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Showing posts from December, 2021

Who Can Resolve Ethiopia’s Catastrophic Conflict?

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  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Kenya on a mission that is critical to the future of the Horn of Africa. As the press release published at the start of the visit puts it, “the United States and Kenya are working together to address regional priorities, particularly ending the crisis in  Ethiopia , fighting terrorism in Somalia, and restoring the civilian-led transition in Sudan.” Of these, the conflict in Ethiopia is probably the most burning issue. The forces from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region are advancing toward the capital, Addis Ababa, and panic is beginning to spread. The US has warned its citizens to leave now, saying that it will not repeat the evacuation from Afghanistan. Britain has echoed the warning while putting troops currently serving in Kenya on standby to assist. The Somali situation has remained unsolved since the collapse of the last central government with the fall of Sia...

When the Green Deal Is a No Deal

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  Let’s start with a tricky question. Is the European Union’s Green New Deal a path toward the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050, as European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen sees it? Or do you agree with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s view of the deal as a “utopian fantasy”? Whatever interpretation you are leaning toward, the question itself reveals the current polarization across Europe. As in many other situations when an urgent EU response is needed, like when human rights violations are happening right on the bloc’s borders and shores, the roots of this political polarization are an intended result of populist anti-EU rhetoric spearheaded by the likes of Orban and other illiberal leaders. Nevertheless, the supposed dividing line between “old” and “new” EU member states on the perception of the green transformation is a by-product of failing Europeanization, something Orban and his consorts cannot be blamed for exclusively. Fear of Falling B...