While we were worried about the Afghanistan war, the dangers of pirates in the Indian Ocean, or the swine flu, a country we always though as being quiet and civilized surprised the world yesterday. Switzerland, the country of great mountains, chocolate, watches and beautiful countryside but also a country which likes to think is a neutral guardian of human rights, a country where the Red Cross was established and the Geneva convention was passed, voted in a referendum whose results brought fear among Muslims ans shocked the Swiss government. Read the rest of this entry »

After three months of waiting for his decision on Afghanistan- or what the British Defense Secretary called “a period of hiatus in Washington and a lack of clear direction” – President Obama will travel to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point Tuesday to deliver a prime-time address to the nation. Read the rest of this entry »

One could say that we have a president who does not rush to decide or do things. In some cases that could be a positive thing. In others like the decision on whether to send troops and how many to Afghanistan it could be less so. The decision on whether to attend the Copenhagen summit at the beginning of December should not have been so agonizing for the president, specially if he believes in global warming. Read the rest of this entry »

President Obama is back from his Asian tour and the United States waits for his decision on the Afghanistan war. Eventually it would come and we will hear the positive and negative reaction to whatever he makes up his mind to do. In the meantime it is not as if the military and the administration are paralyzed. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, we all were surprised when yesterday, instead of the long night we were expecting before knowing who would get to be president and foreign minister of the EU, the decisions happened very quickly. Read the rest of this entry »

With any luck Europeans will wake up tomorrow morning to the news that finally they have a permanent president of the European Council and a foreign minister. No that many of them will have been worrying too much about it. After all the average citizen is not voting to choose them. It is mostly done by the leaders of the 27 countries who form the EU: 26 men and one woman. Read the rest of this entry »

From the Netherlands an interesting new project in Europe (Singapore is introducing a similar plan in 2010) to end chronic traffic jams and with the added benefit of cutting carbon emissions. The Dutch government is introducing a green tax for motorists that will replace the annual road tax charged on cars. Read the rest of this entry »