Month: November 2024

The rage of the Spanish population, shown in their assault on the visiting Royals and Prime Minister in Valencia four days after the flooding the caused the deaths of over 200 persons (with more than 1900 still missing as we are writing), is justified. Not only could the heavy toll of human lives have been avoided, had the authorities given […]

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is not the only East European leader who refuses to accept policies dictated by the European Commission when they don’t correspond to what are perceived as national interests. The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, is another, and the assassination attempt against him on last May 15, which nearly succeeded, has not intimidated him. On Oct. 31, […]

For the moment, no one is betting on the future of the three-party coalition now in power in Berlin. There’s good reason for that, given the internal strife. For example, an 18-page memorandum by Finance Minister Christian Lindner (of the FDP) proposing a stimulus for the economy met with strong opposition from the other two coalition partners (SPD and Greens). […]

After nearly three years of war in Ukraine, leading circles in the West and their media outlets are beginning to quietly admit that Ukraine’s armed forces, in spite of all the support supplied by NATO member countries, cannot win this war, and that it’s time for Kyiv to accept some territorial losses in the framework of negotiations with Russia. Have […]

It is useful to look at some physical-economic parameters of the new BRICS Plus, by considering the contributions of the 13 new Partner States of the BRICS, along with those of the 9 existing full members (cf. SAS 44/24). These are far better indicators of the group’s real economic potential than the often-cited 40% share of global GDP, which is […]