By Javier Solana MADRID: It is now increasingly clear that what started in late 2008 is no ordinary economic slump. Almost four years after the beginning of the crisis, developed economies have not managed a sustainable recovery, and even the better-off countries reveal signs of weakness. Faced with the certainty of a double-dip recession, Europe’s difficulties …
By Javier Solana MADRID: Two days after Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s leader, died in a train in his country, South Korean authorities still knew nothing about it. Meanwhile, American officials seemed at a loss, with the State Department at first merely acknowledging that press reports had mentioned his death. The South Korean and US intelligence services’ …
By Javier Solana and Ãngel Saz-Carranza MADRID: This month, the International Energy Agency will publish its annual report, the internationally definitive World Energy Outlook, which will confirm that we are not on the right track to reduce global warming. If the current trend in energy production continues, the earth’s average temperature will be more than 2ºC …
By Javier Solana MADRID: On October 2nd in Istanbul, Syria’s disparate opposition movements gave the go-ahead for the formation of a “Syrian National Council.” This is the most important step yet taken by the fragmented forces that have been trying since May to lead a peaceful uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. The council’s formation boosted …
By Javier Solana and Daniel Innerarity MADRID: Humanity’s main concerns today are not so much concrete evils as indeterminate threats. We are not worried by visible dangers, but by vague ones that could strike when least expected — and against which we are insufficiently protected. There are, of course, specific, identifiable dangers, but what worries us …
By Javier Solana MADRID: Just five months ago, Osama bin Laden was alive, Hosni Mubarak was firmly in control in Egypt, and Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali ruled Tunisia with an iron hand. Today, popular rebellion and political change have spread throughout the region. We have witnessed brutal repression of protests in Syria and Yemen, Saudi troops …
By Marwan Muasher and Javier Solana MADRID/WASHINGTON, DC: As revolutionary change sweeps across the Arab world, it is easy to think that now is not the time to push for peace between Israel and Palestine. Until the dust settles on the new Middle East, the old roadmaps seem dated, and conventional wisdom holds that progress toward …
