In the current debate about policy towards Iraq, two extreme alternatives are usually presented: either extend the military campaign against…

The history of the euro provides a shining example of how economic ideas shape public opinion and how they then, eventually, reshape politic…

European integration has been compared to a bicycle that must be moved forward, because otherwise it falls to the ground. According to this …

Politicians are often accused of promising what cannot be delivered. In Argentina, economists sold politicians on two dreams that could not …

The terrorist attacks in America and the war against the Taliban have incited wide speculation about the relationship between culture and ec…

The price of oil was supposed to skyrocket after September 11 th due to political instability in the Middle East. Instead, it has dropped b…

History possesses many stories like this: a political party emerges, and most people think it a bad or sick joke. Everyone tries to ignore i…

When the East/West conflict ended ten years ago, many hoped that the democratic changes in Eastern Europe would inspire peaceful resolution …

Across Europe and America, there is a groundswell of debate concerning the legalization of cannibas for personal use. Indeed, Britain has, t…

Is it 1956 for the Left? Well, yes. All over the world, the Left was thrown into confusion and crisis after Khrushchev's 1956 speech exposi…

Few changes of government in Europe attract sensational journalism of the type that Austria's October 1999 elections - which brought Jörg Ha…

Argentina's crisis has been heating up for a long time. So long has the country been in crisis, indeed, that the question is no longer if it…

Any observer who reads the world's great international newspapers will probably think that Venezuela is in deep crisis. With an oddball pres…

As wars end, diplomatic and political autopsies begin. It is too soon to draw firm conclusions about the ``war on terrorism'' as waged in Af…

Revision is in the air about America's economic miracle. Not only did America's bubble crash, but also it now appears that much of the US ec…

Critical assessments of grassroots democracy in rural China are hard to make: have the reforms that have been undertaken created a genuine d…

With the Taliban on the run, sighs of relief can be heard as far away as Indonesia. Protests against the US-led coalition's bombing campaign…

Without anyone much noticing, Russia has become the most liberal country in Europe - at least insofar as taxes are concerned. Today, no one …

The award of the Nobel Prize for Peace to the United Nations and to its Secretary General, Kofi Annan, is a cause for true celebration every…

This December 10 th marks the one hundredth anniversary of when the first Nobel Prizes were awarded. Ever since, they have been a subject…

This year's Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences went to George Akerlof of the University of California at Berkeley, Michael Spence of Stanford …

Despite dire predictions about Colombia's future, the peace process with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) has recently been…

The International Tribunal in The Hague was intended as a Sword of Damocles for human rights violators in the Balkans. Within the Balkans, h…

After the disastrous month of September, when terrorist attacks and retaliation contributed to storm clouds over the global economy, Novembe…

With the proverbial benefit (and embarrassment!) of hindsight, it is clear that the patterns of growth that occurred over the last half-cent…