Briton Arrested for a Racially Insulting Doll
Fjordman - 12/15/2008
At the same time as sharia law has gained official recognition as a part of the British legal system and Muslims proudly talk about conquering the Western world, a British woman has been arrested because of a supposedly "racist" doll she kept in her window. In al-Britannia a Muslim man can claim state benefits for ...
Anti-Racism Witch Hunts
Fjordman - 12/9/2008
The leading Norwegian blog Document.no tells the horrifying story about how two decent white men in 2007 were attacked by a media lynch mob for their supposed "racism." As it turns out later, the mainstream media didn't present nearly all of the information relevant to the case at the time, which didn't prevent them from nearly destroying these two men. This happened at the same time as there is a growing wave of crime and violence targeting the natives. The response of the authorities to rising levels of racist violence target...
Stained Glass: A European History
Fjordman - 12/6/2008
I will publish a multipart essay on the history of optics at the website Jihad Watch later this month. One of the parts will be about the history of glass, a fascinating subject which most of us rarely think about. We often talk about how much we owe to the ancient Greeks, but when it comes to the use of glass, we owe much more to the Romans than to the Greeks.
Austria Rising
Kyle Bristow - 12/3/2008
On September 28, 2008, Austria held elections in which right-wing nationalist political parties received 29 percent of the total vote. The left-wing British newspaper Guardian described these nationalist parties as “neo-fascist” in an article published on its website entitled “Extreme Right Emerges as Strong Force in Austria” (9/29/2008). The article goes on to say that these nationalist parties “emerged from a general election as a contender to be the strongest political force in the country for the first time.” With how Europe has been infected with severe cases of multiculturalism and multiracialism for years now, it is about time that the people rise up and let the storm break loose.
Ten Reasons to Get Rid of the European Union
Fjordman - 11/12/2008
1. The EU Promotes Crime and Instability
The EU does not protect the peace in Europe. On the contrary, it undermines stability in the continent by dismantling border controls at a time of the greatest population movements in human history, with many migrants coming from politically unstable countries whose instability spills over to European states. Through its senseless immigration policies, the EU could become partly responsible for triggering civil wars in several European countries. Maybe it will be remembered as the “peace project” which brought war.
Rediscovering African ‘High Life’ in London
Ronald Elly Wanda - 11/12/2008
To many an African-live-band-fan, it is stimulating to once again see ‘Africa Jambo Band’ constructively drumming up mimetic harmonic melodies at the latest East African enterprise in north London, the Duke Banquet of Turnpike lane.
Cash is King
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/8/2008
Libya has recently emerged as the second-biggest shareholder in Unicredit, Italy's number one bank and Europe's sixth largest banking institution, with a massive presence in Central and Eastern Europe. Japanese, Chinese, and Arab investors and sovereign wealth funds are purchasing Western assets at bargain basement prices: banks, brokerage houses, factories, and real estate.
Who Needs the European Dis-Union?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/4/2008
The current global financial crisis should have been the European Union's finest hour. The countries comprising this much coveted club could have joined to battle the waves of bank failures, industrial closures, layoffs, and bankruptcies that are threatening to overwhelm their economies from Iceland to Italy.
The Greek-Macedonian Name Issue as a Moral Dilemma
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 10/28/2008
Imagine the following:
In a bad neighborhood, plagued by outbursts of violent crime, one of the neighbors is wealthy and middle aged. Let us call him Mr. Greece.
His property borders on the ramshackle dwelling of a young adult who is destitute and ill. His name is Mr. Macedonia.
Mr. Greece insists that Mr. Macedonia change his name. He gives many reasons for his unusual request, not the least of which is that "Macedonia" has been the name of some of his forefathers and is the epithet of the south wing of his sprawling property. It is, therefore, part of his identity and he...
Is Gordon Brown promoting a New World Financial System?
Lorna Thomas - 10/28/2008
At an emergency meeting of the Eurogroup on 12 October, 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown presented a proposal to deal with the financial crisis. Aside from immediate stabilization plans for the banking system, he stressed the need for a reformed global finance system to solve global financial problems.
Europe’s Decline – Hurrah! We Capitulate!
Fjordman - 9/18/2008
This story is extremely serious. The European Union is now about to do what senior officials have already agreed upon years ago in meetings with Muslim nations, as documented by Bat Ye'or in her book about "Eurabia": To officially recognize sharia lawin European countries:
EU Mideast Policy: Morality and Enlightment or Fear and Greed?
Prof. Barry Rubin - 9/1/2008
The Italian government, it has just come to light, let Palestinian terrorist groups operate freely in its country from the 1970s onward as long as they promised not to attack Italians. As former President Francesco Cossiga explained, the agreement with the PLO and PFLP was that if you "don't harm me... I won't harm you." Thus, these groups could move terrorists and equipment destined for use in murdering [non-Italian] civilians in and out of Italy-protected by Italian security agencies.
Macedonian Wages Among the Highest in the World
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/1/2008
"Invest in Macedonia", implored the government's campaign, because wages here are among the lowest in Europe. Are they?
Greek-American Plan to Resolve Macedonia's Name Issue?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/29/2008
According to reliable sources, on September 23, in the presence of the foreign ministers of both countries, Condolenzza Rice, Secretary of State of the United States of America, will present a plan to resolve a festering dispute between Greece, its (anti-American) nominal NATO ally, and Macedonia, a member of the Coalition of the Willing in Iraq and Afghanistan and a NATO aspirant. On September 24, the Plan will be submitted to the United Nations Security Council.
Minorities or Immigrants? The Kven and Sami Peoples of Norway
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/27/2008
The phrase "minority rights" conjures abhorrent images of Palestinians tortured in Israeli prisons; Aegean Macedonians expelled from Greece or incarcerated on remote islands, there to perish; and Native-Americans confined to wasteland "reservations", having been decimated for decades. But, the sad truth is that minorities are welcome nowhere and that every single nation harbors embarrassing skeletons in its historical closet.
Column History
Prof. Barry Rubin - 8/15/2008
A nineteen-year-old man is to be beheaded for a bad joke interpreted as blasphemy. A father is accused of killing his son because he converted to another religion. They are not Muslims but Christians; the place is France in the mid-1700s.
Spanish Crusade Against Communism
Kyle Bristow - 8/13/2008
Communist movements throughout Europe in the early twentieth century posed a dire threat to the West. As Bolsheviks came to power in Russia and aided radical revolutionaries in their desire to overthrow conservative governments, a choice was forced upon the men of the West: Fight the Red menace or let freedom die. In the country of Spain, which has a proud history of civilizing the acolytes of Satan in Mexico, combating the hordes of Muslims in the Levant, and expelling the Islamic savages from the Iberian Peninsula, the men chose to fight.
Knife Crime in Britain: A chilling Veracity
Ronald Elly Wanda - 8/3/2008
On Thursday the 3rd of July, I was the only member of the Press caucus to attend the funeral of one of Britain’s latest knife-crime victim. Abiodun Olubukunola Ilumoka aka Abby was buried at the East Finchley Cemetery, following a well-attended mass at St. Stephen’s Church at Cannonbury Road in Islington where the 41 year old had lived near her mother all her life. Her horrific death did not arouse the interest of any national media perhaps because another white teenager Ben Kinsella, less than a mile away from Abby’s murder scene had also been knifed. Like most individuals who knew her well...
The (Sunday)Times They are a Changin'
Jonathan Spyer, Ph.D. - 7/17/2008
An interview with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared in the Sunday Times this week. The interview took place in Jerusalem's American Colony Hotel. It was concerned with Blair's role as the Quartet's Middle East envoy, and was written by journalist Lesley White. Journalist Lesley White is evidently not a specialist on the Middle East. I say "evidently" because the article contains a series of ludicrous errors which leave one slack-jawed in astonishment at the standards apparently now prevailing in this august publication.
The Quest for the origins of the ancient Thracians
Ioannis Fidanakis - 7/16/2008
The search for the identity of the ancient Thrakiotes (Thracians) lies within the question of just who was a Hellene in the ancient world. Whether through ancient mythology, history or modern archeology and anthropology the search for just who were the ancient Hellenes lead us on a difficult journey with today’s political climate. The fact that the ancient Hellenic people were polyonymous people just add to the friction between scholars with each owns political motives. How do we define the ancient Hellenic ethnos, when it was divided in to tribes, which did not feel a common kindred till late...
UN Report: Balkans Safer Than Thought
Risto Karajkov, Ph.D. candidate - 7/16/2008
The Balkans is safer than thought. This is the basic message from a recently published reportby the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The report made global headlines as some of its arguments run counter to common wisdom – that the Balkans is a gloomy and risky place.
Open Letter to Prime Minister Brown Regarding the Lisbon Treaty
Lorna Thomas - 7/1/2008
In a 2007 interview with ITN you stated that there is:
Rid of Violence, a Reforming Bosnia Emerges as a Model
Humphrey Hawksley - 6/27/2008
SREBRENICA: Almost 13 years after the United States forced peace upon the war-torn Balkan country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this once-failed state has taken its first official step towards becoming a modern European nation.
What's Wrong With Macedonia's Inflation and Trade Deficit Figures?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/19/2008
Something is not right with Macedonia's statistics.
UK politics: Is New Labour era over?
Abdul Ruff - 6/18/2008
It seems British premier Gordon Brown has only limited scope for sustaining his Labour government beyond the current term and, unless there would be some significant development in the country or some drastic change in the psyche of the Englishmen, the downward trend of current political storm would take Labour Party to the opposition benches. The support enjoyed by Tony Blair ahead of Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 general election has receded considerably now and the New Labour era of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown is slowly coming to an end.
Interview with Ljubomir Danilov Frckoski
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/15/2008
Ljubomir Danilov Frcksoki ("Frcko" to his friends) is by far Macedonia's most prominent public intellectual. The author of this struggling nation's first constitution in 1991, he also contributed to the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which, in the wake of an armed insurgency, has defined, ten years later, the relationship between the country's majority and its restive Albanian minority. He served as Macedonia's Minister of Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs until 1997.
The Decline of the Will; the Decline of the West
Kyle Bristow - 6/9/2008
As Westerners lose the will to take on threats to their civilization, the decline of the West is allowed—through Western negligence—to take place. Arguably, political correctness is the reason as to why people of the Occident do not deal appropriately with issues including crime and immigration control, and so, political correctness fosters nothing more than anarchy, degeneracy, and collapse. Liberals and pseudo-conservatives often argue that immigration and crime cannot be controlled, and they believe this because they ignore history and lack the willpower to deal with the problems. For ps...
Discounts on Democracy in Europe: Who Should Determine How One Self-Determines?
Risto Karajkov, Ph.D. candidate - 6/8/2008
With its expansion ever since the end of the cold war, the European Union has been increasingly projecting itself as a moral force in global affairs. It has called itself a community of values and has been tirelessly repeating to would-be members that full embrace of democracy and human and minority rights is the only way into the club.
Balkan Lessons
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/2/2008
Interview granted by Sam Vaknin to Barry Scott Zellen, Deputy Editor, "Strategic Insights", and Research Editor of the Arctic Security Project at the Center for Contemporary Conflict.
Are Western Universities Turning Into Madrassas?
Prof. John Press - 6/2/2008
On May 29th, 2008, the U.K. University and College Union’s Congress (UCUC)voted to discriminate against Israeli academics. We should discriminate, but our culturist discrimination should be FOR OUR SIDE! Accepting that both sides of the Israel / Palestinian conflict think they sit on the side of right, we first must acknowledge that a conflict exists. Then we should notice Muslim nations support Palestinians and Israel is Western aligned. Finally the U.K. should notice that it is a Western nation. After this analysis, the UCUC should vow to take the appropriate side in this conflict. These basic culturist steps should be taken throughout Western schools.
Errors in UK Court Decision on MeK
Ahmad Baaraan - 6/1/2008
A recent UK Court of Appeals decision to uphold a lower court ruling that PMOI (MEK, or MKO) is no longer “concerned in terrorism” revealed serious flaws and a lack of sophistication in the UK legal framework when it comes to combating terrorism. In addition to other vital means, a serious fight against terrorism requires a mature legal system that could not be easily manipulated by deceptive tactics and faulty reasoning developed by terrorist organisations in their efforts to take advantage of our legal apparatus with its pre-911 outlook and structure. After all, leaders of such organisations are known to be masters of deception and PMOI’s leaders are no exception.
UK housing market crisis
Iqbal Latif - 6/1/2008
Crisis? What crisis? We have been hearing about the housing market crises around the globe for the longest time and the global panic has thrown investors into a frenzy of: "What will happen now?" UK house prices are falling. The hyperbole surrounding this development is disproportionate to the significance of property for the economy. The direct contribution of residential housing investment to GDP is relatively small and notions of important ‘wealth effects’ from housing have echoes of 1970s-style ‘money illusion’.
Europe Shall Bleed, Once Again
Amil Imani - 5/25/2008
Me and my brother against my cousin; me, my brother, and my cousin against the other. This is an old Muslim saying and Muslims live by this motto. To be sure the people of the "religion of peace" find the world full of “other,” to oppress and kill, both within as well as without the Islamic Ummah.
Is Mr. Fein talking about Greece?
Aris Anganos - 5/14/2008
The 3/24/08 article by Mr. Bruce Fein entitled “Greek Human Rights Violations against its Turkish Minority in Western Thrace” demonstrates a striking lack of knowledge of the situation on the ground in Greece, particularly over the last 15 years.
UK: Decline of Labour Party
Abdul Ruff - 5/12/2008
US-led terror war in Islamic world seems to be taking its political toll in several Western countries, Britain inclusive, and the unfavorable political climate for the ruling Labor party in UK only reinforces that fact. In the 2008 April local elections Labor Party suffered their worst results in 40 years finishing in third place with a projected 24% share of the national vote. The New Labor era that started 1997 with Tony Blair’s arrival as UK premier ended miserably with Blair himself opting out of 10 Downing Street on account of corruption scandals and failed terror war. This led to replace...
UK Politics: Brown Down, Not Out
Abdul Ruff - 5/11/2008
In the 1st May 2008 local elections Labor Party suffered their worst results in 40 years finishing in third place with a projected 24% share of the national vote. The New Labor era that started with Tony Blair’s arrival as UK premier ended miserably with Blair himself opting out of 10 Downing Street on account of corruption scandals and failed terror war. This led to replacement of Blair by Brown last year to gear the party to the general poll. However, the fortunes have not been different in the recent poll.
Why the Skilled Won't Stay in Britain
Safdar Jafri - 4/29/2008
HSMP, Highly Skilled Migration Program, was introduced in Britain in 2002 to attract skilled people from around the world to boost UK's skill-starved, dwindling economy in need of a shot in the arm. A good program in the sense that it only concentrated on highly skilled as Britain was already witnessing a deluge of low skilled workers from the Eastern European countries such as Poland. As of today, there are at least 1 million Eastern European low skilled workers in Britain. So, skilled is what UK needed, specially when its own skilled persons have been emigrating from the UK in search of gree...
Bank of England Announces New Special Liquidity Scheme
Prof. Peter Morici - 4/29/2008
The Bank of England (BOE) has announced a Ł50 billion lending facility that will permit British banks and building societies to borrow against mortgage-backed and other securities for terms up to one year, and renewable by the BOE for up to three years.
Surrender, Genocide or What?
El Inglés - 4/25/2008
A few months ago, I wrote “The Danish Civil War”, a fictional scenario which served to structure a consideration of various issues relating to the rise of Islam in Europe and the likely consequences thereof. The essay finished with the conclusion that Islam constituted an existential threat to the survival of European civilization, and that Islam’s influence on Europe therefore needed to be eliminated. It further concluded that, logically speaking, the various ways of achieving this goal could be broa...
Not his turn to die
Michael Averko - 4/25/2008
Savo Heleta's recently released book (published this year in New York by the American Management Association) is a gripping personal account of his childhood and teenage experiences growing up in prewar and war torn Bosnia. The former Gorazde resident's perspective includes his living with Muslims as a secular Serb. Some personal war stories have proven later to be false. Heleta presents a believable overview that appears free of questionable claims. There are numerous individuals who have known his family and himself for a lengthy period. They can choose to refute Heleta's claims. A lack of challenge can be seen as a confirmation of his views.
Why Europeans Should Support Israel
Fjordman - 4/22/2008
One of the most frustrating things to watch is the powerful anti-Israeli and sometimes outright anti-Semitic current that is prevalent in too much of Europe’s media. Bat Ye’or’s predictions about Arab anti-Semitism spreading in Europe as the continent’s Islamization and descent into Eurabia continues have so far proved depressingly accurate. This trend needs to be fought, vigorously, by all serious European anti-Jihadists. Not only because it is immoral and unfair to Israelis, which it is, but also because those who assist it are depriving Europeans of the opportunity to fully grasp the threat and understand the nature of the Jihad that is now targeting much of Europe as well.
The EUSSR Grows Bolder
Fjordman - 4/20/2008
Notice how this senior member of the European Parliament states that the media “must” engage in breaking down resistance to increased mass immigration to Europe. The fact that political authorities clearly view the media as just another arm of the transnational bureaucracy demonstrates just how far down the path of totalitarianism the European Union has already gone.
Italian Poll Verdict
Abdul Ruff - 4/20/2008
A close US ally of NATO but also a fair bastion of Leftists, Italy has voted in a general election on April 3-14 to choose Berlusconi's new conservative People of Freedom (PDL), a party with “in-sourcing” policy, to lead the nation. The anti-immigration Northern League party in Berlusconi's bloc emerged as a surprise winner in Italian poll as 71-year-old Silvio Berlusconi secured a clear majority and streamlined parliament to help him push through tough decisions on Italy's struggling economy in his third term as prime minister. Berlusconi has last resigned in May 2006. After two years in oppo...
Condemning the central value of western society
Alamgir Hussain - 4/19/2008
One must wonder what would be the reaction of Muslims if a museum in Riyadh or Islamabad, or in any Muslim country, displays, for example, a Piss Muhammad photograph like the one of Jesus by American photographer Andres Serrano, which depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine.
Soros, Europeans: Die Juden sind Unser Unglück!
Prof. Nicholas Stix - 4/19/2008
On November 9, 1938, and on through the following day and night across Germany and Austria, Nazi storm troopers smashed Jewish shop windows, looted the stores, and beat Jews in their homes and on the streets, murdering at least 91 Jews, arresting 26,000 Jewish men and boys, all of whom were sent to concentration camps, destroying over 7,000 Jewish businesses, and burning down 101 synagogues.
The storm troopers (Stürmer), also known as “brown shirts” for the uniforms they wore, hung posters in Jewish stores with the phrase, ...
Sweden’s Press Ombudsman Wants to Prosecute Bloggers
Fjordman - 4/18/2008
Yrsa Stenius, the Swedish press Ombudsmann, wants to press charges against certain bloggers. She is worried about developments on the Internet, where anybody can just write anything they want. She says this has gone too far. She fears this trend could even spread to the mainstream media, unless something is done and a legal precedent is established to rein ...
Is Islam a Trojan Horse?
Amil Imani - 4/17/2008
“Europe will be Muslim in a dozen years,” promises the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Guide (dictator) who is racing full-speed ahead to make as many bombs as possible with long-range missiles capable of delivering their payload anywhere in the world.
European Leaders Agree to Create Eurabia
Fjordman - 4/14/2008
Bat Ye’or in her book about Eurabia documented how European leaders have for years been quietly planning to merge Europe with the Islamic world. This has been denounced as a “conspiracy theory.” Only a few months ago the British Foreign Minister David Miliband said openly that the European Union should expand to include the Muslim Middle East and North Africa. Now French President Nicolas Sarko...
Creating a European Indigenous People’s Movement
Fjordman - 4/9/2008
An American friend of mine has proposed that native Europeans should create a European Indigenous People's Movement. I have hesitated with supporting this because it sounded a bit too extreme. However, in more and more European cities, the native population is being pushed out of their own neighborhoods by immigrant gangs. The natives receive little or no aid from their authorities, sometimes blatant hostility, when faced with immigrant violence. In an age where the global population increases with billions of people in a few decades, it is entirely plausible, indeed likely, that the West coul...
No American Security Guarantees for Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/9/2008
On the strength of a Greek veto, Macedonia did not receive an invitation to join NATO, while Albania and Croatia, the two other members of the Adriatic Charter Group did.
Western Civilization Rising
Kyle Bristow - 4/9/2008
It has been argued by concerned patriots that Western civilization is in decline and will eventually die. This has been a recurring theme in books such as Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, James Burnham’s The Suicide of the West, and Patrick Buchanan’s The Death of the West. What these authors all have in common is that they believe that Western civilization is on the slippery slope to ruin.
Kosovo Freedom: Guidance or Warning?
Abdul Ruff - 4/9/2008
On 17 February 2008, the Serbian Southern province of Kosovo in South-eastern Europe declared independence from Republic of Serbia and proclaimed itself new Republic of Kosovo . New Republic of Kosovo was later recognized by few sovereign states, mainly the USA. Kosovo now has to become a member of the EU, the UN, OSCE, IOC, IMF, and many other vital world bodies. Kosovo will remain a sovereign nation and a part of UN very soon. This should show to the world that seeking legitimate independence or “secessionism” or separatism”, to use the expression in vogue from colonial and imperialist power...
The Ordeal of Mikko Ellilä
Baron Bodissey - 4/1/2008
Last Friday the Finnish TV network YLE published the following brief news item:
The Problem of Western Civilization
Kyle Bristow - 4/1/2008
Western civilization seems to be deathly ill with a problem that has yet to be diagnosed. Some people suggest that the rise of Islam is the principle problem that faces the Occident in contemporary times. Other people suggest that a secularization of the Western people is the main quandary. Still others suggest that a balkanization of American culture is the primary dilemma. In my opinion the aforementioned problems are only symptoms of the true problem, which is that Westerners lack the willpower to defend their civilization.
Leftist-Atheist-Islamist alliance
Sunita Paul - 3/31/2008
Globally in recent years, Communists (leftists), atheists and Islamists are getting close and closer in forming anti West and anti American platform, which is gradually becoming a potential threat to international peace and stability. A number of top scholars in the West, including Daniel Pipes has written on such unique grouping of these elements. Although ideologically they seem to have very different agendas, in many cases, these groups have unified formulas such as anti-Semitic theory and spreading of religious hatred. While Islamists are rather open promoters of anti-Semitic theme, leftists and atheists promote such theory in a very tricky way.
An Open Letter to Expo and the Expressen Newspaper
Fjordman - 3/30/2008
The newspaper Expressen in Sweden recently published an article claiming that two members of the Sweden Democrats party have ties to neo-Nazi organizations. First of all: If these people really do have neo-Nazi connections, they do not belong in a civilized party and should in my view be expelled immediately. The SD will never be taken seriously if they have people like this in their party and they do not deserve to.
Churchill Never Meant For Britain To Be In The European Union
Lorna Thomas - 3/30/2008
Winston Churchill's speech in Zürich on 19 September, 1946 about a European union has at times been misquoted, misinterpreted and misapplied. French President Sarkozy addressed the British Parliament on 26 March, 2008. In an attempt to persuade (some say flatter and seduce) Britain into the European Union, given the upcoming ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty - an act which will inevitably result in her loss of sovereignty, self-rule and freedom, Sarkozy referred to Sir Winston Churchill by saying: “No one will ever forget that the first great voice which rose up after the war to call...
The Muslim Brotherhood's Infiltration of the West
Fjordman - 3/26/2008
I do not have the time right now to include hyperlinks to every single piece of information stated here, but almost all of this information should be available online with a quick web search. Robert Spencer has dealt with the Muslim Brotherhood in a number of books, for instance in Onward Muslim Soldiers. I would also strongly recommend the recent book "Global Jihad: The Future in the Face...
Why is the Macedonian Stock Exchange Unsuccessful?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/24/2008
The Macedonian Stock Exchange (MSE) is not operating successfully. True, some of the parameters which we use to measure the success of a stock exchange have lately improved in the MSE. For instance, the monthly money volume has increased together with the number of transactions. But this is a far cry from success.
Greek Human Rights Violations Against Its Turkish Minority in Western Thrace
Bruce Fein - 3/24/2008
The United States Helsinki Commission, an independent government agency charged with monitoring and securing compliance with international human rights standards, should hold hearings to spotlight Greece ’s subjugation of its Turkish minority in Western Thrace . While the European Union and the United States have been quick to award Turkey demerits for allegedly slighting Kurdish culture, they have been conspicuously inaudible in the face of Greece ’s decades long campaign of cultural repression, ethnic and religious discrimination and economic marginalization of its Turkish minority. Double...
The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom
David Storobin, Esq. - 3/19/2008
The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom is made up of over 50 Members of Parliament and Peers from across the political spectrum. It has the backing of the majority of MPs and more than 200 Peers in its support for human rights and democracy in Iran. The PMOI - Iran's principal opposition force - is a member organisation in the main opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran. Some 120,000 of its members and sympathisers have
The Truth About Islam in Europe
Fjordman - 3/19/2008
This essay was inspired by Joan Acocella's review of David Levering Lewis' book God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215.
Greece and its Investments in the Balkans: Trojan Horse or Reliable Partner?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/13/2008
Even as Greece and Macedonia continued to wrestle with the name issue (should the young Republic monopolize the ancient name or not), the former continued its furious pace of investments in the latter.
