President Trump’s campaign trail rhetoric focused heavily on presenting a tough, assertive image of American power. Indeed, he broke new ground in toughness — not only did he take traditional US oppon…
Defective Democracies
With a friendly slap in the face and shake of the hand, the president of the European Commission addressed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as “dictator” during his visit to Latvia in…
The Catalan Catch-22
If he negotiates, he loses. If he uses force, he loses. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has dug himself a into a hole where the only remaining options are to give something up– either relinquish …
Still Stuck in the Cold War? Turkey, NATO, Russia, and the Art of Patronage
Russia announces new arms deals almost daily, and successfully completes them nearly as often. But the sale of Russian arms to a NATO member is a strikingly rare event. Last month, Turkey signed an ag…
“Perquè és el Meu Dret”: The Catalan Referendum
Protesters have taken to the famous landmarks in Barcelona to show their desire for a ‘Sí’ vote on the referendum for Catalan independence, scheduled for October 1st. The national government in…
CETA and the fate of free trade: Why the EU and Canada’s new deal changes how trade agreements are negotiated for good
After a tumultuous few months, the European Union and Canada finally signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) last Sunday. CETA is the first agreement of its kind that the EU has s…
On Brexit: Did Britain defy expectations or fulfill them by choosing to leave the E.U.?
In headlines across lands so expansive that the sun never sets upon them, the United Kingdom chose to leave the European Union in a national referendum on June 23, 2016. For those of you who, like num…
Europe: At the Crossroads of Crisis
This article is the second of a three part series aiming to demistify the Syrian refugee crisis. Part one can be found here. As the largest democratic nation in close proximity to Syria, Turkey has be…
Cut Out the Middle Man
How Elections Hurt Our Democracies Representative democracy began thousands of years ago in the Roman Republic. The Romans favored this system over the direct democracy of the Greeks, for good reason:…
The European Union: A Little Gratitude
Chaos and bloodshed flicker across news screens discretely in an almost routine manner. To Western society in the current era of diplomacy, murder and terrorism almost always come across as distant fo…