EU

Fake Referendum: Catalonia

Catalonia, the north-eastern region of Spain (population of 7,5 million), declared independence from Spain last Tuesday evening. It was done quite formally, in the regional parliament in Barcelona, with regional president Carles Puigdemont, members of his cabinet and some leaders of other parties signing the independence document. Independence was “the people’s will”, Puigdemont said, referring …

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Ukraine Turns Violent

22 January 2014 Ukraine Turns Violent By Gwynne Dyer “The protest mood in Ukraine is at a higher temperature than ever before,” said Vitali Klitschko, the de facto leader of the anti-government protests that have filled central Kiev for the past two months, in an interview with the Guardian on Tuesday. “We only need a …

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Syria: Diplomatic Code

30 May 2013 Syria: Diplomatic Code By Gwynne Dyer Sometimes, in diplomacy, a translator is not enough. You need a code-breaker. This is very much the case with the latest round of diplomatic statements about the civil war in Syria, currently the biggest armed conflict anywhere in the world. So here they are, deciphered. It …

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Cyprus Bank Robbery

20 March 2013 Cyprus Bank Robbery By Gwynne Dyer Could a failed bank robbery in Cyprus cause the collapse of the euro? It’s hard to imagine how anything that happens in Cyprus, with less than one million people, could bring down the common currency shared by three hundred million Europeans, but there are few human …

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Mackerel Wars

4 February 2013 Mackerel Wars By Gwynne Dyer It’s hard enough to manage a fishery stock sustainably when the fish stay put. Once they start moving around, it’s almost impossible. That’s why the European Union and Iceland are heading into a mackerel war. It’s a foretaste of things to come, as warming oceans cause ocean …

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