Since Mubarak's ousting, a pivotal player has been brought to light in the Egyptian political structure: the army, which is clearly not neutral as it has an agenda and interests. If Tahrir Square's protesters certainly help, the army played the main role in Mubarak's resignation and it now enjoys absolute...
19 Comments | Posted May 16, 2011 | 04:51 PM (EST)
The public perception of immigrants is often negative, linking them almost exclusively to poverty and security risks. Despite this conventional wisdom, which materializes during elections, there is no proof that immigration has a negative effect on natives. The opposite, in fact, may be true. Immigration may well affect natives positively....
Posted April 3, 2011 | 06:43 PM (EST)
Algeria embraced the popular overthrow of Benali and Mubarak with happiness and pride. More onerously, however, these developments are a sobering reminder of Algeria's recent history.
Far from being unprecedented in modern North African history, these recent events were long-preceded: in October 1988, a spontaneous and massive Algerian...
Posted February 16, 2011 | 12:32 PM (EST)
Three imports shape US foreign policy towards Latin America: Energy, Migration, Cocaine and the Criminality that too often goes with drugs. A scientific mind would be tempted to summarize Washington's policy towards the rest of the continent using Einstein's equation E=MC2. Instead of describing the mass-energy equivalence, this equation within...
Posted January 13, 2011 | 10:55 AM (EST)
Two decades ago, many commentators predicted the demise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Without the Soviet threat, they argued, it had outlived its purpose. However, NATO fulfilled other political functions, such as strengthening democracy amongst member states and peaceful relationships between allies. Although its main purpose was...
Posted December 9, 2010 | 06:08 AM (EST)
France has always maintained that the possession of nuclear weapons first and foremost provides a deterrent to aggressive acts against its interests. However, it retains the policy option of using nuclear weapons in a further first strike capacity. The French strategic doctrine has always been and remains one of crushing...
Posted November 4, 2010 | 12:36 PM (EST)
Both debate on pension reform in France and international media coverage focused on the excesses of social protest. Sadly this has only deepened what was already perhaps the most entrenched stereotype about the French -- their predilection for going on strike. This clash was not, however, only or even primarily...
Posted October 18, 2010 | 04:38 PM (EST)
Europeans and Americans often feel uneasy about each other's attitude towards capital punishment -- a punishment that many in the US openly support but which Europeans consider abhorrent to the point that 'executions per capita' is quite frequently used as a negative global measurement of political and human rights. Curiously,...
Posted September 30, 2010 | 12:40 PM (EST)
After months of controversy, the French Senate recently adopted the law banning the burqa -- the enveloping outer garment worn by women to conceal their bodies from head to toe in some Islamic traditions -- in public spaces. Whether we like the burqa or not, we should recognize that French...
Posted September 14, 2010 | 12:03 PM (EST)
The consequences of both the recession and the subsequent foreclosure crisis have highlighted the failure of urban policies on both sides of the Atlantic. In part, this is due to insufficient funds for the tasks at hand. However, this failure also reflects the difficulty of devising policies that encompass multiple...
Posted September 3, 2010 | 03:04 PM (EST)
2010 has been rife with anti-immigrant rhetoric and action on both sides of the Atlantic. There were the atrocious anti-migrant riots in Italy and the passing of controversial Arizona law SB 1070. France has taken a demagogic turn, which some commentators dub xenophobic. Even Canada, which is celebrated...
Posted August 25, 2010 | 04:19 PM (EST)
The United States sells itself as the land where women and men can rise from humble origins to the highest offices in the land. Americans describe the triumphs of Abraham Lincoln, the president who was born in a log cabin, and Bill Clinton, the president who was born in a...
14 Comments | Posted June 14, 2011 | 02:03 PM (EST)