Totalitarian Sweden
Fjordman - 3/13/2008
According to the news website The Local, members of the only significant (but still small) party in Sweden critical of mass immigration live under constant threat of violence. Sweden is witnessing the greatest explosion of street violence in its history, and a woman is raped every two hours. The national newspaper Aftonbladet links the massive increase in rapes to the warm weather. The state-sponsored organization Expo, which lists a dozen employees at its website and receives backing from the media and the major parties, has been campaigning against the Sweden Democrats for years. Expo’s Dani...
Kosovars and other Albanians - Why Great Albania is a Myth
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/6/2008
To the politicians of the Balkans - almost without exception corrupt and despised by their own constituencies - the myth of Great Albania comes handy. It keeps the phobic Macedonians, the disdainful Serbs and the poor and crime ridden Albanians united and submissive: each group for different, idiosyncratic reasons.
Rooting out Islamic fundamentalism in the UK
David Amess - UK Parliament Member - 2/28/2008
The Islamic fundamentalism espoused from Tehran is the biggest threat that faces our nation today. Iran has become a nation of horror stories. I have heard of young children tortured as their mothers are forced to watch. I have also seen vivid images of this brutality on videos. These videos have included public hangings. Such crimes are carried out on the Iranian people on a daily basis.
Kosovo and Culturism
Prof. John Press - 2/28/2008
Serbians are attacking U.S. embassies because we have destroyed their country. Serbia used to include the area now called Kosovo. Kosovo was forming militant separatist cells. Serbia tried to stop this and it got ugly. Both sides claim war crimes. We intervened on the side of the Kosovars. The U.S., in cooperation with NATO, gave them police protection, stood by as all signs of Serbian life and property were destroyed.
The West, Japan, and Cultural Secondarity
Fjordman - 2/12/2008
Dymphna, the Editor of the Gates of Vienna blog recommended to me a book called “Eccentric Culture: A Theory of Western Civilization,” by Rémi Brague. The Romans admired the earlier culture of the Greeks. Christians had a love/hate relationship with Judaism, but they did recognize that the Jews had an older religious tradition than they did themselves, and that they were greatly indebted to it. Christian Europeans thus inherited a twin “cultural secondarity” i...
A Win-Win Solution To The Kosovo Problem
Filip Ljubicic - 2/12/2008
On February 3rd Serbia elected Boris Tadic as President, showing that she wants to have closer ties with the EU. However with Kosovo about to proclaim independence, this position may no longer be viable. Therefore a solution for Kosovo is needed urgently if the people of Serbia are to fulfil their expressed preference and not fall back into isolation.
Islamization of Europe and The European Union
Fjordman - 2/10/2008
Hugh Fitzgerald of Jihad Watch recently suggested a number of things Europeans can do to halt Islamization. The proposals were good, but I think we should focus on the most important obstacle: the European Union. I've suggested in the past that the EU is the principal motor behind the Islamization of Europe, and that the entire organization needs to be dismantled as soon as possible, otherwise nothing substantial can ever be done ab...
Regarding the Detractors of Vlaams Belang
Fjordman - 2/4/2008
Several prominent blogs are at it again with accusations against various European groups. Despite what The Australian newspaper claims, the British National Party did not participate at the meeting to establish “Cities against Islamization.” They also did not participate at the Counter-Jihad Conference in October, because they carry too much baggage with them, including open anti-Semitism.
€5 billion – the mother of all losses
Iqbal Latif - 2/4/2008
Zeroes are zeroes after all. SocGen trader, Jerome Kerviel is not an anomaly. He is part of a global financial system where in every day, an average trader is in his mid-to-late twenties, who runs trillions of dollars of global money. There are two very clear kinds of bankers today – one is the “old school” 70s banker who has absolutely no idea of credit derivatives and associated risks, and the other is the “new school” banker who comes fresh out of college and paid millions in bonuses for his performance. These “new” bankers are hungry, arrogant, basking in self-glory and foolish. Nothing in life can replace the experience of facing a bear market and a bull market.
Ten Reasons to Get Rid of the European Union — A First Draft
Fjordman - 1/30/2008
I intend to write a text called “Ten Reasons to Get Rid of the European Union” This text will be written with me as editor and contributor, but not necessarily sole writer. I will post some ideas here which can be expanded upon by blog readers. I will then post a second, more elaborate draft, make some changes to that, and then post the final version. It is my intention that this text should be translated into major European languages and be republished or reprinted in various EU countries. If you post comments here, you thus give your permission to allow your writings to be incorporated into this text and republished elsewhere.
EU's Misguided War On Terrorism
Alan Miladi - 1/29/2008
The EU is at complete loss on what to do with Iran. Iranian nuclear program, benign or not benign, is ticking forward. Another meeting of Javier Solana, the EU Foreign Policy Chief with Iranian nuclear negotiator in Brussels had the same result of dozens of similar meetings in the past 21 months: zilch.
One Hundred Paintings of Solitude - Sergej's Macedonian Magic
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/21/2008
Sergej Andreevski is one of Macedonia's foremost painters. I visited his studio in the outskirts of Skopje to avail myself of a rare opportunity: an open invitation by a practicing artist to enter his mind.
Norwegian Medicine for Vedanta
Kavaljit Singh - 1/21/2008
On 19 November, the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi received some unusual visitors. Even the police and security personnel stationed in the heavily-guarded Chanakyapuri area of Delhi where Norwegian and other embassies are located could not figure out the purpose of these visitors. Though they were Indian citizens, ethnically they belonged to a distinct tribal minority group called Dongria Kondh. Dressed in their traditional attire, these tribal representatives came all the way from the remote Niyamgiri hills of Orissa to express gratitude to the Norwegian government for removing UK-based Vedan...
Interview With Gina Khan - Part 1
GP Interviews - 1/11/2008
Gina Khan lives in Birmingham's Ward End. She is a British Muslim and has spoken out in the past about the problems she and her community faces from extreme Islamists. Described as "a very brave woman" in an article for the London Times, Gina will, over the coming days, be stating her experience to the Westminster Journal as a British Muslim and calling out, especially to the British Government, for help in solving the Islamist problem the West now experiences from within. This is the first of two parts of the interview.
Interview With Gina Khan - Part 2
GP Interviews - 1/11/2008
This is the second and final part of the interview.
British Economy Not Looking Great
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 1/8/2008
Some economists have questioned whether British economy is heading the American way as the British economy has historically tended to move in line with America's.In America, these days, energy inflation, interest rate cut, banking crunch, and speculations of recession are in fashion. Britain’s economic shine has been losing its shine lately though only nominally, but the worries about the economy abounded after The Bank of England on December 6th brought down the interest rate by a quarter- point, from 5.75% to 5.5% much earlier than expected.
Expo and the Islamophobes
Fjordman - 1/8/2008
The Swedish far-Left, anti-racist organization Expo recently released a publication ( pdf, in Swedish) entitled “Kriget mot islam,” “The war against Islam,” in which they worried about an increasing trend towards “organized Islamophobia” in the West. According to them, “Parallel with the growth of SIOE, a new anti-Islamic network of academics, bloggers and politicians is taking shape. The network has no formal name, but meets at so-called anti-Jihad conferences. The first known meeting was in Copenhagen on the 14th of April this year. Behind the event was the network Center for Vigilant Freedom (CVF).”
Macedonia's Report Card - 10 Things that Could Go Wrong
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/8/2008
Like Blanche Dubois in "Streetcar Named Desire", Macedonians now prefer fantasy over harsh reality. They lash out at anyone who wishes to offset their euphoria with a long, hard look at hazards, real achievements, and true future prospects.
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Global Recession and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/4/2008
Part I. The Republic of Macedonia - A Case Study (2007)
Ever since its reluctant declaration of independence in 1991, Macedonia occupied the bottom of the list of countries in transition from Communism, as far as absolute dollar figures of FDI go. At 80.6 million USD, FDI in 2003 barely budged from previous years. In 2004, FDI reached 139.5 million USD, only to shrink to 116.2 million USD in 2005. Discounting the sale of ESM, the electricity utility, FDI remained static in 2006 (total FDI was 350.7 million USD or 124.7 million USD, without ESM).
Serbia to the EU: Drop Dead
Baron Bodissey - 12/28/2007
It seems that even the blandishments of the European Union are not enough to persuade the Serbs to give up Kosovo voluntarily.
A Blueprint for the Suppression of Dissent in Europe
Baron Bodissey - 12/19/2007
The disappearance of liberty in Europe will not be accompanied by the loud knock of a jackbooted thug at the front door. Basic freedoms are already being eroded imperceptibly by the European Union. The process has been going on for many years, drip by silent drip. In order to create Eurabia, the will of the people is muffled, suppressed, and discarded by the elites of the EU.
Leasing Real Estate in Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/14/2007
The subprime mortgage crisis in the United States is spreading into Europe, notably the United Kingdom. Real estate values are deemed inflated throughout the continent. One exception may be Macedonia. Purchase prices here have stagnated in the last few years and rental rates have actually declined considerably. There is good reason to think this will change and soon: new financing vehicles are on offer and, as real incomes increase, there is a stark mismatch between geometrically-growing demand and arithmetically-increasing supply.
Why We Should Oppose Independent Kosovo
Fjordman - 12/8/2007
Hans Rustad runs Document.no, the largest independent weblog in my country. A recent post there contained criticism of me, and I have already answered some of it. However, Mr. Rustad also claimed that I support a revisionist view of the Balkan wars of the 1990s which is "just as factually wrong, immoral and politically dangerous as David Irving's Holocaust revisionism." I consider that statement to be too awful to ignore, and decided to write a reply in English.
Overview of the Macedonian Stock Exchange - December 2007
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/8/2007
The Macedonian Stock Exchange, as measured by its MBI-10 index, rose to a record high of close to 10,500 in mid-2007. It has since shed 40% of its gains. This correction, or, rather, rout has its roots is a series of converging factors.
The Unfair Slurs Against Swedish Democrats
Baron Bodissey - 11/19/2007
The controversy that has swirled around Counterjihad Brussels 2007 since it ended ten days ago centers on two European nationalist parties, Vlaams Belang, or Flemish Issue, and Sverigedemokraterna, or The Sweden Democrats. Members of both parties attended the conference, although as individuals, not as representatives of their respective parties.
Danish Election Roundup
Baron Bodissey - 11/17/2007
It looks like Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Liberal Party won the November 13, 2007 elections and will continue to head a government in coaliton with nationalist Dansk Folkeparti (the Dannish People's Party), a nationalist party that came in third. The two parties combined for over 40% of the vote, with another 11.3% going to the Conservatives and the Christian Democrats. On the left, the second place Social Democrats have suffered some of the worst results in 100 years and it looks like their voter base has shrunk permanently. Social Democrats received 25.5% and all the other left wing parties received about 21%. The centrist New Alliance party came in at 2.8%.
From Citizen to Subject — The Rule of Experts and the Rise of Transnational Anti-Democrats
Fjordman - 11/17/2007
At the end of the Cold War, Francis Fukuyama pronounced that we had arrived at “The End of History”, and that capitalism and liberal democracy would now be the only global system left. But when I look at Europe today, I see democracies under threat because of an elaborate Eurabian bureaucracy and Islamic fanaticism. I see countries unwilling or unable to defend themselves against massive immigration/colonization.
The Complete Dissolution of the Belgian State
Baron Bodissey - 11/16/2007
Belgium is a multi-ethnic state, divided into Dutch-, French- and German-speaking areas. The ethnic German section of Belgium is relatively small; the main division of the country is between French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders.
West: The Fatherless Civilization
Fjordman - 11/15/2007
The decade from the first half of the 1960s to the first half of the 1970s was clearly a major watershed in Western history, with the start of non-Western mass immigration in the USA, the birth of Eurabia in Western Europe and the rise of Multiculturalism and radical Feminism. American columnist Diana West recently released her book The Death of the Grown-up, where she traces the decline of Western civilization to the permanent youth rebellions of the past two generations. The paradox is that the people who viciously attacked their own civiliza...
Nikola Gruevski's Way Out
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/13/2007
Title of Book: The Way Out: Foreign Direct Investment, Economic Development, and Employment
Author: Nikola Gruevski
Publisher: Evropa 92 Kochani
Month, Year of publication: October 2007
# of pages: 210
Macedonia's Titanic Waltz Or: Why Macedonians Spit in the Streets and Trash Their Environment
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/12/2007
It is a well-noted phenomenon: Macedonians behave one way at home and in another, more civilized manner, when they are traveling abroad. Most egregiously, they spit in public and trash their environment. Why the stark differences in conduct?
The Political Crisis in Belgium
Baron Bodissey - 11/11/2007
Belgium has gone for five months without being able to form a new government, and is in the throes of one of the greatest political crises in its history. The primary issue is the aspiration of Flanders to break away from Wallonia, the French-speaking portion of Belgium, and form its own country. The Walloons are resisting Flemish efforts, even resorting to extra-constitutional means to maintain the status quo.
A Macedonian Fairy Tale
Boban Karapejovski - 11/7/2007
Once upon a time there was a small country called "the Oasis of Peace". This country was Macedonia. This fairy tale dates from the mid-`90 of the previous centrury, when Macedonia became the only country to secede from the Yugoslav breakdown without war and human casualties. This small polity (in terms of square kilometers) is again at the focus of international interest due to the process of solving the Albanian issue on the Balkans.
Balkan Rational Exuberance - Interview with Alexandar Dimishkovski of BID Consulting
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/5/2007
The Balkans as a region is experiencing a confluence of events of both fundamental and technical nature that augur well, as far as its economies go. Accession to the huge and unified market of the European Union (and to NATO) is closer and more realistic than ever. Two decades of transition from socialism and communism, privatization, institution-building, and private sector reform are finally bearing fruits. Emerging markets - and Europe - are more attractive than ever as investment destinations, now that the United States is caught in a vicious cyclical downturn which might result in a reces...
Why Western Art is Unique, and Why Muslim Immigration Threatens It
Fjordman - 10/22/2007
I’d like to dwell on one aspect of Western culture that tends to be downplayed, but is quite important: We are the only culture in the history of mankind to develop realistic, faithful depictions of beings and matter in our paintings and sculptures, rather than merely stylized depictions. We are also the only culture to invent a way to depict three-dimensional subjects in a two-dimensional format. A similar perspective was lacking in all other types of early art, be that Chinese or Japanese, Indian, Mesoamerican, African or Middle Eastern. This could conceivably be because the Western man has ...
EU Reform Treaty: Will the 'Superstate' include both Germany and Russia, and should US and UK feel threatened?
Lorna Thomas - 10/18/2007
As European members gather at the Lisbon Summit on 18-19 October, Europe stands on the threshold of approving and later ratifying a Reform Treaty that includes the creation of powerful new leadership roles, which Chancellor Merkel has described as a 'political quantum leap for Europe'.
The Rise of Glossocracy
Fjordman - 10/18/2007
Alexander Boot, a Russian by birth, left for the West in the 1970s, only to discover that the West he was seeking was no longer there. This led him to write the book How the West Was Lost. I disagree with his criticism of post-Enlightenment civilization in general. Still, he is articulate and original, which makes him worth reading.
Boot believes that democracy, or in the words of Abraham Lincoln, the government of ...
How The West Was Lost
Fjordman - 10/15/2007
Is Islam compatible with democracy? This is a question I address elsewhere. We also have to ask ourselves, however, whether the conditions needed for a properly functioning democratic system are currently present even in the West. I’m not always sure about that. In a functioning democratic state, the state passes laws in accordance with the wishes of the people, and also strives to uphold these laws. In Western Europe in particular, the state does neither, as most laws are passed by unelected EU bureaucrats...
German's Middle East Policy
Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, Ph.D. - 10/15/2007
At times of peace, Germany's Middle East policy has historically taken a secondary position--one subordinate to Germany's primary policy toward Europe and America. While of secondary importance, it was a tool that could be used to manipulate the Middle Eastern Question by playing off Western powers against each other. Berlin's goal was a peaceful penetration of the Ottoman Empire, and it had no colonial aspirations in the region. During the world wars, however, Berlin elevated its Middle East policy to primary status by instigating jihad in the enemy's hinterland. Yet in recent years, Berlin has sought out policies on Middle East peace and Islam fitting the European framework.1
Beheading Nations: The Islamization of Europe’s Cities
Fjordman - 10/12/2007
We have seen videos on TV of Muslim Jihadis beheading infidel hostages. Less attention has been paid to the fact that Muslims are beheading entire nation states. Although this is happening in slow motion, it is no less dramatic. Historically, the major cities have constituted a country’s “head,” the seat of most of its political institutions and the largest concentration of its cultural brainpower. What happens when this “head” is cut off from the rest of the body?
AIDS - Europe's New Plague
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 10/11/2007
The region which brought you the Black Death, communism and all-pervasive kleptocracy now presents: AIDS. The process of enlargement to the east may, unwittingly, open the European Union's doors to the two scourges of inordinately brutal organized crime and exceptionally lethal disease. As Newsweek noted, the threat is greater and nearer than any hysterically conjured act of terrorism.
Islam, the Greeks and the Scientific Revolution, part 3
Fjordman - 10/9/2007
The great British expert on Chinese science history Joseph Needham has written about how the "four great inventions of China," the compass, printing, papermaking and gunpowder, were exported to the rest of the world. Although Needham is good at writing about technology, he doesn't always provide sufficient evidence of transmission for these inventions. Only one of them, paper, can be said with absolute certainty to have reached the West as a fully developed product. According to Professor T.F. Carter, "Back of the invention of printing lies the use of paper, which is the most certain and the most complete of China's inventions."
Islam, the Greeks and the Scientific Revolution, part 2
Fjordman - 10/7/2007
According to scholar Lynda Shaffer, "Francis Bacon (1561-1626), an early advocate of the empirical method, upon which the scientific revolution was based, attributed Western Europe's early modern take-off to three things in particular: printing, the compass, and gunpowder. Bacon had no idea where these things had come from, but historians now know that all three were invented in China. Since, unlike Europe, China did not take off onto a path leading from the scientific to the Industrial Revolution, some ...
Cat Stevens Awarded EU Peace Prize (For Support of Rushdie Fatwah?)
Fjordman - 10/6/2007
Islamopop star Cat Stevens, aka Yusuf Islam, gets awarded a major Eurabian prize. This gives you some idea of just how vast and established the Eurabian networks are. They are unfortunately very real, not a conspiracy theory.
Islam, the Greeks and the Scientific Revolution, part 1
Fjordman - 10/5/2007
I have written a couple of essays regarding the Greek impact on the rise of modern science, and why the Scientific Revolution didn't happen in the Islamic world. I find this to be an interesting topic, especially since there are so many myths regarding this perpetrated by Muslims and their apologists today, so I will explore the subject in some detail.
Why the Europeans Take Their Complaints about the Dollar to Beijing
Prof. Peter Morici - 10/5/2007
The euro has risen about 10 percent against the dollar and the yen over the last year, and this is giving European exporters and politicians fits. Predictably, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is getting pressure from European colleagues to take action.
The Right to Offend: Putting the Muhammad Cartoons in Context
Nicholas M. Guariglia - 10/4/2007
Pity Sofia Karlberg, the spokeswoman of the Swedish foreign ministry, who was tasked with the highly weasel-like chore of expressing regret for something she was not responsible for; for something that need not be regretted. It seems that Lars Vilks, a cartoonist for the Swedish paper Nerikes Allenhanda, drew unflattering depictions of the Islamic prophet and seventy-century general Muhammad. Karlberg eulogized to the BBC that the Swedish government “expressed regret that the publication of the cartoons had hurt the feelings of Muslims,” but continued that the government “can’t apologize for the cartoons because (the government) did not publish them.”
Sweden Learns That Appeasement Doesn’t Pay
Fjordman - 10/4/2007
While the largest political party in Sweden, the Social Democrats, are launching a formal cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood for the mutual benefit of both (Muslims predominantly vote for Leftist parties) Muslims are openly threatening the life of cartoonist Lars Vilks ("Let his destiny be a lesson to others," as one Muslim preacher warned during a free speech seminar in Stockholm organized by humanists and ex-Muslims).
Is...
Norway: The Country of Peace Meets the Religion of Peace
Fjordman - 10/3/2007
Norwegian police have discovered that a large number of Pakistani taxi drivers, many of whom have already been charged with tax evasion in one of the worst cases of welfare fraud in the nation's history, have close contact with Pakistani gangs and operate as couriers of arms and drugs. In the city of Oslo it is documented that criminal Pakistani gangs also have close ties to Jihadist groups at home and abroad. This despite the f...
EU Wants to Increase Muslim Immigration and Internet Censorship
Fjordman - 10/2/2007
A few months ago, the EU's Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini worried about what to do with illegal immigration. To no-one's surprise, he appears to have settled for surrendering and making it legal. The skilled glossocrat Frattini has already banned the use of the phrase Islamic terrorism: "You cannot use the term 'Islamic terrorism,'" he insiste...
The Education of Macedonia - Interview with Ljubica Grozdanovska of BID Consulting
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 10/2/2007
Until recently and for five years, Ljubica Grozdanovska worked as a journalist in Macedonia's best-selling daily newspaper, "Dnevnik", covering issues on every level of education in the country. Three months ago, she became correspondent for the prestigious Czech e-zine Transition Online (TOL), again covering topics in education. Ljubica also works at the Faculty of Journalism in Skopje as a junior assistant. Recently, she co-founded "BID Consulting", where she serves as a market analyst, business and PR consultant.
Lights Out in the Balkans - Interview with Aleksandar Dimishkovski of BID Consulting, Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/27/2007
Until recently and for four years, Aleksandar Dimishkovski worked as a business and finance correspondent in Macedonia's best-selling daily newspaper, "Dnevnik". In the past year, he also served as a personal advisor to the general manager of a foreign-owned company that has established its network in Macedonia. He is known as a market analyst and a business consultant and has recently founded "BID Consulting".
Dele Momodu And The Mad Man At Charles De Gaulle
Uche Nworah - 9/16/2007
I read Dele Momodu’s Pendulum column in This Day newspaper of Thursday September 6th 2007 and his subsequent addendum in the same newspaper on Thursday September 14th 2007 with interest. In the original piece titled The Mad Man at Charles De Gaulle, Mr Momodu attempted to paint a gloomy picture of the life of an African/Nigerian immigrant using the unfortunate black man wheeling a trolley of his belongings at Charles De Gaulle airport to drive home his point.
Europe Publishes List Of Experts To Advise On Sales Of Cloned Meat
Angelique van Engelen - 9/14/2007
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published the details of the outside consultants it has agreed to work with on its study of cloned meat. If the outcome of study is positive, cloned meat could be in the supermarkets here before 2010.
Cartoon Reignites Clash of Cultural Values
Ron Coody - 9/12/2007
The latest row over some cartoons of Muhammed printed in a Swedish newspaper shows the clash of two fundamentally different cultural values. Above nearly all else, Westerners value individual expression, which is a function of individualistic self-actualization, or self-discovery, or could even be called self-creation. In exactly the opposite way, Easterners, Muslims in particular, value protecting the timeless honor of the community. This means that individuals have, in a sense, no identity apart from the community and the community’s corporate identity is defined, in this case, by the att...
British Law Enforcement Missing 9/11-Level Threats?
Glen Jenvey - 9/11/2007
‘Once the child reach ten years old, teach him some kind of thing which is scouting, sleeping rough, sleeping tough, going for training, sweating, getting couple of punches in the face, teach him the reality of life and then show him how to become a good Mujahid.’
Islamizing Finland
Baron Bodissey - 9/11/2007
I asked KGS of Tundra Tabloids to translate an this article from Helsingin Sanomat for us, and here’s the result — it’s about the formation of the first Islamic party in Finland.
Could the Ancient Greeks Have Created the Scientific Revolution?
Fjordman - 9/10/2007
This essay was inspired by a comment from blogger and TBJ reader Conservative Swede, who once stated that the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions were the products of Greek logic and Roman engineering skills, and had little to do with Christianity. I think he goes too far in his criticism of Christianity, which isn't to say that none of what he says about it is true.
Happy Birthday, Macedonia!
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/9/2007
The Republic of Macedonia is 16 years old: an adolescent with the problems and promises that characterize puberty. The country now has a young and dynamic leadership which has succeeded, in one short year, to transform Macedonia's image both domestically and abroad. According to repeated polls, for the first time in two decades, people are optimistic and investors sanguine.
The Swedish Flag Is Racist
Baron Bodissey - 9/6/2007
You know, I�d do just as well to close this blog down and just give readers a permanent link to The Local, the Swedish English-language news site. I�ve been citing The Local four or five times a day; that�s where all the Lars Vilks news is, and from Sweden come all the Multicultural, PC, and dhimmitude stories that you would ever want to read. Not only that, The Local has those good-looking Nordic babes in bathing suits in the ads on the sidebar � who could ask for more?
Eurabia Moves Forward: Italy Launches Mediterranean Health Partnership
Fjordman - 9/2/2007
The first time I read Bat Ye’or’s description of the Eurabian networks, I found it hard to believe that something that big could go on despite the fact that I had never heard about any of it. But then I started checking the available documents myself, and discovered that it was all true. Perhaps the greatest betrayal in modern Western history, yet largely ignored by Western media.
The EU Commission and senior European officials at the very highest levels, frequently diffused through various innocent ...
Will the global 'credit crunch' hit London property?
