STRATEGIC SPOTLIGHT

European Observer

Dominique Moisi

Can American global leadership be replaced or shared? How will Europe’s large and growing Muslim communities affect European policy toward the Islamic world? Will Russia’s re-emergence divide the West? Will China’s rise to superpower status make Europe rue its longing for a multi-polar world?

RECENT COMMENTARIES

FEATURED COMMENTARIES

Democracy in Distress

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2012-01-13

Is democratic time too slow to respond to crises, and too short to plan for the long term? At a time of deepening economic and social crisis in much of the world’s rich democracies, that question is more relevant than ever.... read

Comments: 3 Recommended: 0 Read: 13834

A Russian Spring?

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2011-12-30

Russia is not Egypt, and Moscow is not on the eve of revolution as Cairo was less than a year ago. Indeed, Russia’s powerful have at their disposal assets that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime lacked.... read

Comments: 3 Recommended: 0 Read: 7782

America in the Asian Century

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2011-11-15

Paradoxically, only a more confident America can accept a reduced global status, because reconciling oneself to change is always easier once one has taken the steps needed to adjust to it. Fortunately, America has a much-needed opportunity to refocus on itself – to recover its inner strength without withdrawing from the world.... read

Comments: 2 Recommended: 0 Read: 17106

Sorry States

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2011-10-19

National repentance is in the news again, as it has with remarkable frequency in recent years. In a globalized age, which demands transparency and posits interdependence, expressions of repentance by political leaders on behalf of their citizens can be considered an instrument of good governance.... read

Comments: 1 Recommended: 2 Read: 10999

The Nemesis of Turkish Power

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2011-09-26

Turkey, not the EU, is currently making its presence felt in the world. But Turkey needs Europe as much as Europe needs Turkey: Europe is “a principle of moderation” for Turkey, while Turkey is “a principle of energy” for Europe, even if it is currently showing that self-confidence can easily turn into hubris.... read

Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 11305

Who Will Help the Poor?

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2011-08-29

With the deepening of the economic crisis and the prospect of another recession looming large on the horizon, growing social inequality has become an increasingly urgent issue. Who will protect the weakest at a time when the state, the family, and individual philanthropy are all proving unequal to the task?... read

Comments: 4 Recommended: 1 Read: 14548

What Failed in Norway?

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2011-07-29

It would be facile to link the tragedy in Norway solely to the rise of far-right political forces there, but it would be naïve to rule out any connection between the two phenomena. We know all too well what horrors grow from the combination of fear, hatred, and de-humanization.... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 11104

Israel’s Lonely Prosperity

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2011-07-27

It is difficult not to be struck by the contrast between the “Asian”-like energy of Israel’s economy and civil society and the purely defensive nature of its approach to political change, both within and outside the country. While Israel has never been so affluent, dynamic, and confident, it also has never been so isolated internationally.... read

Comments: 3 Recommended: 1 Read: 15986

A Europe of Women?

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2011-06-22

In economic-development circles, experience and common sense suggest that progress, accountability, and hard work starts with and depends on women. That seems to be as true now of European politics as it has been of economics in parts of Africa and Asia.... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 13987

Geneva on the Rhine	Dominique Moisi
Twenty years ago, newly reunified Germany was perceived as a threat to the European balance. Today, it is not an excess of German ambition, but rather a lack of it, that is threatening Europe.... read

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The Great Man Syndrome

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2006-01-25

In our globalized age, vast impersonal forces are supposed to determine events. Globalized markets, unfettered trade, militant Islam, China’s awakening: these are the things historians and strategists usually portray as the key forces shaping our destiny. But most people don’t see things this way.... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 43680

The End of the Russia-China Debate

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2005-12-14

Ten years ago, comparing the reform processes in China and Russia was an intellectual fashion. Was it preferable to start with economics – try and get rich, quick, but don’t rock the boat politically – in the manner of the Chinese? Or was it better to start with politics – recover liberty and prosperity may follow – which seemed to be Russia’s path under Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin? ... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 43272

The Emotional Clash of Civilizations

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2006-03-23

Throughout the so-called “war on terror,” the notion of a “clash of civilization” between Islam and the West has usually been dismissed as politically incorrect and intellectually wrongheaded. Instead, the most common interpretation has been that the world has entered a new era characterized by conflict “within” a particular civilization, namely Islam, with fundamentalist Muslims as much at war against moderates as against the West. ... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 42643

Unpredictable Russia

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2006-02-22

When he first arrived in Paris in 2000 as the newly elected President of Russia, Vladimir Putin had a simple and reassuring message to convey. “I am bringing you what you need most: a stable and guaranteed source of energy. My oil and my gas will not be cheaper than supplies coming from the Middle East, but they will be much more secure.”... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 39181

The European Museum

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2006-04-27

In the late nineteenth century, Europe viewed Asia mainly as either a source of inspiration for its artists or a focus of imperial ambition. Asians, for their part, viewed Europe as either a model of modernity, as in Meiji Japan, or a barometer of decay, as in China. A century later, the Japanese economic miracle had transformed the image of at least a small part of Asia in European eyes into a place of rapid technological and industrial progress. Now, in the first years of the twenty-first century, the perception of Europe in Asia and of Asia in Europe is changing dramatically, as Asia’s economies boom while the European Union finds itself mired in a crisis of identity and confidence.... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 35921

What Went Wrong with America

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2006-06-23

The latest edition of the Pew Global Attitudes Survey shows that favorable opinions of the United States have fallen again in 12 out of 15 countries polled, a sad reflection of a country’s loss of image. How can America recover international legitimacy? This is probably one of the most important challenges for today’s world, for America retains a unique power that should be used – and be perceived – as a force for good if global stability is to prevail. ... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 35434

The Fall of the Hyper Power

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2006-11-30

Listen carefully these days to Israelis and South Koreans. What they are hinting at is no less than a tectonic shift in the international system: the shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world. ... read

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Reconciliation’s New Frontier

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2006-05-24

In France, May 10 is a day to commemorate the abolition of slavery. January 27 is the day we remember the Holocaust, through the commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz. In a few days, there will be ceremonies to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the revision of Captain Alfred Dreyfus’s conviction on charges of espionage in a trial that tore the country apart.... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 33203

A Triumph for “Old Europe”

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2006-07-10

Italy may have defeated France to win the World Cup, but the real winner was the “Old Europe” that Donald Rumsfeld once derided. After all, who would have predicted a World Cup final between France and Italy? It looks as if the national teams of the two “sick men of Europe,” felt obliged to change their countries’ images in the world. ... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 33063

A French Presidential Primer	Dominique Moisi
The late British Prime Minister Harold Wilson used to quip that “a week is a long time in politics.” So, in the 30 or so weeks between now and the next French presidential election, any prediction made today could be reversed, and reversed again, before the vote. But two candidates have emerged as clear and constant favorites in opinion polls: Nicolas Sarkozy on the right and Ségolène Royal on the left. In fact, they have more in common than meets the eye, for each speaks of a rupture with the past while incarnating a form of continuity. ... read
The Trouble with Hope	Dominique Moisi
Many Europeans view Barack Obama's presidential candidacy as the best hope for a return to a more "normal" America. But could it be that a candidate of fear – John McCain or, increasingly, Hillary Clinton – really serves Europe’s interests better than a candidate of hope?... read

AUTHOR INFO

Dominique Moisi

Dominique Moisi is the author of The Geopolitics of Emotion.

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