Month: December 2023

This holiday season in the trans-Atlantic world traditionally brings forth more profound reflections on the purpose of life and the love of humanity. It was in this spirit that the leaders of the major Christian communities in Bethlehem, including Greek Orthodox, Syriac, Armenian, Catholic and Lutheran denominations, composed a letter to U.S. President Biden in late November asking him to […]

At a time when many world leaders do their best to avoid facing questions in public, Russian President Putin held a press conference for nearly four hours on Dec, 14, which was broadcast on all national television channels in Russia. The questions came from reporters and from ordinary citizens, with topics raging from the special military operation in Ukraine, to […]

The decision taken on Dec. 15 by the European Council (minus Hungary, whose Prime minister Viktor Orban left the room before the vote) to start negotiations on Ukraine’s entry into the European Union is, at best, divorced from reality and, at worst, a cruel deception. Immediate aid to Ukraine was blocked, while the process of entry into the EU, if […]

Farmers throughout the European Union have been up in arms for the past couple of years against the European Union’s insane “Farm to Fork” policy, which provides for radical cuts (up to 50%) in the use of pesticides and fertilizers, as well as the reduction of farmland available. This has already had political consequences in the Netherlands, where farmers founded […]

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (Markit PMI/S&P Global) measures the activity level of purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector, below indicates contraction. The PMI for Germany has been below 50, with ups and downs, for the last twelve months. Now, data released at the beginning of December are even worse than the […]

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper took issue with remarks made by President Biden on Dec. 12 in Washington, in which the latter had basically blamed Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for blocking a two-state solution. The implication was that if Prime Minister Netanyahu dumps that minister, and makes a few changes in the government, he could then align with the U.S. on […]

Since rescuing Brazil from the radically neocon, pro-Washington government of Jair Bolsonaro, President Lula da Silva has emerged as a solid spokesman for nations of the Global South. On the level of South America as well, he is assuming a leading role in pushing development. His statesmanship was again on display at the Dec. 7 heads of state summit in Rio […]

The Dec. 8 online meeting of the International Peace Coalition, co-founded by the Schiller Institute, featured an exciting discussion of the defense industry based in the United States , otherwise known as the military-industrial complex. Just six major defense contractors dominate the market, and share a good chunk of a military budget, which is expected to reach close to $1 […]

We extend our best wishes to our readers for the holiday period. Your first issue in the new year will be dated January, 4, 2024

At the Doha Forum in Qatar on Dec. 10, the Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres issued another dramatic call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. That followed the outrageous decision by the United States to veto, on Dec. 8, a UN Security Council resolution demanding such a ceasefire, the only country to do so, while the United […]