Tag - european-union

 
 

EUROPEAN UNION

COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2015
Time for EU and U.S. to step back from Ukraine conflict
For the first time since 1990, nuclear war is considered a possibility, all because of the conflict in east Ukraine. The U.S. and its European allies have been the aggressors in this confrontation with Russia, and they are the ones who can call it off.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2015
Eroding language of austerity
After years of trudging through an economic slough of austerity, guarded by German warders, that left southern European states near to despair, the EU can see a ribbon of the light of dawn upon the horizon.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 30, 2015
Russian bomber planes disrupt U.K. civil aviation in 'significant escalation'
Britain summoned the Russian ambassador on Thursday and asked him to explain why two Russian Bear long-range bombers had flown over the English Channel the previous day, forcing British authorities to reroute civil aircraft.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2015
Europe's unending crisis
The European economic crisis refuses to go gently into the night because of the danger that Greece and its creditors can't agree and because of meager economic growth in the eurozone.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2014
Is the European Union too rigid to survive?
Uncompromising attempts to bind Europe together may instead hasten its abrupt and unmanageable dissolution, with unknown consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2014
Voters tiring of status quo
Voters in Britain and other European countries are increasingly fed up with their established political parties and looking for alternatives.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2014
EU should encourage Ukraine's aspirations
The European Union should strive to turn Ukraine into a success story that can serve as an example for Russians who now see no alternative to Vladimir Putin.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2014
Optimize the troubled eurozone
Europe's leaders must recognize that the eurozone, as currently constituted, is larger than Europe's optimal currency area. Some member countries — certainly Greece, and probably Italy and Spain — need an independent monetary policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2014
The Cold War and the cold shoulder
From the current Russian regime's perspective, declarations that EU and NATO expansion is about spreading values, accountable institutions and good governance — not military or economic competition — is beyond hypocritical.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2014
Sanctions on Russia will backfire on U.S. and EU
As things stand now, Russia, the U.S. and the EU are being hurt by the West's sanctions on Russia. It is a truly no-win situation for all those involved.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2014
Is Berlin driving Paris to the brink?
President Franu00e7ois Hollande has instructed his prime minister to form a new government — without those troublemakers who want to stop the economic austerity in Europe, or at least apply some flexibility, before it is too late.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2014
U.K. should stay in EU until they beg it to leave
The European Union moves under a seemingly irresistible momentum to strengthen its institutions even as it fails to integrate in ways that a well-run single-currency area needs. The best course for Britain is to continue as an EU member for the economic benefits until other members beg it to leave.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2014
U.K. could learn from Canada about destiny
Depending on how it's done, leaving the EU spans a range of outcomes for the United Kingdom, running from 'terrible' all the way up to 'better than remaining a member.'
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2014
Is the U.K.-Europe marriage beyond salvation?
The nomination of a 'federalist' to head the European Commission shows that the EU is institutionally dedicated to the idea of ever closer union, regardless of what its citizens, especially Britons, actually want.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2014
Bar association to lobby embassies on death penalty abolition
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations said Friday it will step up consultations with the European Union on abolishing capital punishment and will work to encourage public debate.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2014
Sex and drugs to be counted in Europe's GDP
In the next few months all EU countries that do not already include illegal and gray-market businesses in their gross domestic product calculations will have to do so. After all, there is no substantive difference between the services of a prostitute and a corrupt bureaucrat.
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2014
EU voters send a message
Press and political circles in Europe and North America have reacted to the recent European Parliament elections in shock as if 'Europe' is all over. This is sheer nonsense.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2014
Not the time to turn virtual war into a real one
Although a dozen or so people have been killed in random incidents, the 'war' in eastern Ukraine remains virtual. The old existing civic administrations go on as before, ignoring the pro-Russian takeovers of civic buildings.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2014
Hungary: European Union's only dictatorship?
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor, whose party just won an overwhelming parliamentary victory at the polls, is living proof that EU membership is not an effective antidote to authoritarianism.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2014
What happens now in Ukraine?
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe sounds precisely like the organization to sort out the Ukraine crisis and underwrite an impartial solution — if U.S. President Barack Obama is willing to accept its mediation.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces