The Impact of Bush’s Administration on European Politics

George W. Bush, 43rd  president of the USA, Connecticut-born, famous oilman, governor of Texas between 1994 and 1998, son of former president, started his reelection campaign similarly Bill Clinton did in 1996. He has never officially announced he is running again but he obviously did. “It looks we have a winner in the Republican primary”, he pointed out to laughter. “The other party’s nomination is still playing out. The candidates are an interesting group with diverse opinions: tax cuts, and against tax cuts, for NAFTA and against NAFTA, for the Patriot Act and against the Patriot Act, in favor of liberating Iraq and against liberating Iraq. And that’s just one senator from Massachusetts.” (weiterlesen…)

Understand political cleavages in France

To know the historical legacy of each important French political formation (FN, UMP, UDF, PS and PC), it is easy to oppose the right and the left political wings. If it is not certain that this distinction still covers a reality today, it is not debatable that it really existed during two centuries and that it always inspires many behaviors. It corresponded amply to the opposition between order and change, between tradition and modernism, conservatism and reform. The concepts of right and left in politics in France come from the French National Assembly where, in August / September 1789, the MPs in favour of the royal veto gathered on the right of the president, opponents with this on the left gathering veto. (weiterlesen…)

Relaunching Europe – 2007-2008

The Finnish presidency is over and the burden of the Council of the European Union goes to Germany. If it is really a burden –burden that the member states have the possibility and the responsibility to get lighter by backing a presidency which appears self-motivated-, Germany is wilful to solve the numerous huge stakes of the European Union. (weiterlesen…)