Μετανάστες δια θαλάσσης, τότε και τώρα

Ένα καΐκι φθάνει στην προβλήτα του Καλαί. 1803, Joseph Mallord William Turner. NATIONAL GALLERY

Την 1η Αυγούστου 1686, στις οκτώ το πρωί, ένα μικρό πλοίο αγκυροβόλησε έξω από την ακτή του Ντόβερ. Μεταξύ εκείνων που σύρθηκαν στην παραλία ήταν ένας 26χρονος Καλβινιστής Γάλλος από το Calais, ο Ισαάκ Μινέ (Isaac Minet). Ο Minet είχε τελικά καταφέρει να αφήσει την πατρίδα του μαζί με την 65χρονη μητέρα του, Σουζάν, την μικρότερη αδελφή του Ελισάβετ, και 15 άλλους άνδρες, γυναίκες και παιδιά. Στην περιοχή του Calais, η ανάρρηση του Λουδοβίκου του 14ου, του πιο Καθολικού μονάρχη, στον θρόνο της Γαλλίας προανήγγειλε την αύξηση της κρατικής δίωξης εναντίον της προτεσταντικής μειονότητας.

South Sudan’s Peace Deal Never Stood a Chance

In the middle of a hot, clear day on Aug. 21, roughly 2,000 people packed around the John Garang Mausoleum in downtown Juba to shout down the latest deal to end South Sudan’s nearly two-year-long war. Organized by the government, it was an event for true believers, those somehow insulated from the economic ravages of the war: young boys and girls in school uniform, men in suits, and women in colorful dresses. As a DJ sang over pre-recorded music blaring on massive speakers, praising South Sudan and its president, Salva Kiir, participants held large signs written in English declaring “one army, not two” and “no regime change through violence.”

Britain's Status as a Trading Nation Ties It to Europe

At some point in the next two years, British voters will decide whether to remain a part of the European Union. This will be the first time Britons have been consulted on the subject since 1975, when 67 percent voted to stay in. If it does decide to leave, the United Kingdom will become the first country to leave the European Union since it was created as the European Community in 1957. The repercussions would be felt not just in Britain, but also across the Continent and indeed across the world. To predict the eventual result of the vote, it is first important to understand the factors that have kept the United Kingdom in the union this long.

Europe’s refugee crisis: Chronicle of a death foretold

The forces driving refugees towards the EU will not disappear in the foreseeable future. Europe needs a comprehensive long-term strategy to improve the political and security situation in its neighbourhood. And whatever else it does, it needs to take urgent steps to accommodate and integrate refugees already in Europe. The European Commission is on the right track and the member-states should follow its lead.

The response of European leaders to the scale and urgency of the refugee crisis has been inadequate. Stronger fences have not stopped migrants at Calais from regularly disrupting train services to the UK; or those in Serbia from walking along train tracks into Hungary. People still climb on board rickety boats along the Turkish and Libyan coasts. Germany’s interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, has suggested that the Schengen agreement could be suspended, allowing EU member-states to reimpose border controls between them – but that would only leave even greater numbers of refugees stuck in ‘frontline’ EU states like Greece.

Ο Βρώμικος Ρόλος Δύσης και Τουρκίας στην Συρία

Τα τελευταία γεγονότα στη Μεσόγειο θύμισαν με τον πιο δραματικό τρόπο στους ηγέτες της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, και όχι μόνο, μια πραγματικότητα που επιμένουν να αγνοούν: η κρίση της Συρίας φτάνει πλέον στο ευρωπαϊκό έδαφος. Τα τελευταία γεγονότα στη Μεσόγειο θύμισαν με τον πιο δραματικό τρόπο στους ηγέτες της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, και όχι μόνο, μια πραγματικότητα που επιμένουν να αγνοούν: η κρίση της Συρίας φτάνει πλέον στο ευρωπαϊκό έδαφος.