Iqbal Latif - 8/28/2007
Prices for "prime" homes in the most expensive streets of the capital have risen about 50 per cent in the past two years as a financial services' boom has enriched bankers and other professionals in the City of London. Since the deal of the century, where new records were broken by the 'Qataris' to buy 1 Knightsbridge 4 Penthouses in March 2007 for 5000 pounds /sq ft, the prices in London have moved on to new highs. It was ease of liquidity that was said to be behind London real estate's stratospheric rise of prices when it comes to real estate within the golden quadrangle ensconced quietly be...
Sweden: Collaboration, Then and Now
Fjordman - 8/28/2007
A group of Swedes spied for the Stasi, the secret police of the GDR, Communist East Germany. Some of the spies were journalists.
The Birth Dearth In The West
Baron Bodissey - 8/28/2007
A lot is written these days about declining birthrates in Western countries and Japan. The most frequent statistic cited is the number of live births per woman in a population: in order for the population to replace itself and remain stable, that number must be about 2.1.
Obviously there are many factors that could complicate the calculation of this “replacement number”. An increase in war and pestilence would tend to raise it, since more births would be necessary in order to make up for an increased death rate. In the opposite direction, improved medical care and decades of peace would...
The West in the 21st Century — Developed or Developing Nations?
Fjordman - 8/21/2007
In the debate regarding how the relationship between the Old West, Europe, and the New West, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, will be in the 21st century, many observers seem to take for granted that much of Europe will fall to Islam, and that native Europeans will flee and resettle in the New West. There is, however, another scenario that is theoretically possible, but little discussed. What if the opposite happens? There are Europeans emigrating/fleeing to these nations already now, but I think they will discover once there that the problems they are fleeing from are alr...
Sectarian Schools in Britain
Dr. Norman Berdichevsky - 8/20/2007
The recent controversy over the advisability of establishing separate Muslim sectarian schools has opened a broad debate in Britain on the nature of what is exactly meant by a 'multicultural society'. In spite of the use of this term by members of parliament and even ministers, it means different things to different people. There are now more than 7,000 faith-based schools in Britain, the great majority run by the Church of England or the Catholic church, with a handful of Jewish schools and over the past twenty years more than 100 Muslim schools have been established, primarily in London and in the cities of the Northern Midlands where large numbers of Muslim immigrants settled.
Latent Nazis -Conversations with Young German Intellectuals
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/20/2007
In in his controversial tome, "Hitler's Willing Executioners", the author, Daniel Goldhagen, posits that the Germans underwent a miraculous transformation in the wake of their devastating defeat in World war II. En masse, they have abandoned their centuries-old rabid, virulent, and ultimately lethal brand of anti-Semitism and anti-Slavism and became docile, altruistic citizens of the New World Order. This unlikely scenario sounds too good to be true because it is far from the truth.
Immigration and Radicalization in Scandinavia
Erik Brattberg - 8/17/2007
Current demographic trends suggest that by 2020, ten percent of the overall European population will be Muslim. Although pluralism is by no means an impossibility, a large Muslim presence in Europe is not entirely unproblematic. Islamic radicals are today present in every West European country with a substantial Muslim minority. Up until 11 September 2001, these Jihadists operated in relatively interrelated network structures. The Jihadist movement is, however, currently undergoing a phase of decentralization resulting in a new form of homegrown terrorism. These terrorist cells consists predom...
Germany's Fourth Reich
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/14/2007
In an assertive, unified, and resurgent Germany, the Holocaust is now the butt of manifestly anti-Semitic jokes. This would have been unthinkable only 10 years ago. Yet, in meetings I have had over the last 4 years with young German scholars, intellectuals, artists, and budding politicians, as alcohol and mutual acquaintance put them at ease, they all, with one exception, reverted to shocking form.
Immigration Manifesto And The Deep Crisis Of The West
Jens Tomas Anfindsen and Ole Jřrgen Anfindsen - 8/14/2007
The immigration policies currently in vogue in most Western countries show increasing signs of being unsustainable, and the associated problems are likely to grow ever more severe in the coming years, due to the demographic pressures of the increased immigrant population from cultures so different from European that they cannot be assimilated into the West. This is one of the largest ethical dilemmas of our time. We therefore believe the entire foundation for the prevailing regime needs to be reconsidered, and submit this manifesto as a starting point for reasoning about these challenges.
The Death of Sweden
Fjordman - 8/14/2007
I still get questions as to why I, being Norwegian, write more about Sweden than I do about my own country. First of all: I do write about Norway sometimes. And second of all: If you look at capital cities alone, Oslo could quite possibly be the worst city in Scandinavia. However, in virtually all other respects, Sweden is worse. And yes, it is every bit as bad as I...
Last Days of Hizb ut Tahrir In Britain
Viresh Pattani - 8/13/2007
A bad few weeks for Hizb ut Tahrir Britain – the UK arm of the radical Islamist party which wishes to see its version of the medieval “Caliphate” established in Muslim lands and then across the entire globe. First, after a concerted campaign of complaints to the BBC following last November’s Newsnight program – when Hizb ut Tahrir in South London was infiltrated and exposed as being linked to violence, radicalization and threatening local mosques – their hundreds of complaints were summarily dismissed. Of thirty four complaints considered worthy of any investigation by regulators, and followin...
EU and the Globalist Alliance
Fjordman - 8/13/2007
Here is an interesting comment about Multiculturalism posted at a website in, of all places, Bangladesh: “Multiculturalism is an unnatural and unhealthy condition that can only afflict countries in national decline. (…) Greed and corruption will characterise the government coupled with oppressive measures directed against its citizens. Lies and deceit will be the stock and trade of media, politicians, and educational institutions.” Multiculturalism “is used to prevent a national consen...
Another Banned Terrorist Group In London
Glen Jenvey - 8/7/2007
A banned terrorist group behind a wave of muggings, credit card frauds and drug pushing is flourishing in Britain because the authorities are ignoring it. The Tamil Tigers - infamous for pioneering suicide bombs - are taking hold in the UK while the Government focuses on Islamic extremists, a worrying investigation has found.
France to give nuclear technology to Libya?
Fjordman - 8/4/2007
Is French President Nicolas Sarkozy a passionate Eurabian? Leading the EU to surrender for Libya, he now proposes exporting French nuclear technology to Libya, after the Libyans have themselves admitted that they recently had a nuclear weapons program. Libyan Leader Gaddafi has announced that one day the Islam will disseminate its power over the European countries. According to him, the riots in the suburbs of Paris in 2005 were “only the beginning of the armed struggle of the Muslims against discrimination in Europe. Probably one day Europe will be subordinated to Islam.” But the French president wants to give him nuclear technology. Nice move, Mr. Sarkozy:
Finsbury Park: Inside the British Jihad
Pratik Chougule - 8/4/2007
Stepping off the subway at Finsbury Park, the change in scenery could not have been more acute. Just an hour earlier, I had been awed by the grandeur of Big Ben, towering over the British Houses of Parliament. It is the symbol of the England in our history books: a beacon of liberty, tolerance, and stability.
A Culture of Lies
Fjordman - 7/30/2007
The always excellent writer Theodore Dalrymple, one of the most astute observers of Britain and indeed of the Western world today, has assessed the ten years under the leadership of former PM Tony Blair. According to Dalrymple, “Many in Britain believe that he has been the worst prime minister in recent British history, morally and possibly financially corrupt, shallow and egotistical.” One of the reasons for this negative view is the rapid growth of insecurity, ironically combined with the even more rapid growth of surveillance: “The typical Briton finds himself recorded by security cameras 3...
Why the European Union Must Go
Fjordman - 7/28/2007
At the EU Observer, Anthony Coughlan, a senior lecturer at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, notes that in every EU member state at present the majority of laws come from Brussels. Why do national politicians and representatives accept this situation? He suggests a plausible explanation:
Politically Incorrect Exit for the UK Ambassador to Thailand and Laos
Richard S. Ehrlich - 7/27/2007
BANGKOK, Thailand -- The British Ambassador to Thailand and Laos, David Fall, ended his career as a diplomat by giving a wildly hilarious, shockingly blunt, comedy performance of taboo jokes about Scotsmen using condoms, trigger-happy Americans, and sexual double entendres involving British, Turkish and French officials.
Does The West Want Islamic Reformation?
Fjordman - 7/25/2007
Dutch writer Margriet de Moor recently wrote an article on Islam in Europe. Perhaps the most grotesque quote from this essay is that she sees the Netherlands as a large-scale laboratory, and says so with obvious approval. A great example of why Multiculturalism is a massive experiment in social engineering, every bit as radical and dangerous as Communism. Ms. De Moor lives in some kind of alternate reality where "Europe's affluence and free speech" will create an Islamic Reformation. But Muslim immigration constitutes a massive drain on the former, and is slowly, but surely destroying the latter.
Multicultural Societies - Respect For Muslims And Islam
Ole Jřrgen Anfindsen, Ph.D. - 7/25/2007
The current European immigration and integration policy is profoundly disrespectful of both Muslims and Islam, because it is built on the tacit assumption that the Muslims will become like us. One claims to have respect for Islam and for Muslims, but one also expects Muslims to give up their orthodox faith when they come here. At the same time one is assuming that Islam will be reformed and modernized as soon as the Muslims become integrated and understand and appreciate how superior our Western culture is compared to their own. This is cultural shauvinism and arrogance indeed! The unspoken premise for this scenario is that Western socities are superior to Islam.
Islam and the West
Warner MacKenzie - 7/24/2007
The recent phenomenon of Islamic terrorism against the west, and certain unwelcome aspects within the increasing Muslim presence in Western countries, seem new to us but, in reality, owe more than just a passing nod of acknowledgement to the Arab Bedouin tradition of the plundering raid (ghazwa or razzia.). The razzia, with its opportunistic seizure of spoils (anfal) was undertaken by a desert people who were unable or unwilling to contribute to the creation of their needs; so the Bedouin, who neither grew nor made anything, simply pillaged what they wanted from others. Likewise, Muslim emigra...
Adventures of Tony Rodef, Middle East Detective: The London Caper
Prof. Barry Rubin - 7/21/2007
News item: After suicide bomb attacks on London and Glasgow by Islamists were foiled, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered ministers never to use the word "Muslim" when discussing terrorism.
UK Foreign Policy Research Guide
Toby Greene - 7/20/2007
UK foreign policy, while balancing its position in the EU but with its firm backing for the United States, has been particularly interesting for Middle East researchers in recent years. The aim of this guide is to introduce some of the internet resources available to those conducting research on contemporary UK foreign policy, with a particular focus on the Middle East. Following Gordon Brown_s taking over the reigns as prime minister from Tony Blair on June 27, 2007, policy analysts will be watching keenly for any signs of a change in policy.
A New Balance Between Rome and Jerusalem
Fjordman - 7/19/2007
Several readers wrote to me claiming that Christianity is flexible, unlike Islam, and that the United States, perhaps still the most devoutly Christian of Western nations, also has the most dynamic military forces. And it was the Americans who dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which hardly indicates that Christians have to be soft.
Home Grown Terrorists are testing the boundaries of the United Kingdom
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 7/10/2007
It all sounds too good to be true. And it probably is. After staining America ’s reputation and maiming its core, the terrorists have shifted gears, and they are now testing the boundaries of the United Kingdom. They began with a bang, killing 52 and injuring 700 others in the London ’s public transport system in the year 2005. They tried replicating the attack two weeks later again but failed to detonate their explosives in underground trains, much to the relief of Britain . But they were constantly seeking for an opening and they almost found one but then too their effort was foiled. In Augu...
Doctors of Terrorism
Prof. Barry Rubin - 7/10/2007
The arrest of seven doctors in the attempted British terror bombings has shocked many people. Sadly, it shouldn’t. All seven are Muslims working at government-financed hospitals, their salaries paid by the British taxpayer. Dr. Muhammad Hanif practiced at Halton Hospital in Runcorn, Cheshire; Dr. Muhammad Asha, at the North Staffordshire NHS Trust’s University Hospital.
France Switches Gears in Lebanon
Gary C. Gambill - 7/9/2007
After three years of virtually seamless Franco-American concord in dealing with Lebanon, newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a major policy shift that has Bush administration officials fuming.
Britain Under Gordon Blair
Abid Mustafa - 7/3/2007
Much has been said about Tony Blair stepping down as the Prime Minster of Britain. Most political commentators and media pundits have summed up Blair’s legacy in one word— Iraq. They describe his decision to invade Iraq as a monumental failure of British foreign policy in the Middle East and a setback to Anglo-Muslim relations world-wide. Others have gone much further in their condemnation of Blair’s neo- colonial policies, and attribute Blair’s servitude to American interests behind Britain’s flagging popularity around the world. However, away from the critics both at home and abroad, the ast...
Sweden: Sharia-Supporters and Transvestites of the World Unite!
Fjordman - 7/3/2007
I was planning to take a break from writing about Sweden, but I just couldn’t help it. Swedish journalist Kurt Lundgren had a noteworthy story on his blog this week. A friend told him about a magazine published by Lärarförbundet, the Swedish Teachers’ Union, the largest union for teachers and heads of schools in the country. The magazine, aimed at preschool teachers who take care of children between the ages of 0-6 years old, included recommendations to not only promote “gender equality” but also “sexual equality” at this tender age. Mr. Lundgren considers the suggestions that are sent out to kindergarten and preschool staff to be clear-cut sexual abuse of children:
On Fascism and Islamophobia
Fjordman - 7/2/2007
The Swedish news website "The Local" writes about "The Holocaust: Sweden’s complex legacy". That’s great. Unfortunately, it quickly degenerates into bashing all those who oppose Sweden’s policies of mass migration. According to The Local, “Leading the campaign for Holocaust education is the Forum for Living History, a government agency commissioned to promote democracy and human rights, with the Holocaust as its point of reference. Reports and studies published by the Forum deal with various forms of modern intolerance amongst young Swedes, including Islamophobia.”
Impact of Minimum Wage on Germany's Economy
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/1/2007
Germany is debating the introduction of a minimum wage. The country is a special case because it is a hybrid capitalist-socialist economy and it has the Mittelstand (family-controlled small and medium enterprises). Labor mobility is limited (the labor market is not ideal or frictionless).
'Sir' Rushdie Raises Muslims' Anger
Amit Pyakurel - 6/25/2007
Perhaps many had speculated a surge of probable Muslim anger, but may not had expected that the displeasure could grow to this extreme. It's the recently provoked outrage of the Muslim populace against the Knighting of the well-known Indian-born British writer, Salman Rushdie, whose novel, The Satanic Verses, had amounted to vigorous rage from the Muslim world when it was first published in 1988. The Satanic Verses led the Islamic religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini to call for Rushdie's immediate killing. And his recent honoring has further ignited the Muslims' anger, as the Islamic fanatics...
Can Blair's Million Pound Bill on Islam Save Britain?
Denis Schulz - 6/20/2007
Sure, one million pounds could to it—that’s a lot of loot—maybe if it had been offered twenty or thirty years ago. It’s too late now. About all it will do is buy more nails to pound into John Bull’s coffin. The Chicago Cubs have a better chance of winning the 2007 World Series than England has of surviving the 21st Century. But that doesn’t keep Tony Blair from trying. Blair addressed a conference of moderate Muslims in London last week in another last-ditch effort to save Merry Olde England from a fate worse than death. He pledged to spend one million pounds to improve the teaching of Islamic studies in Britain’s universities.
The West is Losing Because It Thinks Itself The Enemy
Prof. Barry Rubin - 6/19/2007
Why is the West losing the battle against radical Islamist and other forces in the Middle East? Simple, because it has people like Alvaro de Soto running things. De Soto, if you hadn’t notices, was a veteran UN official whose last job was as the organization’s top Middle East envoy. De Soto wrote a 52-page secret report on retiring and, duly leaked, it now explains to us that the fault for Hamas’s victory in the Gaza Strip—and no doubt just about everything else in the region—lies with the United States and Israel. It is people like de Soto--dare I say over-dressed, over-paid ignoramuses?—who had no idea what they are doing and no understanding of who they are dealing with.
Germany's Copyright Levy
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/15/2007
Based on the recommendation of its Patent Office and following fierce lobbying by VG Wort, an association of German composers, authors and publishers, Germany enforced a three years old law and imposed a copyright levy of $13 plus 16 percent in value added tax per new computer sold in the country.
What Does The London 2012 Olympic Logo Prove?
Naseem Javed - 6/14/2007
That there is absolutely nothing wrong with the new London 2012 Olympics logo, but there is something seriously wrong with the logo-driven branding industry at large, as this new logo clearly proves that as we approach 2012, global society will not respond to conventional logos or graphics, but only to these kinds of insignificant, dysfunctional and obscure design works which will eventually become branding norms throughout the world. This clearly proves the lingering demise of the logo-branding industry.
What is the Cause of Low Birth Rates?
Fjordman - 6/2/2007
What causes low birth rates? I have debated this issue at some length with blogger Conservative Swede. Among the reasons frequently cited are the welfare state, feminism and secularism. However, if you look closely at the statistics from various countries, the picture gets quite complex, and there doesn’t appear to be an automatic correlation between low birth rates and any one of these factors.
Red Sun Rising - Hungary's Elections
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/2/2007
Hungary is in the throes of strife, both economic and political. It looks bad but it is useful to recall how things were in April 2002 when Hungary went to crucial elections as its accession to the European Union (EU) hung in balance. The Slovaks, perhaps a trifle prematurely, rejoiced. The Czech CTK News Agency reported from Prague that the ethnic Hungarian parties in Slovakia were cautiously unhappy. Bela Bugar, the chairman of one such party (the SMK, now in coalition) grumbled, referring to the Hungarian-Slovak basic treaty: "If this policy of two faces were to continue, it would worsen re...
Hungary's Ever Closer Union
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/1/2007
Hungary is in the throes of strife, both economic and political. It looks bad but it is useful to recall how things were in March 2002 when Hungary's accession to the European Union (EU) was in balance. Russian mobsters love Budapest and not only for its views and cosmopolitan atmosphere. They can easily obtain a Hungarian passport posing as "investors" by laundering the proceeds of their illicit activities. The CIA labels Hungary a "major transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and cannabis and transit point for South American cocaine destined for Western Europe". It is also a "limited...
Straf - Corruption in Central and Eastern Europe
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/31/2007
The three policemen barked "straf", "straf" in unison. It was a Russianized version of the German word for "fine" and a euphemism for bribe. I and my fiancée were stranded in an empty ally at the heart of Moscow, physically encircled by these young bullies, an ominous propinquity. They held my passport ransom and began to drag me to a police station nearby. We paid.
The Deep Crisis Of The West
Ole Jřrgen Anfindsen, Ph.D. - 5/30/2007
Sometimes we make things too complicated. This article is an attempt at explaining, using as few words as possible, why Europe in particular, and the entire Western world in general, is in a deep crisis. This explanation will be followed by a brief discussion of some possible objections, after which several sobering facts and quotes are provided. The article is wrapped up with some concluding thoughts and remarks.
The Czechs' Indian Gambit
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/29/2007
Then Czech deputy Minister for Industry and Trade, Miroslav Somol, sounded upbeat in his visit to India in early January 2003. At a meeting of the Confederation of Indian industry on Jan 6, 2003 he reminded the audience of their country's close economic collaboration with the erstwhile Czechoslovakia.
Al-Guardian Wrong Again: Islam and Science
Fjordman - 5/29/2007
Al-Guardian may not the best yardstick, but their recent article Europe's Islamic Self illustrates the kind of myths that have now penetrated deep into Western universities. Soumaya Ghannoushi writes in yesterday’s al-Guardian about Europe’s Islamic self: "The “west”, as it conceives of itself, is a gigantic lie… Although the Greek Hellenistic and the Christian traditions were undoubtedly vital in the west's evolution, so too were other elements from which it has sought to d...
What the Czech National Bank (CNB) can Learn from Israel
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/28/2007
The (Czech National Bank) CNB is one of the most autonomous in the world. It is also heavily influenced by current economic fashions. These fashions were propagated and disseminated throughout the world by the IMF in the last two decades with disastrous consequences. The IMF (and most central banks) are obsessed with the attainment of low inflation and macroeconomic stability. These goals are commendable - but when pursued too zealously they are deflationary, recessionary and contractionary. Naturally, inflation tends to be lower when the economy contracts. Perfect macroeconomic stability is achieved only in a graveyard. Coupled with free capital flows this recipe is downright dangerous.
The Twin Myths of Eurabia
Fjordman - 5/27/2007
Bat Ye’or is the most informed contemporary scholar of the unique Islamic institution of dhimmitude, the repressive and humiliating apartheid system imposed upon those non-Muslims (i.e., dhimmis) subjugated by Jihad. Sir Jadunath Sarkar, the pre-eminent historian of Mughal India, wrote the following in 1920 regarding the impact of centuries of Jihad and dhimmitude on the indigenous Hindus of the Indian subcontinent:
Is the West Waiting for Churchill or Godot?
Fjordman - 5/24/2007
I once had the pleasure of watching the absurdist theatre play called "Waiting for Godot," by Samuel Beckett. Two men called Vladimir and Estragon sit around waiting for a man named Godot. Mr. Godot never shows up, of course. It is years ago now, but for some reason, I remembered it recently when watching the political situation in Europe.
Macedonia vs. Unemployment, Part 7
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/23/2007
Macedonia has executed a workforce survey for the first time in 1996. In this survey the following definitions were used:
Multiculturalism and Integration for Second-Generation European Muslims
Esther - 5/23/2007
Ayter Köse is a 2nd generation Dutch Turk. She was born in the Netherlands and grew up there. Marrying a Turk, she came back to live in the Netherlands, though her husband would have preferred staying in Turkey. Now, they are going back.
Islam, Euro Bureaucracy & Rule of Law
Fjordman - 5/22/2007
I was recently asked by Dr. Daniel Pipes to explain why Swedish authorities are behaving allowing their country to be run over by Third World immigration while suppressing any speech in opposition to it. First, I may be unfairly focusing on Sweden somewhat too much because, as a Scandinavian, I’m emotionally attached to the country. And yet, while the Islamic takeover is arguably more acute in France, Britain and the Netherlands, among other European country, it is accurate to say that there is less real debate in Sweden than in any other country. Multiculturalism is, for the Left, an anti-Wes...
Macedonia vs. Unemployment, Part 6
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/22/2007
Another common misperception is that there is some trade off between unemployment and inflation. Both Friedman and Phelps attacked this notion. Unemployment seems to have a “natural” (equilibrium or homeostatic) rate, which is determined by the structure of the labour market. The natural rate of unemployment is consistent with stable inflation (NAIRU – Non Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment).
Macedonia vs. Unemployment, Part V
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/21/2007
We are all under the spell of magic words such as “mobility”, “globalization” and “flextime”. It seems as though we move around more frequently, that we change jobs more often and that our jobs are less secure. The facts, though, are different.
Macedonia vs. Unemployment, Part IV
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/20/2007
The macroeconomic policies of Macedonia are severely constrained by its international obligations to the IMF and the World Bank. Generally, a country can ease interest rates, or provide a fiscal boost to the economy by slashing taxes or by deficit spending.
Stupidity Without Borders — The Alliance of Utopias
Fjordman - 5/20/2007
The 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries have witnessed the most spectacular population growth in human history, most of it in Third World countries. The world’s population, estimated at 6.4 billion in 2006, grows by more than 70 million people per year. In sixty years, Brazil’s population has increased by 318 per cent; Ethiopia’s by 503 per cent. There are now 73 million people in Ethiopia — more than the population of Britain or France.
Wish Every Soldier Was Prince Harry
Imran Khan - 5/19/2007
Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the British army, has decided that Prince Harry - the younger son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana and third in line to the British throne- will not serve in Iraq with his Army Unit. The General said he had reached his decision following a visit to the region at the end of last week and learning of specific threats being made by insurgents against Harry and the soldiers in his unit.
Macedonia vs. Unemployment, Part III
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/19/2007
The dissemination of information regarding employment practices, opportunities, market requirements, etc. should be a prime component of the activity of the Employment Bureau. It must transform itself from a mere registry of humans to an active, computerized exchange of labour. This can be done through computerized employment exchanges and intermediation. To change the image of the Employment Bureaus from places where the unemployed merely registers and receive benefits to a labour exchange can be done by publishing examples of successful job placements.
Halal v Kosher
Esther - 5/19/2007
Geert Lambert is the leader of the Flemish Spirit party. He wrote the following on a public forum (Dutch): "I don't push religious issues into state education. I do have respect for diversity. But isn't it strange that we have had no problems with kosher food yet we have difficulties with halal? I don't have a problem with both of these, just as I don't have a problem with those older people who still don't want to eat fish on Fridays. I don't force anybody to eat fish on Friday, while many rest homes rarely have a different menu on that day." [Abstaining from fish on Friday is a Catholic custom]
Cultural War by Proxy
Wolfgang Bruno - 5/19/2007
In our clash with Islam, our opponents have at least one major advantage over us: At the beginning of the 21st century, the West has indeed lost its way and sense of purpose. We want to defend “Western civilization”, but are we even sure what that is anymore, or was it lost in the multicultural fog somewhere? Is the West primarily defined by its Judeo-Christian religious heritage, or is it something else?
