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An interesting article on European unity (or disunity) and decreasing EU power.

Great article. Resonates with an article in the New York Times today (Sunday, 10.17.10) by Frank Rich: "the Rage Won't End on Election Day," http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/opinion/17rich.html?ref=opinion Having to do with the fact that economic fears, outsourcing and immigration are fueling the rise of intolerant populism--in the US it's the Tea Party movement; in Europe the anti-muslim, anti-gypsy frenzy. . .

It is odd for the British to do this. After all, they've shown their mistrust of a united Europe in their repeated refusal to forgo the pound and convert to the euro (and they've been proven correct in doing so; just look at the exchange rate). To have them as the most spirited proponents of the European unity dream (and I do mean dream) is certainly a statement about the rest of Europe.

This article explains government approval and unity throughout the COVID19 pandemic. It acknowledges the large shift in disapproval towards the United States government, as well as the Trump administration in relation to their response to the pandemic.

I find it interesting but not surprising that American citizen's opinions on how the their government has handled the corona virus is split down the political aisle. This split reflects the 82% of surveyed Americans that say the country is less united due to the pandemic. The study discussed in this interview also found that UK and Spanish citizen's answers were split by political party as well, and that those who supported the current government in their country generally thought that COVID-19 is being handled well. I also think it's noticeable that the country with the highest percent of observed unity during the pandemic is a country with universal health care, Denmark.

BERLIN - The top leaders of Germany and Italy plan to meet Wednesday as part of an intense round of shuttle diplomacy before several critical decisions that face Europe. The region's leaders are struggling to appease voters questioning the price of unity in the euro currency union after three years of financial turmoil.

I find European economics very fascinating, personally. Germany has been saving much of the Euro economy for three years since the economic crash began, but is not facing its own fiscal issues. In addition, the article discusses the actions of Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti, who has been frantically attending meetings and important "coffees" with other European heads of states to prevent their country's growing national debt--already at 123% GDP!!!

What are Germany's own economic issues? It has seemed like the bulwark of Europe for the last five years! Are there things that are being ignored, e.g. migrant labor, cost of universal health insurance and old age pensions? Is Angela Merkel still popular? Who might succeed her? What are her party's politics?

The political stalemate is coming to a close in Iraq as al-Maliki was selected by the Shiite alliance to be the Prime Minister. Now the government must split up jobs within the broad based unity governmetn. Allawi lost because of the sectarian dynamics in Iraq.

Syria's street protests may seem unified against Baathist oppression, but the rebel national councils are having trouble compromising with such diverse representation of all of Syria's numerous religious and ethnic groups.

thought this was an interesting take, even though I disagree with it

A referendum in Chile just rejected a draft of a new Constitution pushed by the new Chilean President Gabriel Boric and his extremely progressive coalition that would have replaced Augusto Pinochet's Constitution. The Constitution included the right to public health care, abortion, free speech, clean air and water, it would have given the federal government greater control over the Chilean economy, and would have officially recognized the sovereignty of Indigenous groups across the country, making it the third plurinational nation in South America. However, 61% of Chileans opposed the new Constitution, and a new assembly will have to be elected to redraft it. This rejection is interesting; does it highlight the overall mood in Latin American politics right now? Is this a rejection of liberal policies? What will the next few months have in store for Chile; bureaucratic breakdown, or unity around a new Constitution?

Really interesting article, Nick! Keep in mind that "liberal" in the international context means low government intervention and capitalism, so the correct way to phrase the question is "Is this a rejection of social democratic policies?" There was a wave of social democracy in Latin America in the 1990s and early 2000s, so I wonder if this is an effort to move that further, an effort which is contested. https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/chile-could-become-plurinational-what-does-that-mean/ As you know, there are many levels of inclusion and exclusion in different societies, and the indigenous rights movement in South America carries a dimension of racism held over from the colonial era, in addition to neocolonialism and extractive capitalism centered on banks and the owners of land.

Immigration has been a very important topic for Swedes in these past five years, and many Swedes have grown very resistant towards letting in any more refugees from the Middle East. The Nordics are touted as these examples of equality under capitalism, and yet these results reveal a perhaps uncomfortable truth: Swedes believe the homogeneity of their country, not their economic system, is the origin of their success; they will vote for a neonazi-adjacent faction over the very party that created their welfare system if they believe the ethnic unity of Sweden is threatened.

"Swedes believe the homogeneity of their country, not their economic system, is the origin of their success;" Isn't it both--the social democratic system and the homogeneous population, until the last two decades? How might we use this article as a mirror for the US in the sense that, even now, a certain percentage of white Americans think that the US was better when white (and male) people were the only ones worthy of consideration in this country's social and economic contract?