Αν και έχει γίνει μεγάλη συζήτηση για ποσοστά και αριθμούς προσφύγων που κάθε χώρα δέχεται ή προτίθεται να δεχτεί, πιστεύουμε ότι πίσω από τους αριθμούς αυτούς και την όψιμη ευαισθησία των πολιτικών ηγετών, κρύβεται το πραγματικό πρόσωπο της δυτικής πολιτικής. Την εικόνα του αποφασίσαμε σήμερα να ανασυνθέσουμε μέσα από  απόρρητα έγγραφα και τις πολύ σοβαρές αποκαλύψεις που έχουν γίνει τα τελευταία χρόνια, αλλά που για κάποιον λόγο ξεχάστηκαν γρήγορα.

Isis profits from destruction of antiquities by selling relics to dealers – and then blowing up the buildings they come from to conceal the evidence of looting

So why is Isis blowing to pieces the greatest artefacts of ancient history in Syria and Iraq? The archeologist Joanne Farchakh has a unique answer to a unique crime. First, Isis sells the statues, stone faces and frescoes that international dealers demand. It takes the money, hands over the relics – and blows up the temples and buildings they come from to conceal the evidence of what has been looted.

Ξεπερνώντας το αδιέξοδο του ελληνικού χρέους

Η Ελλάδα χρειάζεται αναδιάρθρωση χρέους. Σχετικά με αυτό, συμφωνούν όλο και περισσότερες φωνές. Ακόμη και το ΔΝΤ, αναγνωρίζει τώρα ότι το χρέος της Ελλάδας είναι μη βιώσιμο. Απαιτείται αναδιάρθρωση, επιμένει τώρα, για την λειτουργικότητα του τρίτου προγράμματος μεταξύ της χώρας και των θεσμών, που αυτή τη στιγμή τελειοποιείται.

Ωστόσο, η γερμανική κυβέρνηση αρνείται να συμφωνήσει στη μείωση χρέους, εάν απουσιάζουν προηγούμενες διαρθρωτικές μεταρρυθμίσεις. Η μείωση χρέους θα πρέπει να έρθει ως ανταμοιβή, επιμένει, για τις προηγούμενες ενέργειες στο διαρθρωτικό μέτωπο. Εάν παρασχεθεί τώρα, οι Έλληνες θα τα παρατήσουν, και το κίνητρο να προχωρήσουν στα σκληρά μεταρρυθμιστικά μέτρα, θα μειωθεί.

Low oil prices fuel political and economic instability

A year after the beginning of the biggest oil price slump in a decade, it is worthwhile to assess the current state of affairs and estimate the costs both for the global economy and the political stability of oil exporting countries.

The oil industry was caught unprepared by the sudden slump in oil prices in July 2014, which was subsequently accentuated by the OPEC’s decision to maintain its 30 million barrels per day quota in order to retain market share and damage the booming US shale oil industry.

How China's Currency Policies Will Change the World

The recent fluctuations in China's currency typify the best and worst of a globalized world, where developments in one place can instantly change the political and financial calculations of governments in others. For most of human history, the communities, cultures and economies of the world existed independently of one another, separated as they were by vast distances and difficult terrain. It would, for instance, take months or even years for news of China to reach Europe across the great Silk Road trading route during the height of its use some 1,000 years ago. Even then, the communities along that route could hardly be considered entirely coherent.

But that is clearly no longer the case. And now, as China continues to adjust the yuan, markets throughout the world will react accordingly, even as they react differently. 

What Kind of State Will Israel Be?

If you’re at all interested in the future of the State of Israel, you need to read the speech that Israeli President Reuven Rivlin delivered to the 15th Annual Herziliya Conference in early June on what he termed the “real Israel” — a country he argues is now divided into four tribes growing increasingly apart.

As far as I can tell, the speech received almost no attention in the U.S. media. I follow Israel closely, but I missed it, too. Why? Most likely because when it comes to Israel, the Iranian nuclear issue has sucked up all the available oxygen and maybe because everyone and his brother has been crying wolf on the demographic challenges Israel faces for a very long time.