Macedonia vs. Unemployment, Part II
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/18/2007
The principle governing any incentive scheme intended to encourage employers to hire hitherto unemployed workers must be that the employer will get increasing participation in the wage costs of the newly hired formerly unemployed workers – more with every year the person remains employed. Thus, a graduated incentive scale has to be part of any law and incentive plan. Example: employers will get increasing participation in wage costs – more with every 6 months the person has been unemployed by them.
Beheading Nations: The Islamization of Europe’s Cities
Fjordman - 5/18/2007
We have seen videos on TV of Muslim Jihadis beheading infidel hostages. Less attention has been paid to the fact that Muslims are beheading entire nation states. Although this is happening in slow motion, it is no less dramatic. Historically, the major cities have constituted a country’s “head,” the seat of most of its political institutions and the largest concentration of its cultural brainpower. What happens when this “head” is cut off from the rest of the body?
Macedonia vs. Unemployment, Part I
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/17/2007
I. Recommendations
Get the Real Picture
No one in Macedonia knows the real picture. How many are employed and not reported or registered? How many are registered as unemployed but really have a job? How many are part time workers – as opposed to full time workers? How many are officially employed (de jure) – but de facto unemployed or severely underemployed? How many are on “indefinite” vacations, on leave without pay, etc.?
Towards an Islamist Totalitarian Europe
Fjordman - 5/17/2007
Former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovksy has warned that the European Union is on its way to becoming another Soviet Union. When people who have worked on higher levels in the EU system note similarities as well, it is time people start taking this idea seriously.
Getting Our Minds Right: Multicultural Revolution For The West
Baron Bodissey - 5/17/2007
Fjordman has coined the term “Glossocracy” for the systematic alteration and debasement of language by the Marxist and Multicultural ideologues who control most of the public institutions in the West. When you make it difficult to describe the world except in terms that are ideologically pre-defined, you also make it difficult to think in any other way.
Multiculturalism – Tribalism Recycled
Wolfgang Bruno - 5/16/2007
The bombings in London have finally put the multicultural ideal under closer scrutiny. As Mark Steyn points out, you can't assimilate with a nullity. Helmut Schmidt, the former German chancellor, asserted that multiculturalism can only work under authoritarian regimes, not in democratic ones. At its deepest level, multiculturalism represents a denial of all Western claims to truth. The purpose of multiculturalism is to extirpate the truly free cultures by asserting that they are equivalent to primitive, Islamic cultures. The idea is kept alive by repeating myths about the “tolerant” Islamic ru...
Let Them Eat Kebab — The New Marie Antoinettes
Fjordman - 5/15/2007
Admiral Horatio Nelson may have guided the British naval fleet to a famous victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, but he faced a far tougher foe during celebrations to mark its 200th anniversary. Organizers of a re-enactment of the sea battle in 2005 decided to bill it as between a “Red Fleet” and a “Blue Fleet”, rather than Britain and its French and Spanish adversaries, describing it as a re-enactment of “an early 19th century sea battle.”
Europe: The Manic-Depressive Continent
Wolfgang Bruno - 5/15/2007
Everybody experiences their ups and downs. The unhealthy mood swings of people suffering from manic depression are far more extreme than those experienced by average people. Europe is probably the only case where an entire continent suffers from this condition.
The European Case for Israel
Wolfgang Bruno - 5/14/2007
The victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections follows the election of a hard line president in Iran and the Jihad riots in France. Hamas is not part of a struggle for "national liberation," it is a part of a global anti-democratic movement that is now threatening to plunge the world into a devastating war. The Jihad has been simmering for years, but is now entering a phase of much more open hostility towards the infidels. Hamas is right: There is no peace process in the Middle East. There probably never was, but at least Israel is now faced with enemies, both among Palestinians and the Isl...
First They Came For the Jews: The Story of Yet Another World War
Fjordman - 5/14/2007
I have seen so many lies and half-truths by Western mainstream media exposed in the blogosphere, especially related to Islam, that I no longer trust them for information. Leading bloggers such as Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs recently demonstrated this by showing how photos distributed by international news service Reuters from Lebanon had been grossly manipulated to make Israel look bad. Blogger Zombie argued, in a very convincing way, that the story about Israel deliberately targeting ambulances in Lebanon was full of holes, quite possibly a complete fabrication. It proves how ea...
Oslo Peace Process For Europe? Muslim Crime Wars Against Europe
Fjordman - 5/13/2007
Thorbjřrn Jagland is a former Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Norway from the Labor Party. He is now President of the Storting, the Norwegian Parliament, and thus technically speaking the highest ranking person in the country, next to the King. He recently wrote an essay to Aftenposten newspaper entitled Islamofobi vĺrt nye spřkelse? (Islamophobia our new ghost/specter?) where he warned against the dangers of Islamophobia. According to Jagland, seemingly paraphrasing the Communist Manifesto, a specter is haunting Europe – the specter of Islamophobia. Between the lines, Jagland seems to ...
Norway: Professor Unni Wikan On Rape
Esther - 5/13/2007
This is an exercise in facts and context, which is quite interesting. In the debate about rapes by Muslims in Norway, you will often find a quote by a "Norwegian professor" who said that "Norwegian women should adapt". I myself have referenced this attitude in past articles. The professor in question is Unni Wikan, and her words appear all over the net. For example, this one: "Norwegian women must take responsibility for the fact that Muslim men find their manner of dress provocative. And since these men believe women are responsible for rape, the women must adapt to the multicultural society around them."
What Does Muslim Immigration Cost Europe?
Fjordman - 5/10/2007
Do gang rapes boost GDP? Was that an offensive question, you say? Well, according to Sweden's finance minister Pär Nuder, more immigrants should be allowed into Sweden in order to safeguard the welfare system. However, in reality estimates indicate that immigration costs Sweden at least 40 to 50 billion Swedish kroner every year, probably several hundred billions, and has greatly contributed to bringing the Swedish welfare state to the brink of bankruptcy. An estimated cost of immigration of 225 billion Swedish kroner in 2004, which is not unlikely, would equal 17.5% of Sweden's tax income tha...
Muslim Immigrants Marrying The Mentally Retarded In Norway
Esther - 5/10/2007
This article deals a lot with forced marriages and what is common here or there. However it seems to dance around the basic issue: immigration from Pakistan to Norway today is practically impossible. If a girl is given the option of marrying a mentally retarded man in exchange for being able to build a life for herself in the West, with a husband who would probably not stand in her way for anything she does and make sure her family in Pakistan is taken care of - how many will jump at the chance? It might mean a decade or two of helping out a retarded man, but the possible benefits might overrule.
Finnish neo-Gestapo Attempts To End Bloggers' Free Speech
Baron Bodissey - 5/9/2007
Finnish blogger Mikko Ellilä (http://mikkoellila.thinkertothinker.com) is facing a police interrogation for the “hate speech” on his blog after pointing out that according to official statistics by the Department of Justice of Finland, black immigrants commit 20 times more crime, per capita, than do native Finns. He sent a message to Baron Bodissey in the anticipation of his meeting with the "Hate Crimes Gestapo". The following is his letter:
French Choose the American Way?
David Storobin, Esq. - 5/8/2007
In December 2004, the Global Politician wrote that Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to be the next President of France. Two and a half years later, our prediction came true. Here's the article written by yours truly, re-published in the same form as the original, which profiled Sarkozy's tremendous rise to the top at a young age, his fight with Jacques Chiraq and the likely actions he will take as the French President. Today the article is still as relevant as in December 2004, maybe even more so.
The End Of Tony Blair Show
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/7/2007
With little less than a few weeks to go before leaving office, Prime Minister Tony Blair of England is wondering how he would like best to be remembered. Many Britons admire him as a statesman and a fluent political speaker, but Mr. Blair, still vigorous at the end of the term, probably seeks more than dull respectability.
When Danes Pay Danegeld – Dealing with Islam in Scandinavia
Fjordman - 5/5/2007
One thousand years ago Scandinavians were the barbarians of Europe, spreading fear and extracting “Danegeld” from their more civilized neighbors. In the 21st century Scandinavians are peaceful and soft-spoken, and the roles seem to have been reversed with certain newly arrived immigrants. There are claims that immigration costs Sweden 40 to 50 billion Swedish kroner every year, perhaps even several hundred billions, and has greatly contributed to bringing the Swedish welfare state to the brink of bankruptcy.
Sweden: The Country that Sacrifices its Children, and Celebrates It!
Fjordman - 5/2/2007
Sweden is a country that has virtually no public debate about mass immigration, which continues at full speed. The Swedish political and media elites congratulate themselves for their Multicultural goodness. If sacrificing your own children is the definition of good, then exactly what constitutes evil?
The Treasure Trove of Kosovo
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/2/2007
Nothing like a juicy, photogenic human catastrophe to enrich corrupt politicians and bottom-line-orientated, stock-option-motivated corporate executives. The Balkan is teeming with both these sad days. Even as the war was raging, shortages of food and other supplies led to the dispensation of political favours (in the form of import licences, for instance) to the chosen few. Bulgarian, Greek and Albanian firms, owned by ruthless criminals and criminals-turned-politicians benefited mightily. Millions were made and shared as artificially high prices were maintained by various means while cronies...
Scotland: Independence in Europe or Loss of Identity
Lorna Thomas - 5/2/2007
On March 25, 2007 the European Union celebrated 50 years since the signing of the Treaties of Rome brought it into existence. On March 25, 1707, 300 years earlier, the Scottish Parliament adjourned for the last time before its union with Britain. Once again, in 2007 Scotland is facing a major choice regarding its future.
Scottish Independence - Reality or Illusion?
Lorna Thomas - 5/1/2007
Should the SNP or Scottish Nationalist Party win the May 3 election, it plans to hold a referendum on independence in its first term of office. Scotland faces the decision of becoming independent from Britain. The pro-European SNP campaigns for 'independence in Europe'. But would this be a reality? Has the SNP any real authority to promise Scotland independence in Europe when as a non-member it stands outside of European policy-making?
Why did Milosevic Surrender?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/1/2007
Why did Milosevic surrender? I originally asked that question on June 21, 1999. So why did he? Not because of NATO. Ground damage assessment based on the number of withdrawing troops and their hardware and on a detailed inventory of charred remains in most of Kosovo - prove that this air campaign was no different to its predecessors. Only 10% of Serb artillery, tanks, APCs and so on were effected. The Yugoslav (read: Serb) army - ostensibly the side which lost the war - is vibrant and defiant. It does not look like it has been subjected to the equivalent of 12 Hiroshima size nuclear bombs in 11 weeks. It looks like it knows something that the rest of us don't.
Terror Glorification In Britain
Dominic Whiteman - 4/30/2007
It has been a criminal offense in Britain for a year now (since 13th April 2006) to directly or indirectly encourage terrorism with those convicted face seven years imprisonment. 'Direct encouragement' is largely the same as the older offence of ‘incitement’. It is 'indirect encouragement' that involves the idea of 'glorifying terrorism' as a part of its definition and thereby introduced an entirely new legal concept on to the statute books a year ago. It is an offence if a statement is issued from which it could reasonably be inferred 'that what is being glorified is being glorified as conduc...
The Price of Kosovo
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/30/2007
Macedonia was most heavily damaged during Operation Allied Force. But one would do well to separate the irreversible damages from the reversible ones. The former have a corrosive, pernicious effect - the latter, though harmful and painful, can be remedied through added aid and investment and the adoption of the right frame of mind. The trade sector in Macedonia suffered c. 50 million US dollars in damages in the past three months.
The Migration Flood
Fjordman - 4/29/2007
In 1974, former Algerian President Houari Boumedienne warned Europe in a speech at the UN : “One day, millions of men will leave the Southern Hemisphere to go to the Northern Hemisphere. And they will not go there as friends. Because they will go there to conquer it. And they will conquer it with their sons. The wombs of our women will give us victory.”
“Soon we will take power in this country. Those who criticize us now, will regret it. They will have to serve us. Prepare, for the hour is near.” — Belgium-based imam in 1994.
French Election Goes To Expected 2nd Round
Ross Kaminsky - 4/26/2007
The center-right candidate Nicolas Sarkozy and the socialist Segolene Royal were the two leading vote-getters in this weekend's French election, with about 31% and 26% of the vote respectively.
Report on the European Counterjihad Summit
Baron Bodissey - 4/23/2007
The UK and Scandinavia Counterjihad Summit gathered last Saturday under tight security on an unusually warm spring day in Copenhagen. We met first at the Workers’ Museum (red flags and a statue of Lenin!) so that SIAD security could check everybody out. When all the participants were assembled, we followed Anders Gravers and the SIAD contingent to the meeting place a few blocks away.
Is European Civil War Inevitable By 2025? - Part II
Paul Weston - 4/22/2007
Part one of this article was an explanation of why our ratio of combat age native Europeans versus European Muslims could decline from 18:1 today, to 2:1 by 2025. These figures are largely irrelevant if one believes that Islam can peacefully co-exist within the West, but if such a scenario is simply a multicultural fantasy then we will shortly face a situation unprecedented in the history of mankind.
Is European Civil War Inevitable by 2025? Part I
Paul Weston - 4/21/2007
If I were to tell you that within twenty years Europe could find itself engaged in a civil war so bloody it made WWII look like a bun fight, you might logically consider me a candidate for the men in white coats. You would be wrong, however. Based on the demographic evidence collated for this article, such a scenario looks not merely possible, but inevitable. In 2005 European males aged 20-40 outnumbered Muslim males of a similar age by 18:1. By 2025 this ratio could drop to a mere 2:1.
Macedonia is not Bosnia: Interview with Edward Joseph
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/20/2007
This interview was conducted in 2000 with Edward Joseph, then head of the Macedonia office of the International Crisis Group (ICG). It proved prescient and is as actual today as it had been then. Ed Joseph's biography is a fair proxy to the history of the Balkan since 1992, the year he landed in Sarajevo, then the beseiged capital of crumbling Bonia-Herzegovina. He was in all the flashpoints ever since: Knin, Mostar, Bihac, Tuzla, Zepa (where he oversaw the evacuation together with the infamous General Ratko Mladic). He held senior positions in the UN, NATO, and OSCE. In 1999, during the Koso...
Macedonia in Crisis: Interview with Sam Vaknin
GP Interviews - 4/19/2007
Q1: Was there any threat of economic sanctions against Republic of Macedonia by the international mediators and/or representatives of EU/US during the crisis of 2001?Were there threat or sanctions by the international community before 2001 due to ethnic tensions within the country?
A1: The answers to both parts of your question are in the negative. But one should distinguish overt threats - both official and informal - from "ambient" ones. While no one threatened the Macedonian government explicitly - many hints were dropped that a failure to resolve the ethnic crisis would lead to severe ec...
British Islamists’ Cyber Camouflage
Dominic Whiteman - 4/18/2007
Partly due to the pressure of new terror laws in Britain and partly because of the effectiveness of Destroyers of jihadi websites like Internet Haganah, British-based radical Islamists have sought more imaginative online solutions both to maintain an online presence (even when they are banned) and to keep on recruiting (something they are increasingly desperate to do in a climate justifiably increasingly hostile towards them).
The Sudeten in Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/18/2007
Bernard Kouchner, the former administrator of Kosovo, has warned against producing a a second Cyprus in Macedonia. He probably meant a territory divided along ethnic lines by a foreign army. But here the comparison ends. The ethnically cleansing invading Turkish army was not invited by both parties to the conflict in Cyprus to make peace. The Turks were reacting to a military coup by members of the majority Greek-Cypriot community in cahoots with a vicious junta in Athens and to a series of deadly inter-communal clashes. If MFOR ever makes it, it will be by the will and invitation of both Macedonians and Albanians.
Roadmaps to Peace or Signals of Trouble
Lorna Thomas - 4/15/2007
1. AMERICA AND BRITAIN DIVIDED AS EUROPE UNITES
Time for European Parliament to Support Gender Equality: De-List Iranian Resistance PMOI
Professor Daniel M. Zucker - 4/13/2007
The recent statement by the European Parliament calling on the European Commission to give practical effect to “its roadmap for equality between women and men” rings very hollow as long as the EUP allows its Council of Ministers to defy the decision of the European Communities' Court of First Instance to de-list the Iranian resistance organization Mojahedin-e Khalq (PMOI) (which is a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran) from its terror list. The Foreign Ministers’ continued effort to mollify the misogynist government of the Islamic Republic of Iran defies all logic except for...
Humiliation of Muslims and the coming Siege of Vienna
Blake Gartner - 4/12/2007
The “Zionist entity” is at the forefront of the clash between the West and Islam. And yet, it is a tiny country, less than half the size and population of Netherlands. World Jewry stands at just 13 million people, so it has never been a titan in global affairs. The two dominant world religions in a constant clash with each other since the 7th century have been Islam and Christianity. Today the battle continues - whether against the Taliban in the mountains of Afghanistan or against the rioters on the streets of Paris.
A Question of Peace or War in Europe
Ron Janssen - 4/11/2007
In spite of days of controversy, today's signing of the "Berlin Declaration" went ahead without amendment. The pivot and crux of the controversy is the announcement of an intended replacement for the failed EU constitution which will have the same content under a different title and is to be ratified as quickly as possible. This arrangement has occasioned great displeasure in several European capitals. The most influential German think-tank, the Bertelsmann Foundation, maintains that European unification must be driven forward; the greatly contested EU constitution is to be merely the "point of departure".
Norwegian Authorities Are Covering Up Muslim Rapes
Fjordman - 4/11/2007
There has been a spike in the number of rape charges in Scandinavia in recent years. It has reached near epidemic proportions in Sweden. Although there are indications of a very high percentage of Muslim immigrants on the statistics, as it is with other kinds of crime, immigration is a non-issue for the political establishment a few weeks ahead of the Swedish national elections.
Is Transition from Communism Possible?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/11/2007
Can Socialist Professors of Economics Teach Capitalism? Is Transition from Communism Possible? Lest you hold your breath to the end of this article - the answers to both questions in the title are no and no. Capitalism cannot be "learned" or "imported" or "emulated" or "simulated". Capitalism (or, rather, liberalism) is not only a theoretical construct. It is not only a body of knowledge. It is a philosophy, an ideology, a way of life, a mentality and a personality.
Dhimmi News from Norway
Fjordman - 4/10/2007
On December 8, 2006, the following appeared in Vĺrt Land (Norway): "Editor Vebjřrn Selbekk of the small Norwegian Christian newspaper Magazinet was scheduled to sign books at a bookshop in Oslo this Saturday. Now the book signing has been cancelled because the bookshop fears terror attacks.
Giving Ministers the power to decide EU crimes and penalty
Ron Janssen - 4/10/2007
Government Ministers and the EU to be given power to decide to have Irish citizens fined and imprisoned without any need for Oireachtas permission - a Power grab by the Government and Ministers
10 Points To Remember On 50 Anniversary Of Treaty of Rome
Ron Janssen - 4/9/2007
1. THE EU'S MYTH OF ORIGIN: The myth of origin of the EU is that it was a peace project designed to make war impossible between France and Germany. The truth is however that it was the American Government's insistence on German rearmament to meet the needs of the Cold War that precipitated the European Coal and Steel Community in 1950, which was the foundation of European integration. The pooling of coal and steel under a supranational authority, the precursor of the Brussels Commission, was crucial in overcoming French hostility to rearming its ancient enemy. Jean Monnet, America's man in the...
New York Times and Sweden: The Dark Side of Paradise
Fjordman - 4/6/2007
Robert Spencer and Hugh Fitzgerald of Jihad Watch have a nickname for newspaper the New York Times, which they prefer to call “the New Duranty Times” owing to what they perceive as its poor coverage of the global Islamic jihad. The name, of course, comes from Walter Duranty, former Pulitzer Prize winner and Moscow correspondent for The New York Times in the 1930s. Duranty repeatedly denied the existence of a Ukrainian famine in 1932–33. In an article in NYT, August 24 1933, he claimed “any report of a famine is today an exaggeration or malignant propaganda,” while millions of people were dying...
The War Against Swedes
Fjordman - 4/5/2007
Two years ago, I wrote the disintegration of Swedish society and the danger of its collapse, at least in certain areas and regions. The country that gave us Bergman, ABBA and Volvo could become known as the Bosnia of northern Europe. The “Swedish model” would no longer refer to a stable and peaceful state with an advanced economy, but a Eurabian horror story of utopian Multiculturalism, Socialist mismanagement and runaway immigration. Some thought I was exaggerating, and that talk of the possibility of a future civil in Sweden was pure paranoia. Was it?
Ending The Retreat Of The West: Suggestions, Recoomendations, Solutions
Fjordman - 3/23/2007
I have been criticized for doing good analyses of the situation in the West, but not giving good enough answers to exactly what we should do about the situation. The following is my attempt to give real suggestions to stop the retreat of the West.
Recommendations for the West
Fjordman - 3/22/2007
The West at the beginning of the 21st century suffers from a lack of cultural confidence, and is in some ways engaged in an internal struggle over the very meaning of Western civilization. This ideological “war within the West” has helped paved the way for the physical “war against the West” that is waged by Muslim Jihadists, who quite correctly view our creed of Multiculturalism and our acceptance of Muslim immigration as signs of weakness and that the West has lost contact with its civilizational roots.
Will Islam Rule Over Britain?
Peter Webb - 3/15/2007
Anjem Choudary, born in 1967, is a British Islamist and follower of Omar Bakri Mohammed. He founded two Islamist groups which were last year designated and banned as terrorist organisations by the British government. Choudary has urged Muslims to not cooperate with the police in fighting terrorism, and has recently called for the assassination of the Pope. In recent years he has frequently appeared on British television and has become a figure disliked by non-Muslims and by moderate Muslims as well.
European Union Must Be Destroyed To Prevent 'Eurabia'
Fjordman - 3/15/2007
Many have already written off Western Europe as lost to Islam. I would be lying if I said that I didn't entertain the same thoughts sometimes, but I do see encouraging signs of a real shift of public opinion beneath the surface. Judging from information such as the extremely high number of Germans hostile to Islam, Europe can be saved. But this hope hinges on the complete destruction of the European Union. The EU must die or or Europe will die. It’s that simple.
The Eurabia Code: The Rise and Fall of Euro-Arab Axis
Fjordman - 3/14/2007
I decided to write this essay after a comment from a journalist, not a Leftist by my country's standards, who dismissed Eurabia as merely a conspiracy theory, one on a par with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I do not disagree with the fact that conspiracy theories exist, nor that they can be dangerous. After all, the Protocols and the Dolchstosslegende, or "stab in the back myth" - the idea that Germany didn't lose WW1 but was betrayed by Socialists, intellectuals and Jews - helped pave the way for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis before WW2.
The End of Visa Waiver?
Dominic Whiteman - 3/5/2007
We Britons are used to getting questioned by offensive immigration officers at US airports, who presume that deceitfully we are making a permanent move to the US whenever we enter America using the well-established visa-waiver scheme. It’s fair to say it doesn’t help the “special relationship” to be confronted after an eight hour flight by some pistol-carrying, shaven-headed failed police recruit with an inferiority complex the size of Lake Michigan and an IQ no higher than a tennis score.
A Short History of the West
Antero Leitzinger - 3/2/2007
For almost 200 years the Western world, “the Free World”, has depended on the protection of one great power, which all freedom-loving nations have relied on. During the [imperial] restoration following the Vienna Congress and the “Holy Alliance” that great power was Britain, but after the World War II its former colony, the United States of America, took its place. When Winston Churchill in 1940s wrote the “History of Anglophone Peoples” [correct name of the book should be checked], he in fact traced the success story of Western idea of freedom, and its reincarnation in state form. It is true ...
The Fall of France and the Multicultural World War
Fjordman - 2/22/2007
In the past, I mentioned the possibility of civil strife in the West caused by runaway immigration. This is no longer just a theoretical possibility. It is pretty clear to anybody following the developments in Europe that the situation in France is starting to become rather serious. President Jacques Chirac threw out part of a youth labor law that triggered massive protests and strikes, bowing to intense pressure from students and unions. The unemployment rate for youths under 26 is a staggering 22 percent nationwide, but soars to nearly 50 percent in some of those troubled areas with many Mus...
Ten Questions About Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/20/2007
Ten Questions You Wanted Answered About Macedonia - But Never Dared to Ask:
Free Economic Zones in Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/13/2007
Question: What is a free zone?
Answer: There is an important distinction which the media is not aware of between FREE ZONES and FREE ZONE SITES.
To quote from the law:
"A free zone site represents a detached, enclosed and marked area of the territory of the Republic of Macedonia on which commercial activities are conducted under conditions prescribed by this and other laws and on which custom and other tax incentives determined by this law shall be applicable."
Marketing Macedonia: The Public Relations and Promotion of Countries in Transition
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/12/2007
Speech delivered at the AIESEC congress in Skopje, 1997
Many Macedonians ask me: why do foreign investors refrain from investing in Macedonia?
Interview: Member of the UK Parliament and Shadow Minister for Homeland Security Patrick Mercer
GP Interviews - 2/11/2007
Patrick Mercer is a Conservative Member of the UK Parliament and Shadow Minister for Homeland Security. Prior to becoming a politician he served as an officer in the British Army, in the Sherwood Foresters regiment. Among other locations he was sent to Northern Ireland and Bosnia and in 1997 received the OBE for services to Bosnia. He left the army in 1999 and worked as a journalist for BBC Radio 4. Patrick was the target of two IRA assassination attempts. An Historian by training, his interests include British 18th and 19th Century History. With two books published to date, Patrick is currently working on a television documentary and another historical volume.
