Jul 13th, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
Russia Blog: The Misconception of Russian Authoritarianism
This looks interesting. Don’t forget the other 5 parts! “Kevin Cyron, an American living in the Russian Federation who recently graduated with a Masters degree in Sociology from St. Petersburg State University, has agreed to Russia Blog publishing his thesis titled, “The Misconception of Russian Authoritarianism (doc)“.
Continental drift (pdf)
More [...]
Jun 22nd, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
The referendum: populism vs democracy
The idea of the referendum as an instrument of the people’s will rests on pre-democratic foundations, says George Schöpflin. I certainly agree!
A better way with referendums
Interesting idea: Is it possible to introduce a more deliberative approach when holding a referendum? Does “deliberative polling” make citizens more knowledgeable?
Instead of [...]
Jun 16th, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
The Irish ‘no’ and the EU’s “nuclear”option
Daniel Gros (CEPS) argues for “a radical solution – the other EU members should propose to leave the old EU and create a new one with the Lisbon Treaty as its founding document.”
So much for bringing Europe closer to the people
Everyone is right and wrong at the [...]
Jun 8th, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
Public perceptions of the EU as a system of governance
Good overview on the state of research…
Is Europe doing any good in Chad? | Certain ideas of Europe
Apparently there is not much to do in Chad. Sudan is far away, the local dictator feels more secure, and anyway, the EU mission has the wrong equipment [...]
May 25th, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
Corruption in eastern Europe | Talking of virtue, counting the spoons
The state of the elites in Eastern Europe. It seems as if especially anti-corruption agencies and justice ministries are very reform resistant. Or as the Economist puts it: “Yet from the Baltic to the Balkans, even politicians facing the most startling accusations of corruption seem [...]
May 18th, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
EU Common Agricultural Policy proposals 2008 – Wikileaks
“Leak of latest European Commission proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, known as the ‘health check’. These proposals will form the basis of an internal Commission discussion on 14 and 15 May 2008. The agreed proposals are due out later in the month.” - Is this [...]
May 11th, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
The “Kosmolinks” are finally back, and with the help of diigo I will try to make it a weekly feature! You can also watch and navigate through a slide show of all live pages of “Kosmolinks”: Just click here to start the “WebSlides”!
Medvedev’s Russia
A bunch of experts share their views about the new Russian president [...]
Feb 18th, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
Today’s main topic is of course Kosovo, the World’s Newest Country. DJ Nozem sums it up with a ‘pinch’ of sarcasm: Another Show of Unity
I have been looking at some EU news services lately and as a result I created a EU universe (www.netvibes.com/eu) which brings together most of the available official EU – RSS [...]
Jan 27th, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
Here we go again! A (small) selection of interesting links I collected during the last few weeks:
Two articles that remind us of the last couple of years in US politics: Think Progress » The legacy of Bush’s presidency & Iraq: The War Card – The Center for Public Integrity
Here is an interesting article on [...]
Jan 1st, 2008
by Kosmopolit.
Goodbye 2007, hello 2008!
So, what happened last year? … of course a non exhaustive list
The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2007
An Interview with the “Person of the Year 2007″: Putin and the Time Magazine
Can it get any better? well, we have to wait and see:
Awaiting us in 2008…
The world in 2008: a [...]