EU foreign policies

  Commenting on PressTV on the occasion of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, in Vienna confirming once again that Iran is in full compliance with the nuclear deal, the JCPOA, that the US withdrew from. Oberg argues that this is a defining moment for the Union: Either it is able to stand up for international law and it’s commitments vis-a-vis Iran – and that means not giving in to U.S. pressure to drop the deal – or the level of statesmanship is such that one must question whether the EU will survive in the longer run. See the video here.

  – are worried stiff that this will lead to war between Iran and Israel, in which Trump will feel moved to intercede if Israel is being badly hurt. Such a war will not only cause immense damage to Iran it will, unlike when in 1973 Israel fought the combined Arab armies to a standstill well away from its borders, inflict an enormous amount of damage inside Israel. Despite the so-called iron-dome that protects Israel against rockets, enough will get through to cause immense loss of life. Europe doesn’t want to live cheek by jowl with that kind of inflammable neighborhood. It doesn’t want to see more chaos, as after the US military intervention in Iraq which helped trigger the civil war in Syria and gave birth to ISIS. The long-established unity of purpose and liberal, democratic, ideology is being incinerated by the day. Putting America first has meant elbowing...

 Photo: The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini     By Peter Jenkins January 13, 2018 • It is with some reluctance that I write about President Donald Trump’s latest statement on Iran, because the statement is so full of half-truths, untruths, and logical fallacies that it is bad for one’s blood pressure to have to dwell on it for any length of time. I will try to limit damage to my constitution by focussing on just a few of the statement’s most disturbing features. The statement reveals a shocking attitude towards the European allies of the United States. For months these allies have been telling the Trump administration that the July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a satisfactory and useful nuclear non-proliferation instrument, and that they attach the highest importance to preserving it. President Trump’s statement does not just ignore...

  By Dr. Shashi Tharoor • At Oxford Union in 2015   Jan Oberg comments: Elegant, knowledgeable, witty and – to the point. A delightful way of setting the records straight.

By Sheri Berman • Several of Europe’s centre-left parties have suffered disappointing election results since the financial crisis, but is this slide in support permanent or can they arrest their decline? Sheri Berman writes that with the rise of new parties on the populist right, the centre-left risks sliding into irrelevance unless it can respond with viable and attractive solutions to contemporary problems. Europe today is in crisis. Economically, much of the continent suffers from low growth, high unemployment and rising inequality, while politically, disillusionment with the European community as well as domestic institutions and elites is widespread. Partially as a result, right-wing populism is growing, increasing political instability and uncertainty even further. Although many have noted a correlation between the rise of populism and the decline of the social democratic or centre-left, the causal relationship between them has not been sufficiently stressed. Indeed, to a large degree the failures...

By Jennifer Rankin • “EU army plans kept secret from voters,” was the front-page story in Friday’s Times. If the claim sounded familiar, that was because just two days earlier a retired British army commander, Major General Tim Ross, had claimed in the Daily Express that the EU was “moving inexorably towards full political union and all that comes with it”, including “unified armed forces”. Alongside Brussels bans on bendy bananas and high-powered toasters, few subjects get leave campaigners as hot under the collar as the prospect of an EU army. On Friday Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, accused the remain side of lying about moves to create one, while the former defence secretary Liam Fox warned darkly that “Europe’s defence intentions are a dangerous fantasy” that risked cutting the UK off from the US, “our closest and most powerful ally”. Via theguardian.com It is no secret that the EU...