Romania's Private Defense
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/11/2007
Romanian President, Ion Iliescu, contested his homeland's geography. In April 2003, at a joint press conference with Bulgaria's President Parvanov, he cast both countries as "central-south European" rather than the derogatory "Balkan". Both joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union in January 2007 - though the former organisation expressed reservations after embarrassing leaks of classified military data in both Bucharest and Sofia.
Romania - Europe's Heart Failure
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/7/2007
Romanians like to compare their country to the heart of Europe. If so, Europe has been in a continuous state of cardiac arrest. Romania is still so backward and corrupt that even venerable foreign leaders get entangled in its sleaze.
Bosnia - An Economy in Search of a State
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/6/2007
Bosnia-Herzegovina (heretofore "Bosnia") is an artificial polity with four, tangentially interacting, economies. Serbs, Croats and their nominal allies, the Bosniaks each maintain their own economy. The bloated, fractured, turf conscious, inefficient, and often corrupt presence of the international community, in the form of the Office of the High Representative, among others, constitutes the fourth - and most dominant - parallel economy.
Don't Hurry to Invest in Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/5/2007
In the near past, Macedonia seemed to have been bent on breaking its own record of surrealism. While politicians in other countries in transition from communism and socialism strive to be noticed for not stealing, their Macedonian counterparts, without a single exception, aim to steal without being noticed.
Macedonia: Equity, Europe, Investments
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/25/2007
Economic theory describes the individual player in the marketplace as rational and cold blooded, always calculating risks versus profits. But reality is much more complex. Economy is 90% psychology: fashions, emotions, fears, hopes and expectations, past history and future visions. A phenomenon like enterpreneurship cannot be fully explained by classic economic theories.
Macedonia's Great Opportunity
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/24/2007
Five thousand years ago, people were still roaming the earth as nomads. They carried along their few precious possessions in their hands and on their backs. They hunted and gathered food at random.
Why is the Macedonian Stock Exchange Unsuccessful?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/23/2007
The Macedonian Stock Exchange (MSE) is not operating successfully. True, some of the parameters which we use to measure the success of a stock exchange have lately improved in the MSE. For instance, the monthly money volume has increased together with the number of transactions. But this is a far cry from success.
The Criminality of Transition
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/5/2007
Human vice is the most certain thing after death and taxes, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin. The only variety of economic activity, which will surely survive even a nuclear holocaust, is bound to be crime. Prostitution, gambling, drugs and, in general, expressly illegal activities generate c. 400 billion USD annually to their perpetrators, thus making crime the third biggest industry on Earth (after the medical and pharmaceutical industries).
The European Multicultural Misnomer
Dominic Whiteman - 12/15/2006
Tradition holds that Homer was blind, and various Ionian cities claim to be his birthplace, but otherwise there is not much known about Homer's life. There is no convincing evidence to show that Homer was a real person and doubts thus persist as to whether he was the author of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, if either.
Eastern Europe: Leapfrogging to Cellular
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/15/2006
The government of former Yugoslavia, usually strapped for cash, has agreed to purchase 29 percent of Telekom Srbija, of which it already owns 51 percent. It will pay the seller, Italia International, close to $200 million. The Greek telecom, OTE, owns the rest.
The death of intellectualism - An evening in Paris
Iqbal Latif - 12/12/2006
Paris has its own charm as far as intellectualisation goes. One does not need any props, it just appears unsurprisingly. Brasserie Lipp, the Cafe de Flore and Les Deux Magots have been frequented by celebrities, artists and writers, from Jean-Paul Sartre to Simone de Beauvoir. Cafe de Flore and Les Deux Magots have been here since the nineteenth century. In the good old days, when the bourgeois swaggering leftist intellectuals populated the side-streets and cafes of post-war Paris in their droves, Cafe de Flore was labelled as the meagre leftist haunt and the Deux Magots, its neighbour, arist...
Battling Macedonia's Cancer: Unemployment
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/6/2006
The official figures are staggering: 35% of the workforce - about 280,000 people - are unemployed and looking for a job. Each 1.43 employee support 1 unemployed person. In the USA the figure is 3.3 to 4 employees supporting all the unemployed AND all the pensioners!
Homo Balkanus
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/22/2006
Written: August 18, 1999
Could have been written today
How does one respond to a torrent of belligerent correspondence from Balkanians arguing against the belligerence of Balkanians asserted by one in one's articles? Were it not sad, it surely would have been farcical. Only yesterday (August 17th, 1999 - five months after the Kosovo conflict) Macedonian papers argued fiercely, vehemently and threateningly against an apparently innocuous remark by Albania's Prime Minister. He said that all Albanians, wherever they are, should share the same curriculum of studies. A preparatory step on the w...
Why Speakers Should Still Be Cornered
Dominic Whiteman - 11/18/2006
Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park is an excellent place to visit if you are having any doubts about your own sanity – perhaps feeling you are losing touch with reality (that New Year’s Day feeling, best settled with an Alka Seltzer). It is a hard venue, with a tradition of merciless heckling. Nowadays the Corner is a popular tourist attraction but there are still speakers and hecklers, just as there were one hundred and fifty years ago.
The Sliding Scale of Diversity - Britain and Beyond
Dominic Whiteman - 11/7/2006
American friends who are munificent enough to visit me over here in London are often saying how “quaint” Britain is, when they actually have to walk up to the bar in a pub to order food from a proud, grumpy old publican wearing a flowery “jumper” (sweater), or rent a car only to discover that the steering wheel is on the wrong side.
A Clash of Civilizations in Europe? Sensitivity over every perceived slight to religion pits Islam against European secularism
Patrick Sabatier - 10/19/2006
PARIS, FRANCE. A year after the wave of violent demonstrations throughout the Muslim world, protesting the publication of caricatures of Mohammad by a Danish newspaper, frictions between Europe and the Muslim world multiply, threatening to make the “clash of civilizations” a self-fulfilling prophecy:
The Fall of Bungawala and the MCB
Dominic Whiteman - 10/18/2006
In 2002 the forever victimised Inayat Bungawala claimed in Britain's Sunday Observer newspaper "British Muslims have learned to develop a thick skin to get on in this country. In the late eighties and early nineties they were vilified by the liberal press for their unyielding opposition to Salman Rushdie's deeply offensive novel, The Satanic Verses. Their tormentors today hail from the combined ranks of the far right, government officials who should know better and assorted pro-Israeli columnists."
LTTE “Tamil Tigers” and its UK-wide network
Dominic Whiteman - 10/18/2006
LTTE was banned in the UK February 28th 2001. The annual publication of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) London 'Military Balance 2005/2006' referred to emerging links between the LTTE and the Al-Qaeda movement. It was later revealed confidentially by the editors to diplomatic sources that these links were in terms of commercial transactions including trafficking for financial gain and acquisition of technology rather than any ideological linkage. Experts are studying with interest links between the LTTE and Al-Qaeda in its financial, commercial and arms dealings. It is also believed that such links also exist in maritime transactions.
Jack Straw and the Veil Issue
Imran Khan - 10/14/2006
Mr. Jack staw is a prominent British politician and leader of the House of Commons. He also served as British foreign Minister. He has urged Muslim women who wear a full veil to remove it when they talk to him in his constituency office in northwestern England. In Lancashire Telegraph, a local newspaper, he wrote "wearing the full veil is bound to make better, positive relations between the two communities more difficult," and veil is "such a visible statement of separation and of difference". He also said in an interview to the BBC that he would like to support the idea of the full veil's being abandoned. His remarks have ignited a furious debate.
Is Le Pen Right: Immigrants and the Fallacy of Labour Scarcity
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 10/10/2006
Jean-Marie Le Pen - France's dark horse presidential contender - is clearly emotional about the issue of immigration and, according to him, its correlates, crime and unemployment. His logic is dodgy at best and his paranoid xenophobia ill-disguised. But Le Pen and his ilk - from Carinthia to Copenhagen - succeeded to force upon European mainstream discourse topics considered hitherto taboos. For decades, the European far right has been asking all the right questions and proffering all the far answers.
Was Exiled Radical Islamic Cleric Linked to London Bombings?
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 10/6/2006
New information is emerging about exiled radical Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammad and his possible involvement with the deadly London bombings. The attacks on July 7 2005 killed 52 innocent people in addition to the four suicide bombers.
Islamic Caliphate in Britain?
Dominic Whiteman - 9/25/2006
An interesting week in the War on Terror in London. On Wednesday, the British Home Secretary, Dr John Reid, addressed Muslims in a run-down part of East London, warning them to be watchful of their children, who may fall into the hands of radical preachers and end up going the sorry way of British-born Mohammed Siddique Khan (a 7/7 suicide bomber) and other terrorists. "These fanatics are looking to groom and brainwash children, including your children, for suicide bombings, grooming them to kill themselves in order to murder others," he said.
African Students Studying In The United Kingdom
Uche Nworah - 9/8/2006
The United Kingdom (UK) appears to be the favourite destination for African students; this is not surprising considering the colonial links between the UK and some African countries. Also, the United Kingdom government actively pursues a policy of making UK education the number one in the world; it markets the UK education brand all over the world in association with its many universities through the British Council and other agencies. Students are recruited using various methods such as brochures, word-of-mouth, road shows and related events, and also through technology i.e. internet marketin...
The Skoda Model
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/17/2006
Skoda Auto, the Czech-based carmaker, is completing its transformation from manufacturer of smoke-belching, low-budget, communist-era clunkers to producer of upscale, affordable, BMW-alikes. "Skoda" means in Czech pity or shame - an apt moniker for the company's erstwhile products.
Europe's Four Speeds
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/16/2006
Pomp and circumstance often disguise a sore lack of substance. The three days summit of the Central European Initiative is no exception. Held in Macedonia's drab capital, Skopje, the delegates including the odd chief of state, discussed their economies in what was presumptuously dubbed by them the "small Davos", after the larger and far more important annual get together in Switzerland.
Another Terrorist Attack On the Horizon In the UK
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 8/16/2006
A British freelance spy says he know what in part led to last week's foiled, but very nearly deadly, terror plot in Britain. In an e-mail interview Glen Jenvey said a pervasive "culture of hate from Islamic radical preachers for many years," and "the turning of a blind eye by British police officers and law makers" have led to the problems currently being experienced in Britain.
The Flat Tax Revolution in Europe
David Storobin, Esq. - 8/5/2006
In 1994, Estonia became the first country to institute the flat tax, charging 26% on all personal and corporate income with no deductions allowed. “The economy flourished” as a result, declared The Economist. The Estonian example was followed by the other two Baltic states, Latvia and Lithuania, but remained largely irrelevant and unknown to the world at large, as few people were aware of what was taking place in the region. But on January 1, 2001, Russia joined the Baltic states with an even lower tax rate of only 13% (the country’s corporate tax is still very high). This led the world to no...
Pharmaceuticals in Central and East Europe
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/4/2006
Novartis, the Swiss drug giant announced in January 2003 that it will unite its 14 brands of generic drugs under the Sandoz name, harking back to its origins as a manufacturer of affordable, off-patent, medication and raw materials ("active ingredients"). The rebranding will engulf the company's central and east European units, including Biochemie in Austria and Azupharma in Germany - but not Lek in Slovenia.
First and Last Days in Kosovo - Part II
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/3/2006
Excerpts from an interview granted to www.balkanalysis.com, March
First and Last Days in Kosovo - Part I
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/2/2006
Excerpts from an interview granted to www.balkanalysis.com, March
The West in the Balkans - Part III
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/29/2006
Excerpts from an interview granted to www.serbianna.com, May 2004
There isn't a single country in the Balkan - Serbia included - whose political elite, past and present, is not thoroughly criminalized. Crime, business, and politics are inextricable in this part of the world. Kosovo is no different. But people's past lives are less important than their future actions. The early histories of many nations - perhaps all nations - are studded with rogues, terrorists, criminals, slave traders, eccentrics, and worse. Robber barons, gunslingers, outcasts, slavers, and criminals established both the United States and Australia, for instance.
The West in the Balkans - Part II
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/28/2006
Excerpts from an interview granted to www.serbianna.com, May 2004.
The breakup of Macedonia is not inevitable - but Kosovo's independence is. What makes it unavoidable is history. Kosovo is an ethnically homogeneous, clearly demarcated, territory whose denizens fervently aspire to be independent - and are willing to fight for it. Moreover, they have the support of large parts of the international community. Serbia is dilapidated, subjugated, weak, and divided.
The West in the Balkans - Part I
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/27/2006
Excerpts from an interview granted to www.serbianna.com, May 2004.
Kosovo cannot be compared to Croatia or Bosnia. Kosovo was (and, technically, is) an integral part of Serbia, an autonomous province, not a republic-constituent of the former Federal Yugoslavia. During the initial phases of KLA activity (1993-6), Kosovars did not overtly wish to secede from (the truncated) Yugoslavia. As I said in my interview to "Balkanalysis" earlier this year: "(Milosevic) had (no) 'plan' as far as Kosovo is concerned. He simply wanted to eradicate what he regarded as criminals in cahoots with terrorists ...
UK Islamist groups not just rattled – now they’re banned!
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 7/20/2006
Just one week after reporting on the anti terror group VIGIL’s exposure of radical Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed’s ongoing cyber preaching from Beirut to radical Muslims in the United Kingdom and elsewhere through a US-based chatroom, the UK government has banned the groups he was preaching to- the Saviour Sect and al-Ghurabaa (offshoots from the previously disbanded group al Mujahiroun).
British Terror Link to Mumbai Train Blasts?
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 7/13/2006
As many as 190 people have been killed and 625 injured by seven bombs on the train network in the Indian financial capital Mumbai (Bombay). The first of the near-simultaneous blasts exploded during the rush hour on the Western Railway. Correspondents spoke of scenes of pandemonium, with people jumping from trains and bodies flung onto tracks (www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200607120901.htm).
Better Get Sick in Germany
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/12/2006
The Germans, ever the pragmatic sort, call their hospitals - "houses of the sick" or "houses of those suffering". In English the word "hospital" derives from Latin and denotes hosting or hospitality. This may well be the main difference between the German health system and the Anglo-Saxon one. While the former is geared to perform a function - the latter is also concerned with the social and economic contexts of healthcare.
EU paralysis over immigration policies deepens hostility along the policy divide
Patrick Sabatier - 7/12/2006
Europe’s working-age population is aging and falling in numbers, and the continent needs workers to do jobs that Europeans either will not or cannot do. Meanwhile, half of Africa’s ever-growing population is under 17 years of age, with many living on less than US$1.20 a day. Such potent conditions are building an immigration crisis in the European Union, the physical evidence of which can be found in the Spanish-owned Canary Islands, where 10,000 Africans have been caught this year after braving the 1,000-kilometer journey from the African Coast. The crisis poses tough political, economic and ...
Healthcare in Eastern Europe
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/27/2006
Transition has trimmed Russian life expectancy by well over a decade. People lead brutish and nasty lives only to expire in their prime, often inebriated. In the republics of former Yugoslavia, respiratory and digestive tract diseases run amok. Stress and pollution conspire to reap a grim harvest throughout the wastelands of eastern Europe. The rate of Tuberculosis in Romania exceeds that of sub-Saharan Africa.
Slovakia: Elections Will Determine Economic Fate of an EU Outlier
Marshall L. Stocker, CFA - 6/16/2006
Fifteen years after the communist government of Czechoslovakia was overthrown in the bloodless Velvet Revolution, the emergent Slovak Republic is awash in every color but red. Today, visitors to Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, will see buildings once left unpainted in the uniformly gray color of solidarity, now bedecked in a full palette of colors, again save for red. As this decorative trend sweeps through the country-side, so too are the effects of Slovakia’s economic reforms sweeping Slovaks to prosperity. Yet, an imminent national election will determine whether these reform...
Exclusive: Interview With Dr. Imran Waheed of Hizb ut-Tahrir
David Storobin, Esq. - 6/16/2006
Dr. Imran Waheed is a representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Great Britain. It is a global Islamist political party with membership in dozens of countries, including a significant group in the United Kingdom. Their ultimate aim is to implement Islam in all aspects of life. The party, which refuses to take part in any political system except that based on Islam and the Sharia, describes as carrying "the Islamic call in a political way, so as to change the current corrupt society and transform it to an Islamic society. It works also to change the current dealings (relationships) so as to become Islamic dealings (relationships) that proceed according to the rules and solutions of Islam."
Battle Over Steel Exposes Europe’s Globalization Dilemma
Jonathan Fenby - 6/11/2006
Lakshmi Mittal is the very model of a globalized business tycoon. Having built a net worth estimated at $25 billion, the Indian businessman runs a worldwide steel empire, its operations stretching from the US to Kazakhstan, from Indonesia to Poland. His ambitions to grow even bigger, however, embroil him in a bitter fight with Western Europe’s largest steelmaker, which casts revealing, and sometimes uncomfortable, light on the continent – and France, in particular – as it seeks to come to terms with the tide of globalization that leaves many of its citizens deeply uncertain.
Confessions of an Immigrant to the U.K.
Uche Nworah - 5/31/2006
This is an indictment of the United Kingdom (UK) and other governments as much as it is a confession. Some of these western governments have allowed the nationalists and far rightists in their midst to dominate public discourse lately, and have in so doing subjected immigrants like me to every type of ridicule and shame. We are now public enemy number 1, and are portrayed to be responsible for every crime committed in their lands, as if prison and other lock-up facilities did not exist in these countries before we came.
Contesting the Contestation of Multiculturalism in UK
Ronald Elly Wanda - 5/22/2006
The contestation of multiculturalism in Britain is not as new as “multiculturalists” would have us believe, in actual fact, it has always been around. Nonetheless, politicians in their attempt to please “middle England” (an imaginary social constituency) tend to amplify it by mistakenly concocting it (as if indistinguishable) with immigration and asylum-se eking. As for political and social observers (including right wing media houses), they tend to deny its relevance by simply diminishing it to a “conceptual” exercise. Calculatedly, they collectively seem to forget that Britain has always bee...
Straw's departure strengthens Blair's agenda against Iran
Abid Mustafa - 5/8/2006
After the British Labour party's worst local election result since 1982, Tony Blair swiftly moved to reshuffle his cabinet which led to some a high profile ministers losing their posts. While it was widely anticipated that Charles Clarke the Home Secretary would lose his job over his failure to deport immigrant criminals, and John Prescott the Deputy Prime Minister to be stripped of his ministry, few expected Jack Straw to be removed from the position of Britain's Foreign Secretary.
MP Dianne Abbot Is Not A Friend Of British Nigerians
Uche Nworah - 4/11/2006
She is a successful black woman no doubt, a role model of sorts for most black women in the UK. Undeniably she has already secured her place in the history of UK politics as the first black woman to be elected into the UK parliament. She represents Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, one of the poorer districts in inner London.
Dialogue or Devastation: Two Paths at Stake in France
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 4/3/2006
Unlike the multicultural approach of the United States and Britain, the aim of France, according to some analysts, has been to elide, or gloss over, the particular cultural and religious backgrounds of immigrants to make them indistinguishable from the natives, as the French have long prided themselves on their ability to weave foreign settlers into the seamless fabric of society.
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-17: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/3/2006
SV: There is no point in separating the issues of education and management. The students of today are the managers of tomorrow. This old generation of mostly corrupt political commissars masquerading as managers and robbing the assets of the firms they are entrusted with – is bound to pass. Biology will do it if political processes will not. But is Macedonia looking into a brighter future? I am afraid that not necessarily.
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-16: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/2/2006
SV: It is a big debate whether the state should intervene in the operation of free markets. Granted, the state is not the most efficient economic player. It is slow, corrupt, ignorant, influenced by non-commercial considerations, short-sighted and either too aggressive or too placid. On the other hand, markets are not a panacea, either. There are some goods and services, which markets simply refuse to provide because they are inherently unprofitable or require some non-monetary motivation. Most of the public goods cannot be efficiently provided by free markets or can be provided only at a proh...
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-15: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/27/2006
SV: You touched upon the three alternatives available to small countries that wish to increase their exports and to extract themselves from a chronic state of poverty (=of deficits). The first alternative, is to attach itself to one big economic power. This is the case of the Czech Republic and used to be the case of Israel, Cuba and dozens of other countries. The lessons show clearly that this is a good strategy as an interim measure. A small country can attach itself, economically, to a bigger one, ONLY if it uses the time that it thus buys to get rid of this dependence. While closely and ov...
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-14: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/26/2006
SV: As I said earlier, imports, in themselves are good to the economy because they optimize the use of economic resources through increased efficiency of the allocation of economic resources. The question is only: WHAT is imported. There are imported goods which generate sufficient income in the future to cover their cost plus a reasonable return on equity. Others (such as cars) only get depreciated with time and consume more and more foreign exchange (fuel, spare parts). I think that a few rules are cast in stone. They should be applied cumulatively, not separately:
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-13: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/25/2006
SV: One technical comment, though. TQM is a more comprehensive management philosophy, which revolves around the assurance of quality in all phases of the economic activity of the firm. But TQM is one of many such philosophies (and lately very much out of favour). These fads are by no means comparable to ISO, which is a set of procedures and processes which are rigorous, clearly defined, objective, management-independent to a large degree and widely and unanimously accepted. ISO is a standard, almost mathematical in its purity. TQM is a management fashion. Comparable to TQM is the system of tho...
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-12: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/24/2006
NG: The first problem of the three that I mentioned can be solved by the employment of managerial techniques involving better organization and the combining of resources and by the state creating a better economic environment (monetary measures, bonuses, etc.).
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-11: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/23/2006
NG: A few months ago we have discussed attracting foreign investments to RM. One of the most important measures, for attaining a suitable balanced state in RM, should be directed at attracting foreign commercial investments in RM.
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-10: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/22/2006
SV: Wine and apples are two fine examples of the "Macedonian Malaise" (typical to most so called "countries in transition"). The condition is characterized by an overwhelming sense of inferiority. Having been oppressed and subjugated for so long, small nations convince themselves that they deserve it, that something is wrong with THEM, that they are no good, bums, stupid, or simply unlucky. But always lacking and deserving of punishment. With such a national mood, there is no room for initiative, self confidence, self worth, trust, belief in the future, planning, legal behaviour, postponement ...
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-9: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/21/2006
NG: Besides the above-mentioned sources of financing, the development of the capital markets, as a source of financing in RM, will depend on the establishment and development of investment funds. The privatization model wasn't best suited for the development of this kind of institutions, which will probably reflect upon the long term. They basically should secure the mobilization of small financial resources to different investments and of much bigger amounts to be directed to the economy by investing in securities, foreign currencies and money.
French Riots and Intolerance
Amit Pyakurel - 3/20/2006
The French government has again came under pressure in the face of reemergence of the protests, often violently subjugated, from the dissatisfied youths who have came out to the streets, further provoked by the recent employment law of the French government that lets the small firms to offer the job contract for the people under 26 by making it easier to fire a worker.
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-8: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/20/2006
SV: If the government decides to finance exports directly, it can, indeed, do so through export subsidies or through credits provided by a specialist bank or through the general banking system, as you suggest. I think it is wrong. But I agree with you that the best source would be the proceeds of the privatization of the assets of the state. These are one off income items. Normally, the proceeds of the sales should be kept off the regular budget (extra-curricular). Most governments sell their capital (=the companies that they own) and use the money for current budgetary expenditures, not for d...
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-7: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/19/2006
NG: I wish it too, what you are saying, and I would be very happy when RM becomes a country which is not in need of state simulative intervention in order to change the economic structure.
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-6: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/16/2006
SV: Macedonia belongs to a much derided economic club, whose members are fervently trying to abandon it: the club of the group of countries who export mainly raw materials and semi finished goods and import finished products. This is the classical definition of a colony in the old mercantilist theory. Colonies are doomed to run deficits, equal to the value that is added by the industrialized countries to the raw materials that they import from the colonies. Additionally, the colonies get "hooked": they get addicted to the advantages that poor labour, for instance, provides. They tend to suppre...
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-5: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/15/2006
NG: Within the scope of the roles of increasing investments and changing the economic structure there is the implementation of an efficient court system, which will create an environment in which the commercial banks of RM, by a speedier settlement of their own claims, will make long-term and cheaper credits available. This, indirectly, will influence the process of structural economic change and start to create an export-oriented efficient economy. At this moment, financial resources available in RM, from the banks' point of view, are really "a cat in a bag". The bank can never be certain tha...
Slobodan Milosevic is Dead
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/14/2006
On February 12, 2001 I published this article in a few online media. It speaks for itself.
Wouldn't everyone be better off if Slobodan Milosevic were to die? Mysteriously, of course, in a serendipitous car accident, as is the habit in these parts. Or, mercifully and less obtrusively, in a sudden onslaught of lethal pneumonia, in line with his advanced age. Imagine the sighs of palpable relief in his own camp, to which he has become a political albatross and a nagging embarrassment. Never before could so many quandaries be resolved through an orchestrated stroke of luck. It is quite a temptation and, in Eastern Europe, it is irresistible.
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-3: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/13/2006
SV: Macedonians (politicians as well as "the people") adopted a magical mode of thinking. They believe that Macedonia is geo-strategically so important, that it will never be abandoned by the West. True, unilateral grants, aid and other non-returnable transfers have dwindled lately (to the point of disappearing altogether). But Macedonia is getting increasing amounts of credits, loans, military aid, structural aid (EU through PHARE) and other forms of lending. Some of this money is directly injected to the arthritic veins of the banking system in the vein hope that it will trickle down into th...
