RSS

June 2, 2008 | Med Union and Eastern Partnership are Rivals in the EU-Vision Contest

Marek Swierczynski: Now the Lisbon Treaty is almost over and done with, the EU is encouraged to look south- and eastwards. Initiatives by France and a Polish-Swedish team aim at creating buffer-spaces between the EU and unstable regions, but could create tensions that challenge the bloc’s unity.

September 27, 2007 | Sweden: A "Welfare Paradise" Offers Lessons For Europe

Maria Rankka: I urge Europe to look beyond Sweden’s mythic welfare state and learn from the country’s history of free trade and free enterprise. Protectionism and social safety nets will not forestall the wave of competition from globalization.

September 22, 2010 | The Swedish Election - the End of a Socialist Dream?

The reelection of the Swedish center-right government reveals an underlying dynamic affecting socialist parties in Europe. ++ Expectations ran high that the economic turmoil would strengthen the cause of the political left, “as a refuge from the excesses of economic neo-liberalism.” ++ However, parties on the left have been losing voters in all directions, most embarrassingly to the

December 12, 2007 | The US Trails Behind on Humanitarian Aid

A new rating of 22 developed countries (and the EC) puts the United States at 16th on Humanitarian Aid. The new Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), carried out by a Spain-based NGO called DARA, focuses less on total funding and more on how well aid dollars reach their target.

Sweden gets top marks for quickly delivering funds in cash, and consistently following up. The US on the other hand