Latest posts
Democracy in China
Academic papers and books on democracy continue to proliferate. Mainstream western opinion supports views such as: • Rapid economic development quickens democratisation. • The liberal democratic path is the only sustainable route to modernity...
China South Sea boiling up
Problems relating to the South China Sea have been bubbling below the surface for a long time. However, the public entry of the United States into the arena has brought these problems to the surface. The South China Sea is now being spoken about in...
Negotiation with Iran
I have blogged before both on negotation and Iran. A fascinating book by John W Limbert (‘Negotiating with Iran’, 2009) brings the two aspects together. The author spent 33 years in the US Foreign Service, is a fluent Farsi speaker and has...
BLOG China South Sea boiling up
Problems relating to the South China Sea have been bubbling below the surface for a long time. However, the public entry of the United States into the arena has brought these problems to the surface. The South China Sea is now being spoken about in...
Lawyers and the Commission register of lobbyists
The European Commission launched in 2008 a voluntary register for lobbyists seeking to influence its policymaking. Interest representation is a legitimate part of a democratic system. The register was established in a Commission effort to enhance p...
Recommendations to improve China-EU relations
The Chinese Mission to the EU organized a workshop on China-EU relations on 17 June 2010. The following recommendations are supported by the Europeans present at the worshop, in the light of the discussions between them and representatives of...
Might the law be an ass?
Seven individuals smashed up a Brighton factory owned by ITT of the US, at a cost of £187 000 and were recently found not guilty. In 2008, six Greenpeace members were acquitted of causing £30 000 damage to a power station owned by the German Eon en...
Rhetoric threatens to outweigh reality at G20 events
The following article was published in Global Times on 30 June: Was the Toronto G20 summit from June 26 to 27 an impetus for action or a display of rhetoric? This is a difficult question to answer. The Toronto negotiations began well before the meeti...
European blogging progresses
‘Political’ blogging in Europe lags considerably behind the activity in the US. But the positive trend is clear. Independent bloggers writing about EU policy are nipping at the heels of their big media rivals, according to a survey on the EU...
Perceptions and the growth of protectionism
The following article was published in New Europe on 12 July: China is rightly proud of its achievements – particularly the way it came through the global and financial crisis – and also in its successful organizing of the Olympic Games and Shang...
Rhetoric threatens to outweigh reality at G20 events
The following article appeared in Global Times on 30 June By Stanley Crossick Was the Toronto G20 summit from June 26 to 27 an impetus for action or a display of rhetoric? This is a difficult question to answer. The Toronto negotiations began well be...
Climate change: what has happened in Washington since 1969?
The Nixon Presidential Library has just released some fascinating correspondence on climate change. Within the White House, Patrick Moynihan wrote to John Ehrlichman on 17 September 1969: “this [carbon dioxide] very clearly is a problem, and, perh...
How the world sees the United States
The 22 Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey published on 17 June makes interesting reading. US favourability rating • Overwhelmingly favourable in Western Europe: eg 73% in France and 63% in Germany. • Improved sharply in Russia (57%), up 13% s...
Why does Obama call it Britsh Petroleum ?
Obama’s British Petroleum “Kicking ass” is not a phrase Europeans would expect to hear from a President, but it is understandable why President Obama used it. What is not understandable is why he calls the company ‘British Petroleum” a...
A worrying American view of China
The German Marshall Fund of the US and The Centre Asie Ifri, held a joint seminar on 15 June on “Responding to China’s Rise: Balancing Hard and Soft Power”. The presentation by Gary Schmitt of the American Enterprise Institute was very di...
Why does Obama call it Britsh Petroleum ?
“Kicking ass” is not a phrase Europeans would expect to hear from a President, but it is understandable why President Obama used it. What is not understandable is why he calls the company ‘British Petroleum” and not “BP”. Ironically,...
Western democracy in crisis
The credibility gap between the political class and the people is widening in most Member States, but there is no consensus as to what to do. The economic and financial challenges facing Europe require decisive leadership, but most national elector...
EU a laughing stock over mercury
Do the EU leaders really want strong external representation? The dispute over who should have represented the Union at the international talks on phasing out mercury in Stockholm on 7-11 June, puts this into doubt. The EU was unable to speak with...
Iran: an unrealistic solution?
Living three years in Iran, with extensive negotiating experience representing sometimes western companies and sometimes Iranian enterprises, taught me never to try to analyse Iranian thinking as if they were thought like us. The Iranian negotiatin...
EU-China-Africa relations
BICCS (Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies invited 30 participants from 15 European institutes to participate in an intensive workshop, on 17-19 May, about China’s response to security challenges in Africa. The aim of this meeting was...
