America, the fragile empire – latimes.com

Posted by Matt in February 28th, 2010 | no comment

Published in Niall Ferguson, Armageddon, Central And Eastern Europe, Collapse Of The Soviet Union, empire, Hindsight, Historian, Historians, Imperium, Lenin, Less Than Five Years, Mikhail Gorbachev, Oil Prices, Political Scientist, Precipitous Decline, Soviet Nuclear Arsenal, Soviet System, Soviets, Stephen Kotkin, Stockpile, Third World

The most recent and familiar example of precipitous decline is the collapse of the Soviet Union. With the benefit of hindsight, historians have traced all kinds of rot within the Soviet system back to the Brezhnev era and beyond. Perhaps, as the historian and political scientist Stephen Kotkin has argued, it was only the high [...]

Young Russians Turn Away From the West | Newsweek.com

Posted by Matt in November 7th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Russia, Carnegie Moscow Center, Central And Eastern Europe, Decade, Dogs, Fellow, Fervor, Freedom Of Speech, Intellectuals, kremlin, Lipman, Mentality, New Generation, Newsweek, Newsweek International, Perestroika, Russia, Sync, Transparency, Young Russians, Youth Groups

What a difference a few years make. Central and Eastern Europe have slipped largely into Europe’s cultural and political fold. But in Russia, thanks to a decade of anti-Western fervor propagated by the Kremlin, a new generation is growing up strikingly out of sync with the West. “Back in the perestroika years, young intellectuals sincerely [...]

Loan Crisis Looming in Eastern Europe?

Posted by Matt in June 9th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Europe, Asia Crisis, Banking Crisis, Brink, Central And Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Currency Reserves, Eastern Europe, Ebrd, Economists, Emerging Europe, European Bank For Reconstruction And Development, Fallout 2, Financial Crisis, Forbes, Foreign Currency, Global Financial Crisis, guardian, Neighbors, Npls, Peg, Reconstruction, Risk Loans, Western Banks

Some €180 billion in loans are ‘at risk’ in Central and Eastern Europe. If they went bad, could Western banks afford it? Should the West intervene now?
Nobody knows just how fast these “at-risk” loans are turning into NPLs, just that they are. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which warned of a potential [...]

The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West

Posted by Matt in March 8th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Conflict, Niall Ferguson, general, Ascendancy, Balance Of Power, Central And Eastern Europe, Central Paradox, Conflict, Confluence, Decline, Dominance, Economic Volatility, Economics, Empire Financial, Empires in Decline, Ethnic Conflict, Extreme Violence, Financial History, Global Balance, History Professor, Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, Professor Ferguson, Savagery, Science And Technology, Seeds, The three E's, Triumph, Twentieth Century, Unprecedented Violence, War Of The World

Building upon his previously acclaimed volumes on empire, economics, and financial history, Professor Ferguson argues that three things seem necessary to explain the extreme violence of the twentieth century: ethnic conflict, economic volatility, and the decline of empires. He argues that the confluence of these factors helps us to understand why so much happened at [...]

Eastern Europe Credit Crisis

Posted by Matt in February 25th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Europe, Financial, Asian Economic Crisis, Axel Weber, Baltic Business, Baltic Countries, Banking Crisis, Central And Eastern Europe, Cnn, Contagion, Countries That Use The Euro, Credit Crisis, Credit Markets, Crisis Prevention, Eastern Europe, Eastern European Economies, Economic Slowdown, Europe Time, European Banking, European Banks, European Voice, Financial Contagion, Financial Meltdown, Global Financial Crisis, Herald Tribune France, International Herald Tribune, International Monetary Fund, Lew Rockwell, Municipal Bonds, Ninemsn, Oracle World, President Of Germany, Rome Burns, Sydney Morning Herald

Economic Crisis Hits Eastern Europe
TIME – USA
(See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.) The IMF, which has
already provided $39 billion in emergency loans to shore up Eastern
European economies …
<http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1881715,00.html>
As It Falters, Eastern Europe Raises Risks
New York Times, United States – Feb 23, 2009
“International credit markets are linked, and so a snowballing credit crisis [...]

Europe’s Eastern Promise

Posted by Matt in August 19th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Europe, Russia, Brussels, Central And Eastern Europe, Cold-War, Continent, democracy, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Doors, Eastern Promise, Eu Enlargement, European Affairs, Executive Director, German Marshall Fund, NATO, prosperity, Rationale, Ronald D Asmus, Russia, Secretary Of State

Rethinking NATO and EU Enlargement
Summary: After the Cold War, NATO and the EU opened their doors to central and eastern Europe, making the continent safer and freer than ever before. Today, NATO and the EU must articulate a new rationale for enlarging still further, once again extending democracy and prosperity to the East, this [...]

US risking Cold War: Gorbachev

Posted by Matt in May 8th, 2008 | no comment

Published in New Cold War, Assertion, Central And Eastern Europe, Cold-War, Czech-Republic, Dmitry Medvedev, Iran, London, Mikhail Gorbachev, Missile Shield, Missile System, NATO, Nato Alliance, New Cold War, New War, Poland, Resurgent Russia, Rogue States, Soviet Leader, Sphere Of Influence

LONDON: The US risks starting a new Cold War by proposing to build its missile shield in central and eastern Europe, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned in comments published in London yesterday.
Washington claims the anti-missile system it wants to base in Poland and the Czech Republic is aimed solely at countering the threat from [...]