by Casey Donahue| November 2020
The President-Elect’s secret service codename is “Celtic.” In his election victory speech, he quoted from the Catholic hymn “On Eagle’s Wings,” perking the ears of CCD and parochial school graduates across the country. By the time he made that speech, the Blewitts — his third cousins in Ireland — had already toasted his victory beneath a pop-art mural of the American president-to-be in Ballina, County Mayo. And earlier that day, BBC resurfaced a clip of the former vice president cheekily rebuffing a scrum reporter (“BBC? I’m Irish!”). The interaction spawned a torrent of outrageous content…
by Michela DeVito | Sept. 29, 2020
COVID might still be with us, but politics never stops — least of all in Italy. The country just voted in a constitutional referendum to reduce the size of its parliament, while regional elections soured the ambitions of Matteo Salvini’s conservative coalition.
Currently, Italy has 945 representatives, made up of 315 senators and 630 Members of Parliament (MP). It has one of the largest parliamentary bodies in the world and is second in Europe only to the United Kingdom. The referendum took place from September 20 to 21 to decide whether the number…
By Catherine Baker | Sept. 21, 2020
On September 9, the UK Internal Market Bill was introduced in Parliament. This is the Conservative Party’s most recent and targeted affront to their deteriorating relationship with the European Union — and to peace in Ireland.
This bill, as submitted, changes certain terms of the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement. In and of itself, this could be disastrous for a smooth transition from the European market. But even worse, once again, we see the rights and wishes of the people of Northern Ireland being ignored and merely used as a tool by the British Government.
By Justin Faulhaber | Sep. 11, 2020
At the conclusion of World War Two, the Western Allies encouraged a disunited Germany to draft a constitution, which would eventually become the Grundgesetz or Fundamental Law of the modern German Federal Republic. To American leaders at the time, this seemed like a crowning success — they hoped to achieve lasting democracy in Germany, which they had failed to do in the aftermath of World War One. To disciples of the theory of American exceptionalism, spreading democracy to a formerly oppressive dictatorial regime was the ultimate vindication. It may therefore be considered a…
By: Chloe Laird & John Armstrong | Sept. 3, 2020
Series Intro: The environmental movement began as a grassroots project in Europe and the United States in the second half of the twentieth century and is at its zenith of political strength at the local level. National governments are simply not up to the task of meeting the challenges posed by climate change due to the untoward influence of special interest groups that dominate the regulatory and legislative landscape. However, some of the best policy entrepreneurship occurs at the local level, including major cities in the Atlantic area. …
How the EU can defend the free press in Central Europe
By John Armstrong | Aug. 20, 2020
Print media and increasingly today, social media, are the conveyor belts of information from the world to the reading masses. It is the pivotal role of the media as the “fourth estate” that undergirds the superstructure of liberal democracy the globe over, providing citizens with accurate information and shedding light on the worst of government abuses. Unfortunately, trust in the media is bottoming out right when journalistic freedom around the world is declining. …
By Nick Lokker | Aug. 18, 2020
Belarus is in crisis. The August 9 presidential elections have prompted widespread allegations of vote-rigging in favor of the incumbent Alexander Lukashenko, with citizens swarming the streets of cities throughout the country to express their outrage with what they perceive as a blatant violation of the democratic process. Uncertainty looms as to whether the demonstrations will lead to brutal repression or genuine change in what has often been deemed ‘Europe’s last dictatorship.’ The United States and European Union should do everything in their power to ensure the latter of these outcomes.
By Peter Brukx
April 22, 2020
The Dutch are failing both their citizens and the European Union. Domestically, the COVID-19 response has been disastrous. On March 16th, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced a “herd immunity” strategy. The strategy aimed at protecting and isolating at-risk populations, such as the elderly and the immunocompromised, while allowing the rest of the population to continue their lives as normal. The virus would then spread through the population, with the majority of people theoretically developing immunity. …
by The Europe Desk
April 16, 2020
Benjamin Haddad, director of the Future Europe Initiative at the Atlantic Council, joined us to discuss Europe’s direction of travel, geopolitics, and strategic autonomy.
Read his latest piece for the Washington Post on the coronavirus and President Trump’s “America first” foreign policy.
You can listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts:
The Europe Desk is a podcast from the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. It brings together leading experts working on the most pertinent issues facing Europe and transatlantic relations today.
Music by…
by Alexander Peter
April 10, 2020
It’s 10pm on Saturday in DC. Ordinarily, the streets of Adam’s Morgan would be pulsing with an intoxicated energy as people stumble about like tipsy toddlers. But we are living in extraordinary times. Tonight, there is no one. Only the solitary wail of an ambulance siren as it speeds down the street disturbs the silence. The world has stopped.
Countries across the world have scrambled to stop the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. …
The Transatlanticist
A blog from Georgetown University European Horizons
