After reading this Crooked Timber entry, I went and typed ‘fistful’ and ‘euros’ in Google, and, get this, we’re the number one result for both. Ahead of companies with domains like euros.net, euros.nl, etc, presumably spending good money on their websites and marketing. Euros is a sponsored links query.
How about that?
Chirac and Matahir
This thing got a lot of attention from US rightist blogs. I was rather puzzled why would do something like that, no credible explanations were advanced. Now, via Mark Kleiman, I learn it was apparently all wrong. Should have guessed.
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Russia: ‘Managed democracy’ shows its true colors
Well, well. The richest man in Russia got arrested yesterday. Rather unusually brutally too, FSB raid, as demonstartions. What’s going on?
Let’s turn to not mainstream media but rather The Moscow Times who of course are all over this.
First, some kremlinology:
Analysts have said the attack is an attempt to curb Khodorkovsky’s political ambitions. Not only has the nation’s richest man has been openly funding opposition parties ahead of elections, but he also has attempted to push his own policy agenda on key state issues such as pipeline strategy.
The onslaught also comes amid a vicious battle for position between the old elite that came to power and wealth under former President Boris Yeltsin — including Khodorkovsky — and a hard-line faction known as the siloviki that arrived in the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin.
Analysts said Tuesday that the new burst of activity from prosecutors came amid signs that the Kremlin faction backing the old elite, known as the Family, might be beginning to cave in. The head of the presidential administration, Alexander Voloshin, has been seen as the main protector of that group.
“Rumors of Voloshin’s upcoming resignation are continuing to come from the Kremlin and, judging by their frequency and their consistency, it seems he will not survive the elections. He is gradually losing real control over the Kremlin apparatus,” said Andrei Ryabov, political analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center. “What’s happening now is a sign of the shift in the balance of power.”
Ryabov added: “Another reason for the recent burst also appears to be Yukos’ increasing activity in trying to sell a stake to a foreign oil major. If such a deal happened, this would not suit the siloviki as YukosSibneft would then fall completely out of their control.”[*]
What will happen?
Kremlin-connected political analyst Sergei Markov said Khodorkovsky’s arrest could usher in new rules of the game for big business and the state.
“After Khodorkovsky’s loss there could be a change in the rules of the game,” he said. “Khodorkovsky will be made an offer he can’t refuse. He can accept the new rules of the game, or he can stay in prison.
“Those who do not agree with the new rules of the game will lose control over their property. That was what happened with [Vladimir] Gusinsky and [Boris] Berezovsky.”
Markov speculated that Khodorkovsky could be forced to give up his stake in Yukos and step down in favor of other managers more ready to cooperate with the state. He could not say exactly what the new rules for business might involve, apart from plans to raise taxes on extraction of raw materials.[*]
Is It Smart?
The reluctance of EU countries, particularly France and Germany, to contribute to rebuilding Iraq certainly reflects their governments’ policies and their publics’ preferences. The Washington Post reported that the EU will contribute $256 million, and that US contributions will be roughly $20 billion. That’s more than 78 time as much. While the final figures may change some, the massive disparity will not.
If we presume that EU governments want to exercise influence in postwar Iraq, is this a smart policy? Do they believe that they will be influential regardless? Is this a continued fit of pique? Are they eschewing influence based on the wishes of the population?
I’ll admit, I’m puzzled.
Sex and the Singapore Issues
OK, before anyone tries to get us round to the painful reality that I’m a tiresome old bore: some titilation for you. Unfortunately, this is not about ‘sexual tourism’, except, that is in the most general sense. (Although if anyone wants to pick up on this in the comments, I think we’re in the same ballpark). No the ‘topic du jour’ here is a bit nearer home. And the underlying issue is – believe me – one of the Singapore Issues: use and abuse of ‘indirect obstacles’ to prevent the free exercise of a service. Whatever the ethical stand you take on this, my feeling is that the French law got involved because the business was being ‘outsourced’ in the wrong direction. Well, at least we British are good at something.
French court officials looked baffled and bewildered by the sheer scale of the scrum of British journalists, photographers and camera crews waiting to get into Courtroom 14 of the Palais de Justice
Life Before Power Point
Another quiet Saturday morning here in Barcelona. This post is definitely for those looking up at the grey sky, and feeling the need for some pretty mindless entertainment. Power Point presentations: ever been subjected to one of them. Or put another way: what was life like before Microsoft? Well Peter Norvic has been thinking about this, and I for one had a good laugh. Looking for a European connection in all this: well what would count as our equivalent of the Gettysburg Address? Suggestions Please.
BTW today is Diwali in India, so happy Diwali everyone (and no, my real name isn’t Dilesh, but would it matter if it was?).
Anyone Want to Play Ball With Me?
Even though it may appear that this post runs along much the same lines as my last two or three, I should warn you: appearances are sometimes deceptive. The origins of what I want to say here stretch back in time two or three days to some comments I made on an earlier post and a subsequent piece which I have entitled the ‘Pele-Ronaldo’ effect. Surprising as it may seem, the topic here is only tangentially football. The real topic is the so-called brain drain, and how our initial intuitions may mislead us. The aforementioned effect is associated with the apparent detail that all those Brazilians ‘heading the ball’ here in Europe have not notedly had a detrimental effect on the rate at which Brazilian football produces outstanding new stars. In fact quite the contrary.
Now here’s the rub: just think of all those Indian IT ‘stars’ working at NASA, Microsoft and the like, and try to imagine the consequences back home in India. Well then try to imagine the consequences of the secondary effect in India on the employment situation in the US and now increasingly in Europe, and we get to the point of all this. We are experiencing a phenomenon which some are calling ‘hollowing out’. This has been noticed in the first place in the US, but with the EU structural reforms, and the relatively high euro, this tendency is going to make itself felt more and more over here. So this is the purpose of the post. To find out what people think.
