Washington’s Green Branches in Europe
by Diana Johnstone,* Paris
The German Green Party has a chance to join a ruling coalition in September’s election, after turning its back on its roots, to root for Washington.
A warm welcome!
You have our trilingual online publication in front of you. We hope you will take your time to read it and recommend us further. We are happy to inform you about new publications with our newsletter.
China blocks US bases in Central Asia
by M. K. Bhadrakumar*
(18 June 2021) Ten months after the first meeting of the foreign ministers of China and the five Central Asian states, Beijing has followed through with a second session on May 11 at a gathering in Xi’an, China, hosted by Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
“We need a new Eastern Policy”
Matthias Platzeck's courageous attitude
by Marita Brune-Koch
(18 June 2021) “We need a new Eastern Policy” - this is the title of Matthias Platzeck's new book1 and this was also the title of the author reading he gave at an online conference on 6 May this year. But you can't really call the event a “reading”. Platzeck, who tirelessly campaigns for good relations with Russia, spoke freely on the topic. The conference was organised by the “German-Russian Forum”.
Maintaining the spirit of dialogue
Putin-Biden summit in Geneva
by Guy Mettan, independent journalist, Geneva
(14 June 2021) 36 years ago, on 19 November 1985, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in Geneva for a summit that made Cold War history. I remember it like it was yesterday: it was my 29th birthday and I have kept my badge as an accredited journalist to this day.
All the power to international institutions?
Handling Covid-19, a global cacophony
by Olivier Delacrétaz,* Lausanne
(10 June 2021) Mr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the “World Health Organisation” (WHO), has appointed an ”independent panel of experts” to review the states’ actions against the pandemic. Their report “Covid 19: Let's make this the last pandemic” is clear: states had sucked.
Their preparation was inadequate, the means committed were insufficient, and the warning systems were slow and weak. It was a real cacophony, explained by the experts with the absence of a global political leadership.
Why did the EU-Switzerland Framework Agreement fail?
by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Carl Baudenbacher*
(8 June 2021) On 26 May 2021, the Federal Council, Switzerland’s seven-member government, broke off the seven-year negotiations between the EU and Switzerland on the conclusion of an Institutional Framework Agreement (“InstA”). Swiss friends of the InstA had tried to prevent this until the end, in part with very questionable means.