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-4: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/13/2006
SV: It is a paradox of sorts that only governments can secure the conditions necessary for the operation of free markets. A good government prepares the way for its own act of disappearance from the marketplace. It should construct the edifice and let other tenants occupy it. There are a few things that only a government can do. Maintaining law and order, defending the country, providing certain unprofitable public goods (education, health). But I agree with you that a government's most important role in the economic arena is to provide working conditions, a structure. Such a structure should ...
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-2: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/10/2006
NG: Indeed, from these data it is easy to conclude that the deficit level is not the only important parameter – there are others that count in trying to determine the consequences. It is obvious that the deficit in RM has seriously restricted its economic development (as distinct from some other countries), which complicates the problem.
Trade Deficits and the Health of the Economy-1: Dialog with Nikola Gruevski, former Minister of Finance of Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/8/2006
NG: The characteristics of the Republic of Macedonia, in its post independence period, from a macro point of view of the activities of exports and imports, are:
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part XII
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/3/2006
The government of Macedonia should revive the issuing of bonds in Macedonia, and above all, Government and Municipal bonds. The government will appear as the guarantor, and at the beginning, the government can serve as the guarantor of corporate bonds issues of the best Macedonian companies (with a prior mortgaged property of the company and the state as a collateral). When it comes to capital projects, in the absence of a big and modern bank (or a consortium of banks) which would serve as a guarantor to the corporate bonds the government should jump start the "game". This would be a positive ...
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part XI
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/2/2006
Nikola: The macroeconomic policy in Macedonia is relatively well received by foreign investors. According to the recent report of Merrill Lynch the stability in Macedonia will be preserved only if the real economy is rebuilt. So far this is not happening, judging by the slow growth and stagnating export incomes.
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part X
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/1/2006
Nikola: Besides the promotion of Macedonia and legal provisions, the third very important component of attracting foreign capital is the opening of foreign Western mega-national bank branches. At least four reasons can be given. They are:
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part IX
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/28/2006
Nikola: The possibility for certain privileges on the basis of the invested foreign capital is provided in the Law of Customs Officials (The Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia no. 20/93, 1/95, 24/95, 31/95,63/95,40/96 and 15/97) and in the Income Tax Law (Gazette of RM no. 80/93……71/96) which are not sufficiently compared to the same laws in some other countries in transition.
The Proper Islamic Response to Danish Cartoons
Syed M. Afsar - 2/26/2006
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA. Protests, boycotts, street marches and shouting empty slogans would be of little help to confront the row that erupted after the publication of the defamatory cartoons, said a leading Dawah activist. According to him, the 'right response' should rather be to educate the Danes about Islam and Prophet Muhammad, whom they have insulted in their ignorance.
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part VIII
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/26/2006
Nikola: A second big problem for the entry of foreign capital, is that in the current Foreign Exchange Working Law (Official newspaper of RM No 30/93) a specific possibility for the entry of foreign currency into Macedonia for the purposes of buying securities is not foreseen.
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part VII
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/23/2006
The legal environment is the starting point of serious intentions for attracting large amounts of foreign investments. There is a need for customized laws and/or for the introduction of changes to existing laws, which will give the capital market in Macedonia at least approximately equal conditions with the same in other countries in transition, not to mention more favorable ones.
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part VI
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/22/2006
The person that this project would be entrusted to, must have enormous knowledge in the field of international finances and must exceptionally well know the problems and needs of Macedonia.
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part V
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/20/2006
Sam: The world has gone through a major cycle of physical colonization in the last five centuries. European countries conquered, by military means, large swathes of land with rich raw materials and mineral resources. They clashed with each other often and the outcomes of these clashes were eternalized in the form of international borders. Whole continents were subjected to this mercantilist behaviour. Raw materials and cheap labour were "sold" at ridiculous prices by the colony to the colonizer – and expensive finished goods and services were imported by it. This led to economic depletion and ...
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part IV
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/19/2006
Nikola: And while one is having a problem with insufficient capital, others have a problem investing the surplus of capital, a problem of high liquidity.
For example, the Nomura company, as one of the most powerful investment banks in the world, with shareholders' capital of over 15 billion dollars, with 63 international offices in 26 countries, approximately 3 million client accounts and over 400 billion dollars in managed client funds, last year, "as a joke", bought 4000 pubs in England. It holds the first place in Central Europe (excepting Russia) as a leading provider of financing. Since...
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part III
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/18/2006
Sam: It may come as a surprise to many, but foreign investors are as interested in psychology as they are in economics. The first things they enquire about have nothing to do with GDP per capita, the rate of inflation and its forecasts, domestic interest rates, the living standards, the available infrastructure, the banking system and other, "hard core" questions. To start with, they are interested to know other things: are property rights protected by the State and by the courts? Is the right legislation in place? What is the crime rate and how pervasive is it? Are people industrious or lazy,...
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part II
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/14/2006
Nikola: Other things happened in Eastern Europe, but not in Macedonia in 1997, both in business and in finances.
Foreign Investments and Developing Countries: Dialog With Former Finance Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski, Part I
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/13/2006
Nikola: The Republic of Macedonia is at the bottom of the ladder, as far as foreign investments are considered, among the countries in transition. It is not a coincidence. The general judgement of all the relevant economic institutions and experts in and out of Macedonia is that there is a need for foreign commercial investments at this time. This dialogue is the commencement of an attempt to analyse the reasons for the absence of foreign investments and to act to change the present situation.
Austrian Banking - Interview with Wolfgang Christl
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/11/2006
In the second half of 2005, Erste Bank, Austria's second largest, took over yet another East and Central European financial institution: Romania's BCR (Romanian Commercial Bank). This acquisition threw into sharp relief the post-Communist Mittel-European strategy of Austrian banks, big and small.
The Role of Central Banks in Banking Crises
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/11/2006
Central banks are relatively new inventions. An American President (Andrew Jackson) even cancelled its country's central bank in the nineteenth century because he did not think that it was very important. But things have changed since. Central banks today are the most important feature of the financial systems of most countries of the world.
Cartoon Controversy and Respect of Islam
Badrul Islam - 2/9/2006
The political cartoons portraying Muhammad in a negative light originated from a well-meaning attempt to write a book about our Prophet Muhammad to promote religious toleration. The Author of the book couldn’t find any illustrators to draw the picture of the Prophet out of fear, remembering the fate of the Dutch film-maker, Theo Van Gogh killed by Islamic Militants for criticizing fundamentalism. Rose, Culture Editor of Jyllands-Posten Newspaper contacted 25 Danish newspaper Cartoonists challenging them to draw the picture of “Prophet as they see him”. In response 12 cartoonists submitted the ...
Comic Furor: Get Over It!
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 2/9/2006
Newspapers across Europe have reprinted caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to show support for a Danish paper whose cartoons have sparked Muslim outrage. The BBC reported (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4670370.stm) that seven publications in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain all carried some of the drawings. Their publication in Denmark led Arab nations to protest. Islamic tradition bans depictions of Muhammad.
Islamic Anger Against Cartoons Grows
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 2/5/2006
Gunmen from Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah announced their intention yesterday of attacking churches in Gaza in protest against the cartoons of Muhammad published in Denmark last September. There has been a groundswell of protest over the appearance of these cartoons. This anger was demonstrated on a radical Islamic Internet forum recently, where rulings by Islamic scholars were referred to, stating that the punishment for anyone who dishonors the prophet is execution (www.as-sahwah.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=977&sid=0e79eec82420c6f20bf6cb24a9064f35).
Cartoon Controversy and
Amit Pyakurel - 2/5/2006
The caricature satirizing Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam whose political and social principles is considered as the basis of Islamic civilization, was firstly published on a Danish private newspaper, that ostentatiously invited reprisals and soaring violence from the Muslim community in the Danish capital and other parts of the world. The newspaper says that it doesn't regret for publishing the cartoon, and some other private newspapers in the Europe also printed the same depiction, showing their solidarity on the grounds of "freedom of expression".
The Crucial Year - The Balkans in 2003
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/4/2006
Macedonia is a useful microcosm of the post-communist countries of the Balkan (self-importantly renamed by its denizens "Southeast Europe"). Prodded by its pro-Western president, Boris Trajkovski, it vocally - though implausibly - aspires to NATO and European Union membership. Its socialist prime minister - newly-elected in a remarkably smooth transfer of power - has just inked a landmark "social contract" with the trade unions.
Eastern Europe: The Mendicant Journalists
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/3/2006
Aleksandr Plotnikov died in June 2002 in his dacha. He was murdered. He has just lost a bid to restore his control of a local paper in Tyumen Oblast in Russia. Media ownership is frequently a lethal business in eastern Europe. The same week, Ukrainian National Television deputy chief, Andryi Feshchenko, was found dead in a jeep in a deserted street of Kyiv. Prosecutors suspect that he was forced to take his life at gunpoint.
The Concert of Europe, Interrupted
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/1/2006
"(Plan for establishing) an economic organization ... through mutual customs agreements ... including France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Austria, Poland, and perhaps Italy, Sweden, and Norway".
Europe and the Spectrum of Auctions
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/17/2006
Months of procrastination and righteous protestations to the contrary led to the inevitable: the European Commission assented on September 2002 to a joint venture between Germany's T-mobile and Britain's mmO2 to share the mammoth costs of erecting third generation - 3G in the parlance - mobile phone networks in both countries. The two companies were among the accursed winners of a series of spectrum auctions in the late 1990's. Altogether telecom firms shelled well over $100 billion to secure 3G licences in markets as diverse as Germany, Italy, the UK, and the Netherlands.
Journalism Now: Two Versions of Balkan Wars
Rod Amis - 1/17/2006
In the January, 2006, edition of Z Magazine, my housemate, a self-avowed leftist, brought to my attention there is a book review my Edward S. Herman of Peter Brock's Media Cleansing: Dirty Reporting - Journalism and Tragedy in Yugoslavia. Ron suggested I read this because it confirms all the reporting that was featured here in G21 during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Among our correspondents, Ratislav Durman, Dragana Vicanovic, Adam Smith and myself, we presented a very different picture of those wars than the Mouthpiece Media (MM) and I am proud to say, as with our reporting of the Cambodian ...
The Kosovo Trap
Todor Kondakov, Ph.D. - 1/10/2006
The visit at the end of November 2005 of the ex-President of Finland, Marti Ahtissari, to Kosovo marked the beginning of the concluding stage of efforts, made by the international community, for the solution of the exceedingly difficult issue of the future of the ex-Serbian province. In his capacity of special representative of the UN Secretary General, the Finn tried to reconcile the irreconcilable - in other words, the claims of Kosovo Albanians for independence and the determination of Belgrade to grant them independence under no circumstances. At the end of 2005 Ahtissari visited Pristina...
Eastern Europe: The Bones of the Grenadier
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/9/2006
The (cyclical) victory of capitalism led westerners of all colours and stripes to believe in solving problems by throwing money at them. Prosperity, international trade, foreign investment, globalization and joint ventures are the new magic formulas. Mathematically put this superstition is often presented thus: the propensity to fight decreases in direct proportion to the amount of economic common interests of the potential rivals. Thus, instead of tackling core issues - the West tries to drown them in a green deluge of US dollars. Where the west should have tackled a corrupt and autocratic me...
Eyewitness Impressions Of The Kosovo War in 1999
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/3/2006
It often rains in Skopje nowadays. Sudden, thunderous outpourings of acidulous and gluey fluid. People say it is the pollution from 12,000 tonnes of bombs dropped 20 km from here. The unions warn of a hot autumn. The omens are ominous. It looks like an economic crash rather than a soft landing. Tony Blair was here a while ago. He photo opportunities with photogenic refugees and promised the soft spoken and dreamy eyed Prime Minister of Macedonia 20 million British Pounds. The money never came. Blair's promise went the way of thousands of other promises made by the good and the mighty throughou...
Radical Islamists Threaten London Police After Raid
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 1/2/2006
Leaders of the radical Islamic group al-Muhajiroun are reacting angrily to a raid by British anti-terrorist police officers on the sect’s headquarters and homes of some of its leadership. A statement issued by the group on July 30 read in part, For the moment Muslims in the UK have a covenant of Security which prevents them from attacking the lives and wealth of anyone here, however Muslims are also obliged to defend their life, honor and wealth when it is attacked and violated. With the worst housing, the highest unemployment, the largest number of race murders in Europe, a whole range of dra...
Macedonia: Black Magic, White Magic
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/1/2006
Germany's economy collapsed following a reparations agreement which sapped and consumed less than 10% of its GDP. America's economy collapsed, its unemployment soared, its stock exchange vanished and it entered a deflationary cycle which necessitated the most pervasive federal intervention in its history - mainly because of multilateral trade restrictions.
The Balkans Between Omerta and Vendetta
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/1/2006
In a State Department briefing on Thursday, August 5th, 1999, the spokesman of this venerable and ever-so-truthful organ of the American administration, James Rubin, said: "We have supported and continue to support the regime in Montenegro that is a democratic regime that has pursued a democratic course. We do believe that Milosevic's efforts to consolidate power have led to repeated violations of the Yugoslav federal constitution, in particular the rights and privileges of Montenegro.
Lucky Macedonia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/27/2005
In October 1998, the unreformed communists of the SDSM - the Socialists - lost the elections in Macedonia by a wide margin to an improbable coalition. It consisted of the VMRO - fervent nationalists with Bulgarian roots, headed by the poet-politician Ljubco Georgievski - and the Democratic alternative (DA). The latter was a hastily assembled party headed by Vasil Tupurkovski, a pro-US former member of the old Yugoslav nomenclature. DA enjoyed grassroots support especially by young professionals, businessmen and liberals. It imported Western campaigning techniques and made bold promises to revitalize and energize the economy.
The Black Birds of Kosova
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/27/2005
The real war over Kosovo hasn't even started yet. When NATO finishes coercing Yugoslavia into submission, when the smoke clears and the charred remains of corpses and houses cleared - then the real conflict will erupt. It will be a conflict between moderate Albanians (as represented by Ibrahim Rugova) and radical Albanians (the outlandish Maoist-Islamist admixture represented by the KLA). And it will be bloodier by far.
Germany Frees Terrorist: Vielen Danken, Angela!
Dr. Joseph Hitti - 12/26/2005
That the German government has decided to release the Hezbollah terrorist Mohammad Ali Hamadi, one of two hijackers of TWA flight 847 who beat, shot to death, and dumped the body of unarmed, off-duty U.S. Navy serviceman Robert Dean Stethem in the summer of 1985 in Beirut, comes as no surprise. We have grown accustomed to European governments kissing the hands of criminals and appeasing them to no end, supposedly to confront violence with love, barbarity with civility, but really to appease, to trade one criminal for a hostage, and thus always cower in the face of terrorism.
The Plight of the Kosovar
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/26/2005
Rumour has it that from now on, citizens of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will need a hard-to-obtain visa to enter the Czech Republic. This already is the case with Bosnians, for instance. Officials in Macedonia believe that this is intended to stem a flow of future Kosovar immigrants. If so, the Czech government holds a grim view of the prospects of peace there and rightly so. Discounting the Second World War and numerous other skirmishes, the developing war in Kosovo is the Fourth Balkan War. The Czech Republic already hosts a great number of "Former Yugoslavs" and of Albanians, ...
Eastern European Arms Sales to Rogue States
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/25/2005
In a desperate bid to fend off sanctions, the Bosnian government banned In October 2002 all trade in arms and munitions. A local, Serb-owned company was documented by the State Department selling spare parts and maintenance for military aircraft to Iraq via Yugoslav shell companies.
Post-Communist Nation: Micromanaging Malignant Optimism
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/20/2005
"(America risks adopting)... a grasshopper mode - peripatetic, noisy, hopping into other people's backyards, and unready when the weather turns nasty."
International Abandonment of the Roma (Gypsies) in Former Yugoslavia
Dr. Karin Waringo - 12/14/2005
Do not even bother to ignore this. This typically Austrian expression, meaning that an issue should be given the lowest possible attention, could very well summarise the 'international community's' attitude towards the fate and destiny of the Kosovo Roma. Provided the so-called standards are fulfilled, discussions over the final status of the UN-administrated province may well begin by the mid of this year. These standards refer to a set of conditions encompassing almost any area of social life such as the freedom of media or the implementation of free market reforms. They also involve the ful...
Europe's Theme Parks
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/13/2005
War - especially coupled with a globally sluggish economy - has a contradictory effect on the consumption of entertainment. Disposable incomes plummet curtailing the sales of medium to big ticket items such as cruises and resort vacations. But people - besieged by anxiety and bad news - also wish to be diverted. As the conflict rages, they stay indoors and tune in. Home entertainment booms. But once physical insecurity abates, consumers go out in full force mobbing movie theatres and theme parks, making up for lost time and frayed nerves.
Soccer: The East European League In Development
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/12/2005
The Champions League is a rich man's club, complain football teams from nine south and east European countries. They are bent on setting up an alternative dubbed the "Eastern League". The revolt is led by Dinamo Bucharest and Greece's Olympiakos Pireu and has been joined by 14 other clubs: Steaua and Rapid from Romania, The Turkish Galatasaray Istanbul and Besiktas PAOK Salonic of Greece, the Serbian Steaua and Partizan Belgrade, Hajduk Split from Croatia, the Cyrpiot Apoel Nicosia, Maribor from Slovenia, the Bulgarian teams TSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia and the Ukrainian contributions of Shakhtor Donestk and Dinamo Kiev.
The European Bank for the Retardation of Development
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/11/2005
In typical bureaucratese, the pensive EBRD analyst ventures with the appearance of compunction: "A number of projects have fallen short of acceptable standards (notice the passive, exculpating voice - SV) and have put the reputation of the bank at risk". If so, very little was risked. The outlandish lavishness of its City headquarters, the apotheosis of the inevitable narcissism of its first French Chairman (sliding marble slabs, motion sensitive lighting and designer furniture) - is, at this stage, its only tangible achievement. In the territories of its constituencies and shareholders it is ...
Dutch Chemicals Trader On Trial For Helping Saddam Wipe Out Halabja
Angelique van Engelen - 11/27/2005
Amsterdam. The trial has started in the Netherlands of a businessman who supplied Saddam Hussein in the 1980s with the ingredients to create the chemical weapons that were used to commit genocide on the inhabitants of the Northern Iraq town of Halabja. The chemicals trader in the 1990s was listed on the FBI’s most wanted list. His trial in Dutch courts is highly controversial because the Netherlands’ secret service had used the man as an informant and provided housing for him only to arrest him when he was making moves to leave the country late last year.
Demise of the Mittelstand
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/16/2005
According to a survey of German executives by the influential Ifo think tank, German business confidence rose in January 2003 for the first time in eight months - albeit imperceptibly, from 87.3 to 87.4. A poll conducted by ZEW, another brain trust, confirmed these findings. On past form, though, this confidence level heralds a contraction of 5-6 percent in industrial production.
The Demonetization of Eastern Europe
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/16/2005
In December 2002, Poland decided to purchase 48 F-16 Falcons from Lockheed Martin Corporation - an American defense contractor. Pegged at $3.5 billion, this is the biggest defense order ever issued by an east or central European country. The financial package includes soft loans and a massive offset program - purchases from Polish manufacturers that more than erase the costs of the deal in foreign exchange.
Tony Blair Faces Sudden Political Death
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/15/2005
In a first major parliamentary defeat since becoming Prime Minister in 1997, The British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced a massive defeat in what turned out to be the biggest turn around for a British government on a whipped vote after James Callaghan’s administration in the late 1970’s.
Britishness V: African-Caribbean Britons – “When it suits us we’re British…”
Kevin Massy - 11/15/2005
When ten-year-old Marcia Wilson arrived in London from Jamaica, she felt let down. Expecting to find the land of “milk and honey and fairytales” she had read about, the young black girl was quickly disabused and disappointed.
Switzerland's Cheesy Economy
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/15/2005
In a series of referenda in 2003-5, Swiss citizens transformed their country forever, economically aligning it with the European Union and opening it up to work migration. It was an uncharacteristic response to increasingly worrisome times.
Vojvodina - The Hungarian Kosovo
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/13/2005
In October 2005, Parliamentary Assembly of Europe members tabled a draft resolution castigating the human rights situation in the province of Vojvodina. As EU accession looms larger for Serbia and Montenegro, such resolutions are bound to proliferate. Vojvodina is widely regarded as a test case and the touchstone of Serbia's post-Milosevic reforms.
Britishness IV: Indian Britons – Food for Thought
Kevin Massy - 11/8/2005
The first-time lunch guest to the Brent Indian Community Centre (BICC) in West London is left in no doubt regarding what not to expect on the menu.
Pathological Envy in Post-Communism
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/4/2005
The distinction between fiction and non-fiction became ever subtler in the "Underground" world of post-socialism, "After the Rain" of communism. In a lethal embrace, in an act of unprecedented intercourse, literature penetrated reality as only the most fervent lovers or the most avid haters do. A topsy turvy continent adrift among the gales of newspeak, under the gaze of a million grey bureaucrats passing for big brothers. A motion picture gone awry: the plot long forgotten, the actors wondering forlornly on a dilapidated scene and the credits flashing over and again, in an endless loop.
Britishness III – UK's Muslim Relations Just Not Cricket
Kevin Massy - 11/1/2005
An appointment in the City of London, the capital's financial district, is the next stop on the journey to discover prevailing levels of Britishness in the UK in the 21st century. In keeping with the historical icons of the Stratford adventure, today’s destination is Thomas More Square, E1, for a meeting with Inayat Bunglawala, an IT consultant for a major finance company and press secretary for the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).
Does Europe include Turkey, Americanization and Africanization?
Natalia Forrest - 10/26/2005
What does it mean to be a European? The European Union itself is grappling with this question for six months of debate, and finally this December a special conference on European values will be held in the Netherlands. But how relevant is this discussion for the EU? While the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende "thinks that it is high time to confront questions such as 'what does it mean to be a European' in a serious way… there is a great danger that the lack of legitimacy of the EU will eventually lead to unpleasant situations, such as the disintegration of the EU"( Beunderman: 2004), ...
Britishness II: Chinese Britons – The Lesser-Spotted Minority
Kevin Massy - 10/25/2005
Stratford seems an eminently fitting starting point for a foray into the psyche of modern Britain. With connotations of Shakespeare – the Sweet swan of Avon who extols through posterity the virtues of “this earth, this realm, this England” – there could be few more appropriate places to begin.
Britishness I: Testing Times For British Identity
Kevin Massy - 10/20/2005
On November 1 this year, the British Government will phase in citizenship tests for all new immigrants to the UK. The tests are aimed at ensuring that those wishing to be naturalized British citizens meet certain minimum requirements on English language proficiency, cultural awareness, and knowledge of British government practices.
What are the implications of a conservative Christian government in Germany?
Lorna Thomas - 10/10/2005
The recently deceased Pope John Paul II said that Europe should look to its Christian roots and the current Pope Benedict XVI as the former Cardinal Ratzinger, was widely regarded as Kingmaker. With a German Pope and a conservative Christian government in Germany (the CDU is a largely Catholic party), there could be a greater move towards combining religion and politics.
Open Letter From Hizb ut-Tahrir to UK Home Secretary Clarke
Dr. Imran Waheed - 10/10/2005
Following the announcement by Prime Minister Tony Blair on August 5th that Hizb ut-Tahrir would be proscribed, we immediately wrote to the Home Office to ask for further clarification. Although more than 8 weeks have elapsed we have not received a reply from the Home Office about this matter. We are an open organisation that is not afraid of debate and discussion, and many would find it surprising that the Home Office has not responded to our correspondence.
Arab Terrorists In Romania
Manuela Paraipan - 10/6/2005
Marius Bercaru, a spokesperson for the Romanian Secret Service (SRI) stated that members of a cell of al-Qaeda terrorists were expelled from the country, and prohibited to enter Romania in the next 15 years. This operation took place after two years of supervision of this cell.
Life of Leonardo da Vinci
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 10/4/2005
Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, architect, cartographer, engineer, scientist and inventor in the 15th century. Yet, despite his genius, he referred to himself as "senza lettere" (the illiterate, the man without letters). For good reason: until late in life, he was unable to read, or write, Latin, the language used by virtually all other Renaissance intellectuals, the lingua franca, akin to English today. Nor was he acquainted with mathematics until he was 30.
The Constitution of the Weimar Republic
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 10/3/2005
The Weimar Republic was established in February 1919 in defeated Germany and lasted until March 1933, when it was replaced with Hitler's Third Reich. The Constitution of the Weimar Republic was adopted in August 1919. It created a bicameral house of representatives: the Reichstag, a national assembly, and the Reichsrat, comprised of the representative of the various Lander (states).
The Roman Family
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/28/2005
The father in the Roman family (paterfamilias) exercised absolute and lifelong power over all other family members (patria potestas): his wife, children, and slaves. If the father's father was alive - then he was the supreme authority in the household. Fathers were even allowed to execute their grown sons for serious offenses like treason.
Nero Sets Rome Ablaze
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/21/2005
According to the historian Suetonius, Emperor Nero (37-68), fifth Emperor of Rome from AD 54 to 68, was a fan of murder. Clad in disguise, he assaulted passing pedestrians in back alleys, stabbed them repeatedly, and dumped the bodies into the sewer. When he was almost killed by one of his would-be victims, he surrounded himself with armed bodyguards who overcame any unexpected resistance.
