Articles

The EU has often been thought of as primarily a market-making mechanism. Yet it is above all a cultural project. Gijs De Vries* The European Union is first and foremost a cultural project. The union’s founding values, respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human …

Denying vaccination to Africa was always bound to rebound on the global North. Ndileka Mandel* Much of the world ignored the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, at least until it became impossible to ignore. Much of the world ignored periodic outbreaks of Ebola in Africa, at least until infections travelled to the global North. While much …

European law enforcement agencies have been pushing to end encryption and survey everyone’s online communications. Diego Naranjo* In 2020, the European Commission put forward temporary legislation on ‘chat control’. This sought to legalise the scanning of everyone’s private online communications; every message, email or chat. Successor to a long line of attacks from …

The Recovery and Resilience Facility aims to finance national projects. Yet a pan-European rail network could yield big emissions cuts. Katharina Weber* and Maximilian Zangl* and Mario Holzner* The European Union is clear on its goal to be climate-neutral by 2050. Transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse-gas …

James Zogby* Since the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, I have received questions from a number of journalists, both American and Arab. They have asked what the US withdrawal means for the region, for American leadership in the world and which countries will now fill the void left by the …

New working arrangements could hold out more self-determination for workers. Too often they have meant more stress. Rolf Schmucker* The pandemic, which has been going on for almost two years, has brought about many changes in the world of work. These include the undoing of limits on working hours, increased …

James Zogby* When news of Covid-19’s Omicron variant broke a few weeks back, my daughter sighed and said, “I give up”. Just when I think we’ve turned a corner, we’re back in it all over again. “I guess we have to be resigned to the fact that this will never …

Many have lost all faith in politics, however, the vaccination protests and anti-virus rules turn this into madness, Robert Misik writes. Robert Misik* The diagnosis of a ‘split’ in society is a commonplace. Today, societies are shaken by discord. Divisions are intensifying. The claims differ in detail. However, on some …

Boris Johnson ignores the old truth that blaming scapegoats is one way to run a campaign, but no way to run a country. While this lasts, the flame of rational, outward-looking patriotism must be kept alight by Britain’s civil society. Peter Kellner* Dear Europe, don’t give up on us. The …

Most livestock land will have to be repurposed as carbon sinks to remove the huge global emissions related to food production. George Tyler* The COP26 debates often ignored the cow in the room—the biggest challenge of all. Greenhouse gases (GHG) from food and agriculture comprise a third of global emissions. Success in …