Europe

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As the Banks Crumble: A Look at the Left in Switzerland

Sammy Loren November 26, 2008 Sammy Loren

Swiss Bank Bailout Protest
If the left draws the majority of its support from those at the lower rungs of the economic pecking pole - organized labor, civil servants, and the working poor - how then in Switzerland, one of the wealthiest countries, with some of the lowest poverty and unemployment rates in the post-industrialized world, does the left ever make it to public office? How on the turf of banking goliaths Credit Suisse and United Bank of Switzerland does the left not get laughed out of town?

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Come Late, Leave Early: Russia-Georgia-Abkhazia-South Ossetia Negotiations

René Wadlow October 22, 2008 René Wadlow

Palais des Nations
At the Palais des Nations - the UN's European headquarters- on October 15, 2008, there was an uneven start to negotiations among Russian, Georgian, Abkhazian and South Ossetian negotiators. The Russian representatives arrived 50 minutes late unsure if the representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia would be able to participate as full members. After a half hour of discussions in the hallways and offices set aside for the negotiators, a meeting was started.

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Non-Violent Peace Brigades: How Fast Can We Move?

René Wadlow September 30, 2008 René Wadlow

Mahatma Gandhi
The United Nations General Assembly has designated October 2 as the International Day of Nonviolence. October 2 is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. For Gandhi, non-violence was at the center of his philosophy and actions. Thus it is appropriate to mark the day with an analysis of one aspect of non-violent action: the role of peace teams as observers in conflict situations.

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Coming in From the Cold: UN Membership Needed for the Phantom Republics

Rene Wadlow September 17, 2008 Rene Wadlow

Kosovo Declares Independence, Feb. 2008
"The Phantom Republics" has been the name given to the states demanding the status of independence after the break up of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union: Abkhazia, Chechenya, Kosovo, Nagrono-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Transnistra. The current conflict between Russia and Georgia has put the Abkhazia and South Ossetia conflicts at center stage of world politics.

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Russia, Georgia and The High Cost of Cheap Oil

Sandy LeonVest September 3, 2008 Sandy LeonVest

The days when the US could kill, drill and consume its way out of crisis may have ended. That new reality is made clear by the current conflict between Russia and Georgia, which is looking more and more like one between Russia and the US. The exact moment in history marking the last gasp of the American Empire will likely be debated by historians for years. But there is little doubt that August 7, 2008 will be viewed as a turning point in that history. Georgia's invasion of South Ossetia, followed by Russia's predictable response, may have faded from the US media spotlight, but it is on the front pages of much of the international press - and for good reason.

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Georgia On My Mind: From West Point to the Caucasus

Conn Hallinan August 18, 2008 Conn Hallinan

Georgians Flee Russia
One of the major causes of the recent war in Georgia has nothing to do with the historic tensions that make the Caucasus such a flashpoint between east and west. Certainly the long-stranding ethnic enmity between Ossetians and Georgians played a role, as did the almost visceral dislike between Moscow and Tbilisi. But the origins of the short, brutal war go back six years to a June afternoon at West Point.