15 november 2019 On 13 november 2019 Donald Tusk speeched in Bruges and gave his view on the European Union. At that occasion he criticized the objection of the French President Macron to the start of negociations with some Balkan states. Tusk commented : ” There wil be no sovereign Europe without stable Balkans integrated […]
Category archives: English
36. Food For Thought : Folke Bernadotte on Palestinian Refugees
10 november 2019 From a statement by Folks Bernadotte, Chief UN mediator for Palestine, published on 18 September 1948. Bernadotte was killed by a Zionist terrorist organization on 17 September 1948. “It is … undeniable that no settlement can be just and complete if recognition is not accorded to the right of the Arab refugee […]
35. The Western-European Demos exists
10 november 2019 A lot of pundits often defend the statement that a political entity “Europe” is an impossibility because there is no common language in Europe and therefore no common public opinion. While I have defended this point of view in some other place, it is time to make an observation which to a […]
34. Feast of Sacrifice
4 november 2019 The Feast of Sacrifice is one of the two most important Islamic feasts. It relates to the story in the Qur’an according to which Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Ismael at the request of God. But at the moment that Abraham was to sacrifice his son, God sent a sheep […]
33. Book Review : Götz Aly ; “Europa gegen die Juden” (2)
3 november 2019 At the end of his book Aly concludes with a small chapter with the title “Das Gute begünstigte das Böse”. On the last page of his book he writes : “Das Böse entsteht nicht allein aus dem Bösen, sondern auch aus dem prinzipiell Guten. Gute, niemals zu missbilligende Bildungspolitik und der staatlich […]
32. Book Review : Götz Aly ; “Europa gegen die Juden” (1)
2 november 2019 When I wrote my book “Liberal Quicksand” an important decision I made was not to include the story of anti-Semitism and its disastrous consequence, the Holocaust, into my book. I had two reasons. First, the story of the near destruction of the Jewish population in Europe was sufficiently known. Second, this horrible […]
31. Armenian Genocide
1 november 2019 End October 2019 the American House of Representatives recognised the Armenian Genocide. As is well known the Turkish Government denies such Genocide took place. I do not intend to discuss wether there was a genocide or not; Whether a Turkish government gave the instruction to perform a genocide or not ; Whether […]
30. The European Union and the Balkan
29 oktober 2019 On 15 October 2019 the French President Macron blocked the start of negotiations with the candidates North-macedonia and Albania that should lead to their admission to the European Union. He was criticized by many, included by the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who called it a historic mistake. Overall Macron […]
29. Turkey, the Kurds and Syria
16 oktober 2019 Last week Turkey invaded Syria to elimate the threat posed by an autonomous Syrian-Kurdish region and to resettle a certain part of its 3,5 million Syrian (?) refugees. Hereby some key points for consideration and central questions. 1°) Turkey says it looks for a solution for its 3,5 million refugees and wants […]
28. Are the Thirties back again ?
14 oktober 2019 An important question which is often asked nowadays is whether our times are a copy of the Thirties. The answer I believe is No for 80% and Yes for 20%. It is a clear and loud “No” because in the Thirties of the previous century Europeans concluded to exterminate a part of […]
26. Abiy Ahmed – Nobel Peace Prize 2019
11 oktober 2019 On 11 October 2019 the Nobel Prize Committee awarded the Nobel Prize for peace to Abiy Ahmed, who is Prime Minister of Ethiopia since April 2018. He received the prize because in his short period as Prime Minister he succeeded in making peace with Eritrea, thereby ending a war that lasted 20 […]
25. Arend Lijphart – On consensus democracy
9 oktober 2019 Arend Lijphart is a political scientist. Central in his work is the distinction between majoritarian democracy (MD) and consociational democracy (CD). To be clear : in both kinds of democracy a majority is required but in a CD the ambition is to have more than a majority; The ambition is to have […]
24. Thierry Baudet and the nation-state
27 september 2019 IN 2012 the Dutch politician-philosopher Thierry Baudet published “The Significance of Borders”. In that book he intended, as the sub-title of the book mentions, to demonstrate “why Representative Government and the Rule of Law Require Nation States”. While I believe that that proposition itself might be correct, the argumentation or “proof” provided […]
22. Food For Thought – F. Fukuyama in foreword of “Political order in changing societies” (S.P. Huntington)
24 september 2019 Page XVI-XVII “One factor in particular is the peculiar nature of the contemporary international system, one that despite good intentions arguably promotes political decay. If one examines historical cases of state formation and state building in the regions of the world that have strong states (primarily Europe and East Asia), the uncomfortable […]
20. Food For Thought – European Values
19 september 2019 After Ursula von der Leyen presented her new Commission, the function of commissionary Schinas caused some uproar because of his task description “to defend the European way of life” and because this task was linked to the management of the migration flows, suggesting that migrants were a threat to the so-called “European […]
19. True Religion
19 september 2019 In religious debates, there always exist people on the one hand who want to stay close to the source texts, be it the Quran, the Thora or the Bible, and others, who believe these sacred texts require a “smart” reading. According to these people the sacred texts were written in a very […]
18. The Headscarf
17 september 2019 In English the word “respect” can be used in two different meanings. It can be used to refer to “accept/tolerate” ( as in “I respect their choice” ) but it can also be used to refer to a more positive feeling of admiration (as in “I have a great respect for their […]
17. Book Review ; Francis Fukuyama – “On Identity”
17 september 2019 Francis Fukuyama, well known as the author of “The End of History and the Last Man”, devotes his attention to “Identity” because he notes that identity, as a consequence of the ongoing globalisation, becomes more and more confused while a clear identity is needed to underpin a nation, which is itself required […]
16. Food For Thought – Quote; Orhan Pamuk in “The Red-haired Woman”
17 september 2019 In “The Red-haired Woman” (p.219) it comes to a confrontation between a father and his son with the following dialogue as a result. I dare to assume that for Pamuk this dialogue does not only reflect on father-son relations but also, if not mostly, on the relation between the believer and his […]
15. Atheism
17 september 2019 Here some clarifications why I am an atheist. These clarifications may be useful in further discussions on religion. I was raised in the Catholic culture and initially the Catholic belief had even an important emotional value for me. However, over time, I could not make it connect with my strong rational mindset. […]