Can globalisation be rescued? Notes from the Paris Peace Forum
The organizers of the Paris Peace Forum asked me to convene a meetup to discuss whether globalisation can and, if so, should be rescued. A report
Tagged Paris
Our own “Waste Land”
by Evangelos Areteos
From the ashes of this ethical debris of the European civilization and the European project that were born after the Second World War and in reaction to all the ignominies of that past, the nation-state and its populist hubris are emerging as the big winners.
Paris Attacks and Brussels in Lockdown: An Immediate and Convenient Consequence?
The hideous and deplorable attacks in Paris on November 13th have unleashed a wave of fear throughout Europe triggering the lockdown of the Belgian capital Brussels. The clocks were pointing at 1am on Friday 20th, when the Belgian government decided to raise the terror alert to its maximum, 4 out of 4, due to a “serious and imminent” threat similar to the tragic events in Paris claimed by the Islamic State, “with multiples attacks in different places,” said the Belgian prime minister Charles Michel.
Paris, the refugees and Europe
The focus on terrorism is obscuring the issues of refugees, and it is important to consider its impact on Europe, after the shock of Paris. Of course, the impact of terrorism in the daily life of ordinary citizens is going to increase the culture of checks and control in place since September 11, 2001. Since the New York massacre, the 10,000 planes that take off daily carry citizens who go through vexing security check, and cannot bring liquid on boards, etc.
Terrorism will not prevail
The terrorist attacks in Paris, in the night of Friday, 13 November, have shaken France, the rest of Europe and beyond. Although not the first major attack on the French capital in the course of this year, with the Charlie Hebdo massacre only some ten months earlier, this took terrorism to another level, in terms of audacity and coordination on the part of the perpetrators, and number of victims. With more than 120 people dead and almost one hundred more fighting for their lives, several suicide bombers and indiscriminate killings, this was a scene of Baghdad or Beirut enacted in the heart of Europe, like never before…
“Je suis Charlie” rally in Brussels
The capital of the EU is also the world capital of the bande dessinée, and suffered its own terrorist attack in May 2014 with the killing of four persons at the Brussels Jewish Museum.
