Opinion pieces

  • One flew over the EU's mess, by Hugo Brady
    The Wall Street Journal, 19 March 2012

    Welcome to the European Union Home for the Economically Insane. We care for nations dealing with status anxiety, paranoia and low self-esteem, or those who are simply drifting into a senile old age. Please follow me on the guided tour.

  • A letter to David Cameron, by Stephen Tindale
    Mark Lynas.org, 15 March 2012

    Dear Mr Cameron,

    We write because we believe you have been misled by four prominent environmentalists who contacted you recently about nuclear power.

  • The power balance in Afghanistan, by Edward Burke
    The Times, 09 March 2012

    Letter to the editor (The Times)

    Sir, You say that the situation in Afghanistan is "not chaos" [see leading article 8 March 2012]. This assertion does not ring true.

  • US disengagement from Europe 'will weaken NATO', by Peter Felstead
    Jane's Defence Weekly, 09 March 2012

    The US disengagement from Europe is permanent, according to a new CER report

    The US step-back from Europe, combined with the harsh current economic climate, will force NATO to rein in its ambitions, the report argues
     

  • How to wake Britain from sleepwalking to the EU exit, by Charles Grant
    Europe's world, 07 March 2012

    History, geography and economics are all responsible for the UK’s deep-seated euroscepticism, says Charles Grant. But now these forces are strengthening so that Britain could easily leave the Union within 10 years. He sets out tactics for countering that.

  • Le veto russe sur la Syrie n’est pas injustifié, by Edward Burke
    Le Temps, 28 February 2012

    Sans doute Moscou fait-il de la realpolitik en s’opposant à un projet de résolution du Conseil de sécurité exigeant le départ de Bachar el-Assad. Toutefois, la diplomatie russe a raison de penser qu’un tel texte serait intenable.

  • Why European diplomacy is in decline, by Hugo Brady
    E!Sharp, 03 February 2012

    Critics of the EU's External Action Service (EEAS) agree that its creation will hardly be remembered as a high point in the annals of European foreign policy. Some say that the EU's quasi-diplomatic corps does not yet work well because its leadership, under Baroness Cathy Ashton, suffers from inexperience and a poverty of ambition.

  • The European fallacy of Ireland and the Baltics, by Ambrose Evans-pritchard
    The Daily Telegraph, 27 January 2012

    Another excellent paper by Simon Tilford from the Centre for European Reform.