Latest update: 22/01/2013 

- Angela Merkel - Charles de Gaulle - Europe - European Union - France - François Hollande - Germany - Mali


Joachim Bitterlich, Former National Security Advisor to Helmut Kohl

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Helmut Kohl’s former national security advisor explains why the EU is heading for a federation of nation-states – the vision of former EU Commission President Jacques Delors – whether we care to use the word ‘federal’ or not. Joachim Bitterlich also argues that France and Germany will remain at the heart of a multi-speed Europe, and reviews the EU’s response to the Mali crisis.

THE INTERVIEW
Noëlle Lenoir, Ethics compliance officer at the French National Assembly
30/04/2013 - THE INTERVIEW

Noëlle Lenoir, Ethics compliance officer at the French National Assembly

Since the tax fraud scandal involving former Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac, France’s Socialist government is all about transparency and ethics. Our guest today, Noëlle Lenoir, is in charge of preventing MPs’ conflicts of interest at the National Assembly. She tells Douglas Herbert whether or not President Hollande’s proposed law goes far enough.
Claudia Senik, author of 'The French Unhappiness Puzzle'
29/04/2013 - THE INTERVIEW

Claudia Senik, author of 'The French Unhappiness Puzzle'

Why are the French, with their high quality of life and relative wealth, so unhappy - 20% more unhappy, in fact, than other Western Europeans? Douglas Herbert talks to French economist Claudia Senik about the causes of Gallic gloom and doom. Is it a cultural thing?
Sadiq Jalal al-Azm, Syrian philosopher and writer
25/04/2013 - THE INTERVIEW

Sadiq Jalal al-Azm, Syrian philosopher and writer

Douglas Herbert meets Syrian philosopher and writer Sadiq Jalal al-Azm to discuss the explosive mix of religion and politics in the Arab world. His guest has first-hand knowledge of how touchy the subject is. He himself was briefly jailed in 1970 after writing a groundbreaking book on the Six-Day War. He argued back then that the Arab defeat was due, in part, to their leaders' failure to rethink the role of religion in society.
Tomas Sedlacek, author of 'Economics of Good and Evil'
24/04/2013 - THE INTERVIEW

Tomas Sedlacek, author of 'Economics of Good and Evil'

Armen Georgian meets renowned Czech economist Tomas Sedlacek, best-selling author of "Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street". Sedlacek argues that GDP growth is a modern secular version of the old religious idea of paradise, and that Western societies cling to this promised paradise at their peril. He offers us his alternatives.
Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the World Food Programme
23/04/2013 - THE INTERVIEW

Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the World Food Programme

Over the past two years, thousands of Syrian civilians have been killed and many more have been forced to flee their homes. Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, has joined forces with other UN agencies to respond to this major humanitarian crisis. But, as the death toll in Syria increases, funds for aid operations are soon going to run out. She now pleads for a political solution to end the civil war.

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By the time the bureaucrats

by stevebaz - 23/01/2013 - 12:25

By the time the bureaucrats expenses have been paid, and every little small-holding has had its share of the pot, and the agricultural divi has been paid: Greece, Spain, Italy and the UK will be looking on and saying told you it would never work, whilst Poland, Holland and Austria will be sinking under the outflow of payment to the big rwo

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