tebbit devoted much of his time to dealing with the European Community – the precursor to the European Union. Routinely, at meetings in Brussels…
Can the IMF's new head, Christine Lagarde restore much-needed confidence in the euro?
AAP
Quelle surprise. French finance minister Christine Lagarde has been announced as the new managing director of the IMF, succeeding the beleaguered Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Like Strauss-Khan (known as ‘DSK…
"Indignado" protests prove a headache for Spain's politicians but won't threaten a greater Europe.
AAP
As international markets react to the unrest in Greece amid fears of contagion, mass protests have also continued in fellow European Union member country, Spain.
This protest movement, called the “indignant…
Greece would be better off defaulting on its debt than languishing under tough austerity measures.
AAP
A poll of international investors last month found that 85% expect Greece to default on its debt this year. As market expectations go, that is very high.
Moody’s has since downgraded Greece’s already…