Nokia - From Start to Finnish
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/19/2005
Some companies have at least nine lives, it would seem. Nokia was founded in southwestern Finland, in 1865, by a mining engineer, one, Frederik Idestam, as a wood-pulp mill. An eponymous town formed around it. Independently, the Finnish Rubber Works took on the town name in the 1920s, having been established there in 1898.
Zoran against the World - Entrepreneurship in Transition
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/14/2005
Technologically, it is probably the most advanced printing facility in the Balkan. It cost almost $2.5 million. It was constructed in less than a year. And it is in dirt-poor and war-torn Macedonia.
The Story of the Guillotine
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/13/2005
The guillotine was first put to lethal use on April 25, 1792, at 3:30 PM, in Paris at the Place de Greve on the Right Bank of the Seine. It separated highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier's head from the rest of his body.
Ian Fleming - James Bond's Creator
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/10/2005
Ian Lancaster Fleming (1908-1964), the author of the James Bond 007 novels, was the grandson of a Scottish banker and the son of a Conservative MP (Member of Parliament). His father died in the first world war. In his will, he bequeathed his property to his widow on condition she never remarries.
Britain's Abdication Crisis Revisited
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/7/2005
The love affair of Edward, Prince of Wales (Edward VIII) and Wallis Simpson in 1936 is the stuff of romantic dramas. Alas, reality was a lot less inspiring. Even as she was being wooed by her regal paramour - and while still being married to Ernest Aldrich Simpson, who knew of the Prince's attentions and even discussed the adulterous relationship with him - Wallis had an affair with Guy Marcus Trundle, a car salesman.
The Myth of Great Albania - III. More History
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/31/2005
For Albania, the Ottoman occupation was an unmitigated misfortune. Albania - culturally, a veritable part of Italy in the past - was cut off from it and from the Renaissance it spawned. The Turks brought with them their venal type of devastation, not only economic, not only physical, not only in human lives - but also cultural. A gangrenous paralysis ensued. The lucky quarter of the population escaped to Italy. The others were left to fight it out through civil disobedience (refusal to pay taxes, to serve in the army, to surrender their weapons) and in open rebellion, time and again, indefatig...
The Myth of Great Albania - IV. Modern History
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/31/2005
Zog commenced his 14 years long reign first as president and then as king (Zog the first, needless to add). He ruled over a time bomb. The forces he suppressed with his foreign backed army were rather alive and well, though in an underground sort of way. In dire need of funds, after the self-inflicted destruction of his country, Zog resorted to mortgaging it to foreign powers such as italy. Italy collected on its loans in 1939, when it invaded Albania on the way to its Balkan treasure hunt. King Zog rule of beys and bajraktars aided by a ruthless police, a byzantine bureaucracy (a major employ...
Romania: In or Out of the Anglo-American Axis?
Manuela Paraipan - 8/30/2005
From the beginning of his mandate as a President of Romania, Traian Basescu declared himself a supporter of the so-called Axis of Washington-London-Bucharest. The idea was received with a cold attitude by the European powers, especially by the Germans and the French - long time friends of the country. Nonetheless, it became the leit motif of Romania's foreign policy.
The Myth of Great Albania - II. History
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/30/2005
From Illyrium to Skanderberg
There is very little dispute among serious (that is, non-Greek, non-Macedonian and non-Serb) scholars that the Albanians are an ancient people, the descendants of the Illyrians or (as a small minority insists) the Thracians. The Albanian language is a rather newer development (less than 1500 years old) - but it is also traced back either to Thracian or to Illyrian. In a region obsessed with history, real and (especially) invented, these 4000 year old facts are of enormous and practical import.
The Myth of Great Albania - I. Introduction
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/30/2005
To the politicians of the Balkans - almost without exception corrupt and despised by their own constituencies - the myth of Great Albania comes handy. It keeps the phobic Macedonians, the disdainful Serbs and the poor and crime ridden Albanians united and submissive - each group for differing reasons.
Greeks Bearing Gifts - Greek Investments in the Balkans
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/28/2005
On December 10, 2001 the Brussels-based think tank, International Crisis Group, proposed a solution to the Greek-Macedonian name dispute. It was soon commended by the State Department. The Greeks and Macedonians were more lukewarm but positive all the same. The truth, though, is that Macedonia is in no position to effectively negotiate with Greece. The latter - through a series of controversial investments - came to virtually own the former's economy. So many Greek businessmen travel to Macedonia that Olympic Airways, the Greek national carrier began regular flights to its neighbor's capital. ...
Macedonia's Framework Agreement - X. The Macedonian Lottery
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/26/2005
Every conflict has its economic moments and dimensions. The current conflict in Macedonia perhaps even more so. The USA and its Western allies regard Macedonia as a bridge between Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania. Hence the EU's plans for the revival of transport corridors 8 and 10 connecting these countries. If all goes well (and nothing has hitherto), railways will connect Bulgaria to Macedonia and river traffic will flow to Serbia from its southern neighbours. All this is envisioned in the Stability Pact. There are talks of an oil pipeline across Macedonia's territory. A pacified Macedonia is fairly crucial to Serbia's recovery and to the prospects of the whole region to attract FDI.
Macedonia's Framework Agreement - IX. Interview with Svetozar Janevski
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/26/2005
Svetozar Janevski is the patriarch of Macedonian industry. The CEO of Macedonia's largest brewery ("Pivara Skopje" - he resigned in 2005), partner with the likes of Coca Cola and Heinekken and the licencee of McDonald's in Macedonia - he reifies both continuity and the changing times. He is also a member of the Business Advisory Council of SECI (Southeast Co-operative Initiative) "This interview is my personal opinions - not in my capacity as CEO and not on behalf of my business partners" - he makes clear.
Macedonia's Framework Agreement - VII. Interview with Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/25/2005
Macedonia – a landlocked country at the southeastern tip of the Balkan, bordering Yugoslavia, Albanian, Bulgaria, and Greece – has been coping with an Albanian armed insurgency since February this year. The insurgents – collectively known as the NLA (National Liberation Army, or UCK in Albanian) – are comprised of commanders with experience in Kosovo and recruits from Macedonia's Albanian population. The NLA demanded improved civil rights, human rights, enhanced participation in the police and public administration (to reflect the Albanians' share of the population, officially c. 24%), and the...
Macedonia's Framework Agreement - VIII. Interview Macedonian Finance Minister Nikola Gruevski
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/25/2005
The Minister of Finance of the Republic of Macedonia is an unenviable position nowadays. It is a small country (9,600 sq. miles, 2 million inhabitants) and one of the poorest in Europe (1,900 US dollars GDP per capita). Saddled by its socialist past and an Albanian insurgency – largely imported from Kosovo, across its northern border – it still managed to grow by more than 5% last year and to reform its economy substantially.
Macedonia's Framework Agreement - VI. Interview with Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/24/2005
[The interview was conducted by Sam Vaknin during the civil war crisis in 2001]The Prime Minister of Macedonia is a sad and disappointed man. A youthful 35 years old poet and man of letters (he published three books of experimental literature), he genuinely aches the recent events and his shattered dream of peaceful co-existence. Mr. Georgievski was the first Deputy-Premier of his country in 1991 and was elected Prime Minister in November 1998.
Macedonia's Framework Agreement - V. The Brink and the Cusp
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/24/2005
"For years Hannibal's army roamed freely, ravaging much of Italy while no Roman army dared confront him ... The Romans were forced to fight for sixteen years ... suffering fearful casualties and terrible economic damage before they were able to prevail."
Donald Kagan, "On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace", Doubleday, New York, 1995
The first phase of the civil war in Macedonia in 2001 has ended in what misleadingly looks like a resounding Albanian victory. The Albanians maintain effective control of Western Macedonia and have proceeded to ethnically cleanse it of its Maced...
Macedonia's Framework Agreement - IV. Thucydides' Honour
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/22/2005
"People make war because of: honour, fear, and interest."
-Thucydides
"(Commerce is) rapidly rendering war obsolete by strengthening and multiplying the personal interests which act in natural opposition to it."
- J.S. Mill - "Principles of Political Economy" - London, 1848
"If commerce were permitted to act to the universal extent it is capable, it would extirpate the system of war."
- Thomas Paine - "The Rights of Man" - London, 1894
Macedonia's Framework Agreement - III. The Disingenuous Dialogue
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/22/2005
NATO and the EU - and to a lesser extent the USA - are committed to preserving Macedonia's stability. The main transport corridors connecting the reformed Yugoslavia to Greece cross Macedonia. KFOR's supply routes and logistical bases are in Macedonia. NATO's southern flank - comprising the ever adversarial Turkey and Greece - may itself be destabilized by an inter-religious conflict in the cradle of Orthodox Christianity. Add to this the destabilizing and radicalizing impact upon the delicate fabric of Kosovo of the throngs of Albanian refugees from Macedonia and NATO's involvement becomes mo...
Macedonia's Framework Agreement: II. Macedonia at a Crossroads
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/20/2005
Western pressures, mainly the EU's and NATO's, yielded an agreement between Macedonian and Albanian political parties regarding the future of Macedonia (the Ohrid Framework Agreement). But such an agreement was bound to be rejected by both Macedonians and Albanians who already deeply distrust both their own politicians and the West. In the medium term this may lead to vigilantism and sporadic fighting and atrocities by paramilitary groups.
Macedonia's Framework Agreement: I.Surviving the Uprising
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/20/2005
Macedonia is a small (25,000 sq. km.) landlocked country in the Balkan. It serves as a natural bridge between Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Albania. As an inevitable result, its economy consists mainly of trading, services, low-tech, low value added industries, such as textile and plastics, and agriculture. Countries such as Slovenia and Germany import wine from Macedonia, bottle it, label it and re-sell it at a much higher price. This pattern is repeated with tobacco and a host of other agricultural produce. Italian designers contract with family textile firms to seasonally manufacture for them. The banking sector is basic, though privately owned.
How the West Lost the East
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/18/2005
The Pew Research Center published in December 2002 a report expansively titled "What the World Thinks in 2002". "The World", reduced to 44 countries and 38,000 interviewees, included 3500 respondent from central and east Europe: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Uzbekistan stood in for the formerly Soviet central Asia. The Times-Mirror 1991 survey, "The Pulse of Europe" was used as a benchmark.
Game Theory: Could Western Techniques Be Implemented In Eastern Europe?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/14/2005
Could Western management techniques be successfully implemented in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)? Granted, they have to be adapted, modified and cannot be imported in their entirety. But their crux, their inalienable nucleus – can this be transported and transplanted in CEE? Theory provides us with a positive answer. Human agents are the same everywhere and are mostly rational. Practice begs to differ. Basic concepts such as the money value of time or the moral and legal meaning of property are non existent. The legal, political and economic environments are all unpredictab...
Eastern Europe: Switching Empires
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/11/2005
European Union (EU) leaders, meeting in Copenhagen in December 2002, signed an agreement to admit ten new members to their hitherto exclusive club. On May 1, 2004, they were officially admitted to the EU. Eight of the fortunate acceders are former communist countries: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Bulgaria and Romania are tentatively slated to join in 2007. The exercise cost in excess of $40 billion over the next three years. The EU's population grew by 75 million souls.
Migration To Eastern Europe
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/10/2005
The 2003 census in Russia, the first since 1989, found more than 2 million immigrants in residence. The Macedonian Ministry of the Interior, based on initial census figures, estimates that there are well over 20,000 foreigners in this country of 2 million people.
Add Me to the List, Mr. Blair
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/7/2005
The terrorists are winning. Gradually but perceptibly, the USA and the United Kingdom (UK) are shedding their liberal democratic veneer, axing their traditions, reinterpreting their constitution (USA) and case law (UK) and, thus, becoming police states.
Former Yugoslavia: Notes from an Imploding Empire
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/4/2005
I live in the outskirts of an imploding empire. Fuzzy human figures, bloodied in black and white, lynch senior politicians in full view of cameras. The parliament building is smoking. When empires die - and Yugoslavia has always been a Serbian empire - they do not explode. They reverberate and rumble and collapse upon themselves. They shed gangrenous organs - molested provinces, mutilated colonies and rageful subjects. They constrict and fold and crumble, often with deafening silence. An obituary of dust and sepia photographs.
The Eastern Question Revisited
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/3/2005
When the USSR disintegrated virtually overnight, in 1989, its demise was often compared to that of the Ottoman Empire's. This was a very lacking comparison. Turkey's death throes lasted centuries and its decomposition was taken to be so certain that its division and partition (the "Eastern Question") animated European geopolitics for the better part of two centuries. Yet, both left a power vacuum in the Balkan in their sorry wake.
Milosevic's Treasure Island
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/2/2005
Milosevic and his cronies stand accused of plundering Serbia's wealth - both pecuniary and natural. Yet, the media tends to confuse three modes of action with two diametrically opposed goals. There was state sanctioned capital flight. Gold and foreign exchange were smuggled out of Yugoslavia and deposited in other countries. This was meant to provide a cushion against embargo and sanctions imposed on Yugoslavia by the West.
No Albanian Intifada!
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/2/2005
A few of my colleagues in the international media compared the latest clashes between Albanians and Macedonians in Macedonia to the two Palestinian intifadas ("uprisings" in 1987-93 and from September 2000) in Israel. In doing so, they demonstrated their ignorance of the two regions and the four peoples involved.
Slovakia: Best Investment Environment in EU After Recent Economic Reforms
David Storobin, Esq. - 8/2/2005
Since Czechoslovakia split at the beginning of 1993 and until 1998 (except for a few months in 1994), Slovakia was governed by authoritarian strongman Vladimir Meciar, who refused to implement many of the necessary free-market reforms, engaging in what became known as "crony capitalism" - which in fact, was not capitalism at all, but rather government sponsorship and indirect control of some businesses and entrepreneurs at the expense of others. In 1999, the new Slovakian government faced a dramatic economic slowdown, and embarked on the most aggressive pro-market, capitalist reforms in Europe.
The Myths of Yugoslavia - Part III
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/1/2005
12. The Disintegration of Yugoslavia was Inevitable
Milosevic came to power (1987-9) on waves of popular support for his rabid nationalism and fake anti-establishment credentials. His first actions were directed at the Kosovo Albanians. He revoked their autonomy by altering the constitution. He demolished the educational and legal infrastructure of the region. And he applied bloody force to suppress street protests.
The Myths of Yugoslavia - Part I
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/1/2005
In her book "The Culture of Lies", University of Pennsylvania, 1998, the Croatian writer Dubravka Ugresic says: "The Yugoslav war is a dispiriting tale about human solidarity. Very few people sympathized with the Slovenes, when the war began, just as the Slovenes themselves unanimously closed the doors of their new state immediately after the war. The Croats showed no solidarity to anyone, just as few showed any to the Croats. The Serbs had no sympathy for anyone at all, and no one showed any understanding for the Serbs. Few people had ever shown solidarity with the Albanians, just as Albanians were deaf to other people's troubles."
The Myths of Yugoslavia - Part II
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/1/2005
6. Serbs were always anti-Western and the USA was First Involved Militarily in the Balkans during the Kosovo Crisis
The First World War pitted the most unlikely enemies against one another. Austria, Turkey's most avowed enemy, attacked Turkey's other mortal foe, Serbia. Bulgaria, which collaborated with Serbia, Russian and Greece against the Ottomans in the First Balkan War - joined the Turks against its former allies. The Albanians collaborated enthusiastically with Turkey's adversary, Austria, against the Serbs. They were rewarded handsomely. The Austrians made Albanian an official languag...
The Balkans and The Mind of Darkness
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/31/2005
" 'Group pathologies I am not buying. Not for the Balkans anyway. Collective responsibility, historical grievances, ancient ethnic hatreds, I don't buy any of it. It's good guys and bad guys. It's the dudes, like Ralph Waldo Emerson said. 'There is no history, only biography'. Yugos should read the man.'
'He would make no sense to them. In the Balkans, there is no way biography, only history. The dead rule and the living are ghosts.'"
(Baine Kerr, "Wrongful Death", Jove Books, New York, 2003)
Kosovo Confronts Its Future
Jackson Allers - 7/29/2005
KOSOVO. It is a regular sight in the Ferizai/Urosevac municipality of Kosovo - some 50 kilometers north of the Macedonian capital of Skopje - to see U.S. servicemen parking their Humvees in front of small cafes during their regular “security” details. M-16’s strapped across their torsos, the troops snack on kebabs, washing them down with Coca-Cola, and ogle the local Albanian girls.
East Europe's Expat Experts
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/27/2005
In "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", Lewis Carroll wrote:
"Curtsy while you're thinking of something to say. It saves time."
What a missed career. He should have been an expat expert. To paraphrase a sentence originally written about women (no misogynism implied): "What else is a foreign consultant but a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil nature, painted with fair colours?" (Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, They Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image (London: Pe...
East European Media
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/27/2005
"I have gone into the outer darkness of scientific and philosophical transactions and proceedings, ultra-respectable, but covered with the dust of disregard. I have descended into journalism. I have come back with the quasi-souls of lost data."
Charles Hoy Fort in "The Book of the Damned"
"Let me have the three major American networks and three leading newspapers for a year and I'll bring back public lynchings and racial war in the US."
Charles Simic quoting a Belgrade journalist
"We do not have censorship. What we have is a limitation on what newspapers can report."
Louis Nel, Deputy Minister of Information, South Africa
Understanding East Europeans - The Magla Vocables
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/26/2005
The Macedonians have a word for it - "Magla", fog. It signifies the twin arts of duplicity and ambiguity. In the mental asylum that the swathe of socialist countries was, even language was pathologized. It mutated into a weapon of self defence, a verbal fortification, a medium without a message, replacing words with vocables. Easterners (in this text, the unfortunate residents of the Kafkaesque landscape which stretches between Russia and Albania) don't talk or communicate. They fend off. They hide and evade and avoid and disguise. In the planet of capricious and arbitrary unpredictability, of...
Communism and The Rip van Winkle Institutions
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/26/2005
The West - naive, provincial and parochial - firmly believed that the rot was confined to the upper echelons of communist and socialist societies. Beneath the festering elites - the theory went - there are wholesome masses waiting to be liberated from the shackles of corruption, cronyism, double-talk and manipulation. Given half a decent chance, these good people will revert to mature capitalism, replete with functioning institutions. It was up to the West to provide these long deprived people with this eagerly awaited chance.
Failed London Suicide Bomber's Connection To Abu Hamza
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 7/26/2005
Is this one of the four failed suicide bombers who tried to wreak more death and destruction on London last week? While combing through possible leads to the London bombers, British freelance spy Glen Jenvey,40, found a picture bearing what he thought was a remarkable similarity to one of the wanted men. The picture came from a series of video tapes Jenvey obtained following an Internet sting operation on the radical London-based cleric Abu Hamza.
East Europe's Eureka Connection
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/25/2005
A common, guttural cry of "Eureka" echoed as the peoples of East Europe and the Balkans emerged from the Communist steam bath. It was at once an expression of joy and disbelief. That the West should be willing to bankroll the unravelling of a failed social experiment, freely entered into, exceeded the wildest imaginings. That it would do so indefinitely and with no strings attached was a downright outlandish fortuity.
The Author of This Article is a Racist
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/24/2005
Or, so say many of the readers who react vehemently - not to say minaciously - to my articles. They insist that I demonize, chastise, disparage, deride and hold in contempt groups of people simply and solely because they are born in a given geographical area or are of a given genetic stock. Few stop sufficiently long to notice that the above two accusations contravene each other. A territory as vast as Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) cannot and is not inhabited by one "race". It is an historical cocktail of colours and origins and languages and bloodlines. Disregarding the pan-Slavic myth for a minute, a racist would find the CEE a very discouraging neighbourhood.
Taxonomy of Political Conflict In Central and Eastern Europe
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/21/2005
When the current government of Macedonia came to power and I signed on as its economic advisor, I was asked by local journalists, with genuine amazement: "what are you doing with these villagers?" "Villagers" is just about the most pejorative word applied here to rivals and adversaries. In a Macedonian, the word evokes the image of uncouth, rough-hewn and yahoo usufructuaries.
Hybridism: A power relations examination of the Asian Community in Britain
Ronald Elly Wanda - 7/20/2005
Hybridism is a concept that is a direct result of the increasing traffic of cultural globalization, immigration with a mixture of government policy. A prominent cultural theoretical practitioner warns us of the danger of loosely defining hybridization, this he emphasizes is because it entails a deceptively simple-seeming notions, which when examined in detail tend to have plenty of tricky connotations that have theoretical implications.[1] However, John Tomlinson (1999) has defined hybridity as ‘the mi mingling of cultures from different territorial locations brought about by the increasing ...
Millenarian Thoughts About Kosovo
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/20/2005
"English persons, therefore, of humanitarian and reformist disposition constantly went out to the Balkan Peninsula to see who was in fact ill-treating whom, and, being by the very nature of their perfectionist faith unable to accept the horrid hypothesis that everybody was ill-treating everybody else, all came back with a pet Balkan people established in their hearts as suffering and innocent, eternally the massacree and never the massacrer."
("Black Lamb and Grey Falcon - A Journey through Yugoslavia" by Rebecca West - Penguin Books 1994 edition p.20)
EXCLUSIVE: Hizb ut-Tahrir UK Representative - We Are Not Terrorist or Clandestine!
Dr. Imran Waheed - 7/18/2005
Despite claims by some in the media, Hizb ut-Tahrir does not operate clandestinely but rather works openly within society in order to bring back Islam to state and society. Thousands of our members are jailed in the Muslim world for their political work that openly challenges the tyranny of the rulers of the Muslim world and exposes the Western colonial governments.
The Golden Sham - Privatizing with Golden Shares
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/12/2005
In a rare accord, both the IMF and independent analysts, have cautioned Bulgaria in early 2002 that its insistence on keeping golden shares in both its tobacco and telecom monopolies even after they are privatized - will hinder its ability to attract foreign investors to these already unappealing assets. Bulgaria's $300 million arrangement with the IMF - struck in late 2001 by the new and youthful Minister of Finance in the Saxe-Coburg government - was not at risk, though.
Hitler and the Invention of the West
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/9/2005
In his book - really an extended essay - "Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order" - Robert Kagan claims that the political construct of the "West" was conjured up by the United States and Western Europe during the Cold War as a response to the threat posed by the nuclear-armed, hostile and expansionist U.S.S.R.
The Demise of the West?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/8/2005
The edifice of the "international community" and the project of constructing a "world order" rely on the unity of liberal ideals at the core of the organizing principle of the transatlantic partnership, Western Civilization. Yet, the recent intercourse between its constituents - the Anglo-Saxons (USA and UK) versus the Continentals ("Old Europe" led by France and Germany) - revealed an uneasy and potentially destructive dialectic.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Militant Islamist on London Bombing
Manuela Paraipan - 7/8/2005
After the London's bombings I was contacted by a bright young man, a practicing Muslim and one of Hizb ut-Tahrir's loyal members [Editors: Tahrir has tens of thousands of hard-core members operating clandestinely in over 40 countries around the world, with members organized in cells of five to eight members each. The organization explicitly rejects democracy and its head published a book entitled "Democracy: The Law of Infidels." Tahrir functions under the Leninist model of critical mass. It seeks to establish a "critical mass" of sleeper terrorist cells in a country and then rises up at once ...
Electricity Markets in Eastern Europe
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/8/2005
Russia's lower house, the Duma, debated, in November 29, 2002 a far reaching reform in the bloated and inefficient electricity generation sector. Worried by resurging inflation, the Russian government scrapped its plan to allow the Federal Energy Commission to fix tariffs for gas, power, and railways. A Commission spokesman complained to Moscow Times that government officials have overridden its authority to regulate the prices of natural monopolies. It threatened to take the matter to court.
Kosovo Roma Make a Dangerous Last Stand - Part II
Jackson Allers - 7/7/2005
Along the way to one of three makeshift Roma refugee camps with an official from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), remnants of a former Yugoslav mining complex, the Trepca mines, go on for more than two miles, the many slag heaps indicating a past of heavy lead smelting.
EXCLUSIVE: UK Spy Identifies Groups and People Behind London Bombings
David Storobin, Esq. - 7/7/2005
Glen Jenvey worked for several military attachés covering terrorist groups, including al-Qaida and their members in Britain. His sting led to the capture of Abu Hamza al-Masri, a major terrorist. Multiple other terrorists were also caught due to his efforts. He has been profiled and interviewed in major media across the globe, including in the US, UK, Russia, India, etc. Neil Doyle wrote a book entitled "Terror Tracker" about Mr. Jenvey. Immediately after the London bombings, he gave an exclusive interview to the Global Politician.
Kosovo Roma Crisis - Part I
Eric S. Thompson - 7/6/2005
There is no shortage of tragedies when speaking of the Balkans, and recent history. In fact the Balkan’s recent history is one based on a long string of concurrent tragedies. Out of convenience, the issues are often narrowly discussed, resulting in further polarization of each respective side, and exclusion of those left unmentioned. Conversations turn to “Belgrade and Pristina” or “ethnic Albanians and Serbs” when in actuality, a comprehensive discussion of the situation should include many other groups of people. The Roma are one such group, hugely impacted, but rarely considered nor consulted when planning the future of Kosovo.