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From Gunboat Diplomacy to Compassion?
The sinking of a boatload of Somali immigrants off the island of Lampedusa seems to have set off something akin to a feeling of collective remorse in Italy. (Would that the human tragedy that is occuring on a regular basis just off the straits of Gibraltar could provoke a similar reaction here in Spain!) Indeed Belusconi (always the master of great theatre) appears to have had them near to tears over in Strasbourg.
Irony apart, even his old ‘enemy’ – the good-soldier schultz – is quoted as saying he has “the impression that what Mr Berlusconi said came from the heart”. He could not however resist a reference to remarks which were last year attributed to Italian Reforms Minister Umberto Bossi to the effect that he wished the navy would open fire on ships carrying illegal migrants. Schulz is quoted as saying: “We are very happy that it is not those members of your government who want these boats sunk who are responsible for this issue in the (EU) home affairs council.”
Well this is the second time this month I find myself asking whether Berlusconi is having a change of heart. Since I try not to engage in type M speculation, I don’t need to answer this. What we might note is the way Interior Minister Pisanu is making the direct link with Italy’s ageing population and (hence) pension difficulties. After the Greeks tried to raise the question in Thessalonika, we could ask ourselves whether the South of Europe (where the demographic collapse is most profound, and immigrants are traditionally less in evidence) is about to adopt a collectively different approach on this question.
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Some thoughts on borders
One of the things about living in an island state is that you rarely cross over national borders on land. To get to any other country from Britain you have to fly, sail or travel underground and all these have their various formalities for border crossing and, like most Britons travelling abroad, my travels within Europe in recent years have been a case of going from Britain to another country and then coming back.
So, on a day trip to France on Monday, we took a brief detour into Belgium and crossed a European border on land for the first time in several years. Having spent some time travelling through the US last year, it was quite an interesting experience to notice how little paraphernalia there is to mark the border nowadays, especially compared to the changes you notice on the borders of many US states. A simple ‘Belgie’ sign, a sign telling you the new speed limits and a single police car on the French side of the border are all that marks the transition from one country to another, which is a rather strange state of affairs. There are obvious differences that soon become apparent – the signs are now in Flemish, rather than French, and there are subtle differences in architecture – but the ease with which one can now cross borders within Europe is, in my opinion, one of the great benefits of European integration.
However, even though the physical borders have gone, it does not mean that there has been any homogenisation of the culture across the border. Adinkerk, the first town across the border in Belgium, is still unmistakeably Flemish, even with the large number of shops there selling cheap tobacco to British (and now also French, after their tobacco tax rises on Monday) visitors, and the other side of the border is still clearly French.
Anyway, what I want to do here is open up the floor to our readers for your thoughts on and experiences of travelling across borders. Are there places where the borders are unnoticeable physically and culturally? Where are there still strong border controls within the EU? What do you think the future is culturally for the borderlands of Europe? Will they maintain their identity or will continual cross-border traffic eventually create a homogenous border culture?
And, for a quick consumer travel tip for our readers. If you are planning on travelling between Britain and France then Eurotunnel are currently charging ?39 (approx ?59) to take a car and passengers for a day return trip.
Maybe I’m on to something
I found this article from Dagens Nyheter (temporary link) very interesting.
“‘If anything, I think we work more effectively now than we did before, even though we’re almost twice as many’ an EU diplomat tells Dagens Nyheter.
‘People stop to think one more time, if what they’re going to say really adds something new or is just a way of [looking good?] in front of their colleagues, says an experienced negotiator.
Since the new arrivals signed the accession treaty in Athens this April they get to participate in the Council of Ministers as observers. They attend all meetings, on all levels. They have access to all documents. They have complete freedom of expression, and may also bring up issues they want to dicuss on their own. In short, they have everything except the right to vote.
The thinking is to give them the possibility to learn what’s on the agenda, and how things are done.
[..]
‘In the beginning it was the same old countries that dominated and the newbies were mostly quiet. But now they’re picking up steam. In questions of importance to them they’re active, and both can and want to influence decisions, even if they can’t be a part in making them.’
The Poles are among those that most often speak up. They’re big, they’re many and they’re hard bargainers. Representatives of the Baltic countries are also fairly active, as well as Hungarians and Czechs.
[..]
With 25 [delegations] around the table, everyone realizes that they can’t be too longwinded. Even if every country only would speak for three minutes there would be an hour and a half of debating. Just to do one item on the agenda.
Negotiations are therefore more to the point. The elaborate flowery language has been cut down, and silence has increasingly come to signal agreement. This is true on all levels, from the working groups to the ambassador’s preparatory meetings to the ministers’ Council meetings.”
(Crap translation by me)
This suggests that people like for instance Chris Bertram were wrong:
“But getting back to enlargement …. My take on this, for what it’s worth, is that it gives the UK everything that lukewarm Europhiles/moderate Eurosceptics have always wanted. EU will now be so large and will vary so much in cultural and economic conditions that a thoroughgoing federalist project is dead in the water. The centre – Brussels and Strasbourg – will be fatally weakened vis-?-vis the component parts of the union because twenty-five (or more) states will find it almost impossible to reach agreement on anything but the most anodyne proposals.”
And that I was right.
And hey, seems I was right about this too. DN writes: “How the countries line up depends more on the issue and where one can get support than old bonds and allegniances.”
Update: Slightly edited.