Kidnapping of Romanian Journalists in Iraq: An unusual affair
Manuela Paraipan - 7/1/2005
It was a shock for Romanian society and government to hear the announcement that three journalists were kidnapped in Iraq. Romania has troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, but it was the first time when Romanian civilians were taken hostages. Marie-Jeanne Ion, a reporter for Prima TV, Sorin Miscoci, her cameraman, and Ovidiu Ohanesian, a reporter for the daily Romania Libera, were kidnapped on 28 March on the streets of Baghdad. It now appears that they were victims of a plot by the two businessmen of Arab origin who had organized and financed the trip: Mohammed Munaf, their guide and translator, p...
The Christiane Way: Amanpour's Reporting
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/29/2005
"The primary role of journalists on the front lines is to do your best to tell a story in a situation when truth is not always readily available. It's also vital to tell what you see and question what you don't see, as well as to provide context to complicated issues."
"Some journalists might take too many risks, but risk and danger are inherent in combat reporting. We have to know the difference between calculated risk and foolish risks."
"There hasn't been a single time I've ever turned down an assignment because of the dangers involved."
Christiane Amanpour on Journalism (Interview gr...
The German Economy
Uche Nworah - 6/25/2005
I visited Germany recently on a short holiday. I had flown to the Niederrhein Airport in Weeze on a Ryan Air (the low cost carrier) plane. The Weeze Airport which is only 2 years old and still heavily under utilised still looked a lot better than most national airports in the developing countries. The Airport looked spick and span, and glistened as if it was just a day old.
Winning the European CAP (Common Agricultural Policy)
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/25/2005
According to a June 2005 OECD report, and contrary to popular, media-fostered impressions, farm subsidies are being phased out almost everywhere. Turkey is an exception. It spent in 2002-4 (wasted, more like it) more than 4% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on aiding and abetting its inefficient agricultural sector (compared to 4.3% in 1986-8).
Europe's Agricultural Revolution
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/24/2005
The June 2005 budget summit in Brussels foundered on the issue of farm support and subsidies which now consume directly 46.2% of the European Union's (EU) funds. Tony Blair refused to let go of Britain's infamous rebate (amounting to two thirds of its net contributions to the community's coffers) unless and until these handouts (which Britain's dilapidated agriculture does not enjoy) are slashed. This followed close on the hills of the rejection of the proposed EU constitution in French and the Dutch referenda in May-June 2005.
Lessons of Integration of Aliens into Finland between 1917 and 1944
Antero Leitzinger - 6/18/2005
When Finland became independent on 6th of December 1917, the constitution, dating back to Swedish rule over a century earlier, required all Finnish citizens to be of Evangelical Lutheran faith. Exceptions had been made regarding other Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Russian Orthodox religions (after all, the Grand Duke himself, as Emperor of Russia, was Orthodox). Non-Christians, however, were excluded from the citizenship. They included Jews and Muslims. Jews in Finland were Yiddish-speaking immigrants from Russia, who were later integrated into the Swedish-speaking minority. Muslims in Finla...
The Balkans - The Titanic Waltz
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/16/2005
The Austrian Embassy again held a Vienese Ball at the Alexander Palace Hotel in Skopje, Macedonia. It was as surrealistic as they get: a Viennese Ball in a decaying Balkan city in a land of former communist thieves turned capitalist robbers. It was held in a newly opened hotel, a gleaming temple of kitsch and tackiness, an abode of golden brass and polished mirrors amidst urban waste and uncollected mounds of festering trash. Hundreds of middle aged, burly diplomats and locals, all in ill fitting smokings, the women wearing sweaty, smeared make-up. A grotesque medley of decadence, a glimpse of...
German Bankers in Denial
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/15/2005
Denial is a ubiquitous psychological defense mechanism. It involves the repression of bad news, unpleasant information, and anxiety-inducing experiences. Judging by the German press, the country is in a state of denial regarding the faltering health of its economy and the dwindling fortunes of its financial system.
The Capitalist Experiment in Eastern Europe
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/8/2005
The implosion of communism was often presented - not least by Francis Fukuyama in his celebrated "The End of History" - as the incontrovertible victory of economic liberalism over Marxism. In truth, the battle raged for seven decades between two strands of socialism.
Outlook Of EU International Relations
Angelique van Engelen - 6/6/2005
Europe's future international relations hinge on the outcome of the debate about what to do with the rejected constitution. During the upcoming 16-17 June EU summit, a start will be made tackling the most pressing issues. Should Europe's landscape change from a combined vast geographical area to individually portioned up countries again, this likely will overthow established international relations globally too.
African Immigration to Europe
Jan Lamprecht - 6/4/2005
I was just interviewed by Jeff Reese, an American radio talk show host. While Jeff and I were discussing AIDS (a topic about which he wrote a book some years ago), he quoted from a news article in the USA. It said that African strains of AIDS have now been discovered in Minnesota. Blacks are fleeing Africa, and they are mainly fleeing to Europe where in certain countries they are causing serious problems. I have heard of organized crime and prostitutes from Africa causing chaos in Italy, among other countries. And Spain is experiencing a serious problem with "boat people" from Africa. Black Af...
British Citizen Spy, Islamic Terrorist and Jewish Monkeys
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 6/4/2005
[Editors: This article was submitted to us directly by Glen Jenvey who worked for several military attachés covering terrorist groups, including al-Qaida and their members in Britain. His sting led to the capture of Abu Hamza al-Masri, a major terrorist. Multiple other terrorists were also caught due to his efforts. He has been profiled and interviewed in major media across the globe, including in the US, UK, Russia, India, etc. Neil Doyle wrote a book entitled "Terror Tracker" about Mr. Jenvey.]
EU Crisis: After the Debacle and Before the Storm
Prof. Norman Birnbaum - 6/2/2005
The unequivocal French rejection of the new European Constitution (over 50% "No" votes with electoral participation at 70%) anticipates the turbulence ahead in much of Europe. The vote represented a clear class division, with majorities against the Constitution in the working class (in factories and offices) and amongst voters for the Socialist, Communist, ultra-leftist, and Green parties. These voters were protesting unemployment, the removal of entire factories to cheap labor areas in the new European Union members in eastern Europe (or to Asia), and the threat to France's welfare state enta...
Slovenia - The Star Pupil
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/31/2005
The most exciting event in Slovenia in December 2001 was when a group of young army recruits spat on the national flag and sang the anthem of the now defunct former Yugoslavia. They were sent to a military psychiatrist for observation. Indeed, economically speaking, a preference for any other part of the late Federation over Slovenia would indicate mental deformity.
Bully at Work - Interview with Tim Field
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/28/2005
In 1994 Tim Field was bullied out of his job as a Customer Services Manager which resulted in a stress breakdown. Turning his experience to good use he set up the UK National Workplace Bullying Advice Line in 1996 and his web site Bully Online in 1997 since which time he has worked on over 5000 cases worldwide. He now lectures widely as well as writing and publishing books on bullying and psychiatric injury. He holds two honorary doctorates for his work on identifying and dealing with bullying. He is the Webmaster of Bully Online.
The Great Deception: An Interview With Petr Cibulka on Communism in Czech Republic
Ryan Mauro - 5/26/2005
Q: What is the European and Czech people's opinion about America in Iraq and the war in general and what is the official press saying about it?
The New Europeans
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/25/2005
Many of the nations of central and east Europe have spent most of their history as components of one empire or another. People in this region are used to be at the receiving end of directives and planning from the center. Though ostensibly fervid nationalists, they are ill at ease with their re-founded and re-found nation-states.
German State Elections
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/23/2005
The May 22, 2005 elections in North Rhine-Westphalia (with 18 million inhabitants, Germany's most populous state) are expected to determine the fate of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, his party, the Social Democrats, SPD (which ruled the state in the last four decades), and his coalition with the Greens. The SPD-Greens are projected to lose to the uninspiring coalition of Christian Democrats (CDU) and Free Democrats. The state is buffeted by the crumbling of traditional industries such as mining and heavy industry
Euro and the History of Previous Currency Unions
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/20/2005
"Before long, all Europe, save England, will have one money". This was written by William Bagehot, the Editor of "The Economist", the renowned British magazine, 120 years ago when Britain, even then, was heatedly debating whether to adopt a single European Currency or not.
France, Europe's Constitution and the Swiss Example
Angelique van Engelen - 5/19/2005
If the French vote NO to the European Constitution at the end of this month, the crisis that's likely to ensue will likely invoke novel ideas on democracy and populations' influence over decisionmaking at the supranational level. The Swiss system yields some ideas for viable options.
Politicians in Brussels Say Political Impact of a French 'Non' Would Be Worse Than Economic Effect
Angelique van Engelen - 5/17/2005
Politicians in Brussels, assessing the impact of a possible French No to the EU constitution, say that they fear its political impact more than its influence on the wider EU economy, even though the No vote is mainly driven by French population's concerns over their domestic economy. Europe's political landscape is more fragmented than ever and populist movements, which had been subdued during recent years, are increasingly beginning to surface.
Slavery and Communism in France?
Ross Kaminsky - 5/12/2005
Between the "social benefits councils" and the government's plan to have employees work a day for no pay to fund air conditioners for old people, the French can't seem to decide whether they prefer Communism or Slavery.
Skopje - Where Time Stood Still
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/5/2005
Frozen at an early morning hour, the stony hands of the giant, cracked clock commemorate the horror. The earthquake that struck Skopje in 1963 has shattered not only its Byzantine decor, has demolished not merely the narrow passageways of its Ottoman past, has transformed not only its Habsburgian waterfront with its baroque National Theatre. The disastrous reconstruction, supervised by a Japanese architect, has robbed it of its soul. It has become a drab and sprawling socialist metropolis replete with monumentally vainglorious buildings, now falling into decrepitude and disrepair. The influx o...
Turkey: Europe's Dilemma?
Teymur Huseyinov - 5/4/2005
Until a few years ago most Western analysts regarded Turkey as a gray zone, a hopeless country drowning in the mud of its outdated political system and faced with a real danger of being cast into the fold of radical Islam. As I recall those times, I remember an interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former US National Security Advisor and grandee of contemporary strategic thought, who stated that one of the unluckiest routes Turkey could follow would be to gain an image of an anti-European Middle Eastern country, or at least of a state rejected and totally disheartened by Europe. The argument...
Interview with Vladimir Chukov: Bulgaria - Past, Present, and Multiethnic Future
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/3/2005
Vladimir Chukov is Associate Professor in the Bulgarian Centre for Middle East Studies and the Department of Administrative and Political Sciences in Varna Free University.
A French 'Non' to the EU Constitution Would Pay Hommage to History
Angelique van Engelen - 5/2/2005
Many of the problems that the members of the European Union are expressing with their constitution are in matter of fact problems with they perceive to be the 'one size fits all' idea of policies. The French are loudest in expressing their objections and looking at the history of the evolution of the nation state, perhaps they have a point. It took millennia for the idea of the Nation State to evolve into any recognizable shape. So to expect a huge bloc of countries to continue to integrate without noticeable hiccups would be naive.
Developments in the case of the Romanian Journalists Kidnapped in Iraq
Manuela Paraipan - 4/25/2005
The French negotiator, Nicolas Henin declared for the Romanian mass media that all that can be done at this point in time is to use all the possible contacts in Iraq to save the lives of the journalists. "Obviously, there is also the simple way: withdraw the troops in four days. But, from a political point of view it is hard to believe that will happen, because the Romanian government cannot just ignore its commitments."
Romanian Journalists held hostages by the Islamic
Manuela Paraipan - 4/24/2005
The TV station Al Jazeera has broadcasted yesterday, in the afternoon new images with the Romanian journalists kidnapped in Iraq. In these new images has also apperead Mohammad Munaf, an Iraqi citizen which also holds the American citizen. Mohammad Munaf acted as a go-between the journalists and some members of the Iraqi political class.
Reparations to Germans and Hungarians Expelled From Czechoslovakia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/21/2005
As its disintegration in 1992 has proven, Czechoslovakia may have been merely an artificial multi-ethnic chimera. But it was also an industrial and military powerhouse. In the fateful 1930's, its - mainly heavy - industry was the 7th largest in the world. Even the Germans were awed by its well equipped and well trained army.
Interview with Vladimir Hucin: The Communists Strive for Power in Europe
Ryan Mauro - 4/19/2005
RM: Mr. Hucin, there were charges against you that you discussed with JR Norqvist in March 2002. Can you update us on what has happened regarding your case since then?
VH: The Constitutional Court (CR) decided that judicial decision of custody, its extension, was unlawful. There were also attempts made to exclude my defense lawyer, former BIS director Stanislav Devaty, from my process, with an intentional excuse of him not having a security clearance. Even here, the Constitutional Court decided in this matter, and with its promulgation of a judgment it was decided there there is no need for my defense lawyer to be subjected to a security clearance.
Balkan Intellectuals - The Poets and the Eclipse
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/18/2005
Poets in Somalia hold an inordinate sway over the indigenous population. They sing the praises of war with the same alacrity and vehemence that they invest in glorifying peace. And the population listens and follows these dark skinned pied pipers. Lately, they have been extolling peace and peace prevails in Somaliland and the other state-like enclaves in this tortured shadow of a country.
Serbian Journalism after Communism & Milosevic
Rod Amis - 4/17/2005
In June of this year, Milan Pantic, an outspoken journalist for the daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti(Evening News), was shot in the back in front of his own home. Pantic, a quiet, highly educated man was believed to have had "too sharp a pen." While the journalistic community in Belgrade mourned his assassination, it drove home something that every reporter and writer in Serbia knows: things have changed, but they also remain the same. The memory of the heroic struggle for a free press in Serbia by Slavko Curuvija, the editor and owner of Dnevni Telegraf (Daily Telegraph), was still fresh in ...
Foreign Direct Investment in Central and East Europe During Global Recession
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/17/2005
The brief global recession of the early years of this decade - which was neither prolonged, nor trenchant and all-pervasive, as widely predicted - had little effect on Central and Eastern Europe's traditional export markets. The region were spared the first phase of financial gloom which affected mainly mergers, acquisitions and initial public offerings. Few multinationals scrapped projects, scaled back overseas expansion and canceled long-planned investments.
Estonian Economic Miracle: A Model For Developing Countries
David Storobin, Esq. - 4/16/2005
On May 1, 2004, Estonia joined the European Union, having already been a member of the World Trade Organization. This tiny country of 1.5 million emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and a nation that is studied by governments around the world, as they try to copy Estonia's spectacular success that occurred despite suffering under Soviet repression for half a century.
European Constitution And French Jitters
Angelique van Engelen - 4/7/2005
Talk of 'growing rifts' in the European Union accompanies all major political summits without exception, but last week's Brussels event was overcast by fears that the French electorate will vote "no" to the new European constitution May 29th. So far, four EU countries have ratified the proposed treaty and only Spain has done so by referendum. Observers say that the French referendum -which is next- is dominated by issues which have little or nothing to do with the 341 page document comprising the constitution. If French voters turn out a convincing 'No" vote, they will have likely been castin...
Michael Moore: America-Bashing Reaches New Levels in Europe
James DeMeo, Ph.D. - 4/6/2005
When Michael Moore lampooned "Corporate America", it was at least an entertaining contribution to the social debate, but now he's moved on to more serious subject matter. Since making his millions by skewering capitalism, he's also plunged into the conspiracy swamp with a disinformation film "Fahrenheit 911"- financed with $3 million from Disney/Miramax. The movie blamed George W. Bush and the CIA (and Mossad?) for the 9-11 terror attacks. [1] Moore has shown himself to be expert in the use of "lies of omission" which most people won't know about unless they consult his critics.
A Walk in Berlin: Anti-Semitic and Anti-American Conspiracies Believed by Average Germans
James DeMeo, Ph.D. - 4/6/2005
Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian psychiatrist and a 1930s-era anti-fascist author, once wrote that the Big Lie gets lots of public attention and is carried forward as in a big parade, with many hungry listeners, while the truth must come limping behind on crutches, struggling to catch up, panting with it tongue hanging out. It thus appears that a similar situation has recently developed internationally with respect to historical events, especially after the World Trade Center attacks. Big Lies do not originate from "The Establishment" or "Mainstream". There are many examples where "little lies" whic...
Hitler - The Inverted Saint
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 4/5/2005
"My feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was his fight against the Jewish poison. Today, after two thousand yea...
Romania In Shock After Bizarre Kidnapping In Iraq
Dan Stoenescu - 4/1/2005
[From Cairo, Egypt] Romania is in a state of shock after the Qatar-based TV station Al Jazeera aired a tape showing the three Romanian journalists who disappeared in Baghdad on Monday, March 28. The tape shows the three Romanians and a fourth person, sitting on the floor with two men pointing guns at them. According to Al Jazeera, the journalists were held by an unknown group that had made no demands. The journalists are Marie Jeanne Ion and cameraman Sorin Dumitru Miscoci of Prima TV and Ovidiu Ohanesian of Romania Libera daily newspaper.
KLA - The Army of Liberation
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/29/2005
"(There is a growing tendency among foreign observers) to identify the criminal with the honest, the vandal with the civilized, the mafiosi with the nation."
Former Albanian President Sali Berisha
"They were terrorists in 1998 and now, because of politics, they're freedom fighters."
Jerry Seper, quoting an anonymous "top drug official" who refers to a 1998 State Department report, in the article "KLA Finances War with Heroin Sales", Washington Times, May 3, 1999
"The Albanian villages are much better, much richer than the Serbian ones. The Serbs, even the rich ones, don't build fine ...
Black Hand: The Dream of Greater Serbia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/28/2005
The IMRO was a populist organization established by intellectuals (as such groups often do) but staffed by peasant, lumpenproletariat and dwellers of the slums formed by Macedonian refugees all over the Balkans and especially in Sofia. Its members swore allegiance on a bible and a gun - two universally potent symbols. The nationalist-terrorist movement which bore the improbable by-name of "The Black Hand" was no such thing. It was elitist - only members of the officer corps and government officials could join. But the two shared an ethos and methods of operation. The IMRO sought to liberate th...
Yugoslavia: The Insurgents and the Swastika
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/28/2005
"Even going back ten years it was easy to see something gripping Yugoslavia by the throat. But in the years since then the grip has been tightened, and tightened in my opinion by the dictatorship established by King Alexander Karageorgevitch. This dictatorship, however much it may claim a temporary success, must inevitably have the effect of poisoning all the Yugoslav organism. Whether the poisoning is incurable or not is the question for which I have sought an answer during two months in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and central Europe."
"Black Hand over Europe" by Henri Pozzi, 1935
Macedonia to the Macedonians
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/27/2005
"Two hundred and forty five bands were in the mountains. Serbian and Bulgarian comitadjis, Greek andartes, Albanians and Vlachs ... all waging a terrorist war."
Leon Sciaky in "Farewell to Salonica: Portrait of an Era"
"(Goce Delcev died) cloak flung over his left shoulder, his white fez, wrapped in a bluish scarf, pulled down and his gun slung across his left elbow..."
Mihail Chakov, who was nearby Delcev at the moment of his death, quoted in "Balkan Ghosts" by Robert D. Kaplan
"I will try and tell this story coldly, calmly, dispassionately ... one must tone the horrors down, for in...
Terrorists and Freedom Fighters in the Balkans
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/27/2005
"'Unbounded' morality ultimately becomes counterproductive even in terms of the same moral principles being sought. The law of diminishing returns applies to morality."
Thomas Sowell
There's a story about Robespierre that has the preeminent rabble-rouser of the French Revolution leaping up from his chair as soon as he saw a mob assembling outside."I must see which way the crowd is headed", he is reputed to have said: "For I am their leader." People who exercise violence in the pursuit of what they hold to be just causes are alternately known as "terrorists" or "freedom fighters".
Apocalyptic Population Drops in the West: And Then There Were Too Many
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/22/2005
The latest census in Ukraine revealed an apocalyptic drop of 10% in its population - from 52.5 million a decade ago to a mere 47.5 million last year. Demographers predict a precipitous decline of one third in Russia's impoverished, inebriated, disillusioned, and ageing citizenry. Births in many countries in the rich, industrialized, West are below the replacement rate. These bastions of conspicuous affluence are shriveling.
Muslims - Europe's New Jews
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/21/2005
They inhabit self-imposed ghettoes, subject to derision and worse, the perennial targets of far-right thugs and populist politicians of all persuasions. They are mostly confined to menial jobs. They are accused of spreading crime, terrorism and disease, of being backward and violent, of refusing to fit in.
Will Europe Survive to 2012?
Antero Leitzinger - 3/21/2005
The "number of the beast" of the Book of Apocalypse, Nostradamus' prophecies, astrology and numerological magic have entertained people for centuries. Even if history was not predetermined and predictable, it might be useful to present some scenarios, based on historical comparisons, presuppositions of repeating cycles, and warning examples. European history has been traditionally approached from a Western point of view, where the central point would be situated somewhere around Switzerland. From the slopes of Sankt Gotthard, the great rivers flow to different directions, towards the North Sea...
How the West Killed Djindjic
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/16/2005
Precisely two years ago, in March 2003, the West killed Serbia's Prime Minister since January 2001, Zoran Djindjic. By forcing him, at times against his better judgment, to surrender one more war criminal, to pursue yet another mobster, to eliminate the remaining subsidies that rendered tolerable the drab and destitute lives of Serbs - the West cast Djindjic as its lackey.
Macedonia - Why the Framework Agreement will Fail - Part II
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/15/2005
Every conflict has its economic moments and dimensions. The current conflict in Macedonia perhaps even more so. The USA and its Western allies regard Macedonia as a bridge between Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania. Hence the EU's plans for the revival of transport corridors 8 and 10 connecting these countries. If all goes well (and nothing has hitherto), railways will connect Bulgaria to Macedonia and river traffic will flow to Serbia from its southern neighbours. All this is envisioned in the Stability Pact. There are talks of an oil pipeline across Macedonia's territory. A pacified Macedonia is fairly crucial to Serbia's recovery and to the prospects of the whole region to attract FDI.
Macedonia - Why the Framework Agreement will Fail - Part I
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/15/2005
"…Many Macedonians contend they were forced to make concessions on an accelerated timetable only because of the ethnic Albanian insurgency. Javier Solana, foreign policy chief of the EU, rejected that charge saying, 'violence has not dictated the pace of progress'. Asked if the force of arms was the father of today's agreement, Ferat Fazliu, a rebel in Tetovo, said 'of course'."
Book Review: Fragmentation of Yugoslavia
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/9/2005
Book Title: The Fragmentation of Yugoslavia (2nd Edition)
Author: Aleksandar Pavkovic
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (USA) and Macmillan Press (UK)
Month, Year of publication: October 2000
Number of pages: 243
Eastern Europe's Change of Climate
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/6/2005
The 185 member states of the United Nations Climate Change Convention will meet shortly to contemplate what steps may be needed to implement the Kyoto protocol, now ratified by more than 130 countries, including Russia and the European Union. Signatories have ten years - starting in 2003 - to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases.
Romania's New Flat Tax
Manuela Paraipan - 2/25/2005
The Truth and Justice Alliance and their candidate, Traian Basescu, won the November Presidential Elections from Romania. In the first days, after assuming the Prime Minister function, Calin Popescu Tariceanu and his cabinet introduced the flat tax of 16% policy. Tariceanu's centrist cabinet attempts to prepare Romania for its role as a stabilizing factor in the Balkans and the Black Sea and and for its 2007 accession to the European Union. In this context, the new Romanian Government has introduced a new fiscal policy to eliminate, or at least reduce the tax evasion, corruption and poverty.Ro...
Does Turkey Belong In the European Union?
Antero Leitzinger - 2/2/2005
Turkey applied for membership in the EEC as early as in 1970s, when she had been indisputably and for a long time a democratic market economy, one of the founding members of the Council of Europe, and a country with a decent record on human rights, compared with the military dictatorships of Greece, Spain and Portugal, let alone the countries of Eastern Europe. The upheavals of Southern Europe in the mid-1970s, the intensified internal political situation of Turkey, and the military regime of early 1980s, as well as the surprising membership of Greece in the Western European community sidelined Turkey for two extra decades to wait for acceptance.
UK Labour Party: Betrayal of the Working Class or Utopia Through Capitalism
Natalia Forrest - 1/14/2005
May 1997 - Britain awakes to a new dawn after years of living under the shadow of grey Conservatism. Tony Blair had arrived and the age of 'Cool Britannia' had begun. After the regime of Margaret Thatcher (John Major was just a brief aberration) and the follies of hyper-privatisation, the possibility of a better, fairer Great Britain was upon the land, and the working class would be rewarded for their support. While perhaps a Scandinavian level cradle-to-grave support system was never envisaged, socialist ideals would now have room to grow, with possibilities now available to all, not just a privileged, moneyed few.
Welcome To Europe!
Marc Johnson - 12/10/2004
To: New East European EU Members
From: "Old Europe"
CC: Malta, Cyprus
Subject: Rights and Responsibilities
Welcome, friends, to the European Union. In a sense you never left, but those Soviets kept you from participating in the real affairs of The Continent for quite a while. But it's good to have you back. When your celebratory hangover passes, we have a few things for you to think about:
The Economy. To be frank, we're in dire straits. GDP growth has slowed to a virtual standstill from Rome to Amsterdam, and the strong Euro is making it harder to sell goods to the Sche...
