Will the Ukraine sign an association agreement with the European Union in November 2013 in Vilnius? If it happens, this country will be closest to political and legal unity with the European continent in its entire history.

Politics of chancellor Angela Merkel is often criticized for not having clear ideological outlines. However, one needs to see an utterly clear intention of firmly seizing the political center, and not letting any other rival in.

An interview with Jacques Rupnik by Maciej NowickiStates no longer control the course of events, politics is a game of appearances. Therefore, the only solution is unified Europe—says jacques Rupnik in conversation with Maciej Nowicki.

Last year harassment and repressions became everyday reality in Russia, both against the opposition and social activists, and against elites that form the political backing of the kremlin. But the biggest fear can be observed in the actions of President Vladimir Putin himself, as the strategy he seems to have employed since his return to…

Active American strategic engagement ensured the success of Central Europe’s post-1989 democratic order where those of 1919 and 1946 failed. But the combined effects of economic austerity, strategic rebalancing and European renationalization are eroding America’s essential strategic role in the region. The 25th anniversary of Communism’s end offers an opportunity for America to renew its…

What has to happen to make a patriotic Pole leave his homeland and refuse to have children, to make a football-loving Brazilian insult Pelé and choose demonstrations over football, and to make a wealthy Turk take to the streets, subjecting himself to tear gas and being beaten by police batons? Although Poland, Brazil and Turkey…

An interview with Sir James Mancham by Tomáš KlvaňaTomáš Klvaňa interviews Sir James Mancham, former President of the Republic of Seychelles, on the rise of China, global citizenship, biodiversity and geopolitics.

The “silent man” in Taksim Square, Istanbul, who stood without moving or speaking for eight hours, is a symbol that says something important about the new age of protests that have shattered the world. In the last few years millions of angry citizens— generally young, well-educated and mobilized through social media—have “occupied” places as different…

An interview with Fyodor Lukyanow by Filip MemchesThe European Union will not be an independent force. It has abandoned such ambitions and decided to return under American wings—says Russian political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov in conversation with Filip Memches.

Europe and the United States are still feeling the consequences of the global financial crisis. Economic revival in America is weak and most European countries experience a second recession in recent years. The agreement between the European Union and the United States, called the Transatlantic Partnership for Trade and Investment (TTIP), is to be the…

As both NATO and EU seem to be grappling for their identities and so is the Euro-Atlantic relationship, Central European countries find the pillars of their sense of security gone and their perspectives for prosperity dimmed

Twenty Years On: Do We Need More of Europe or More of the Nation State?

The binary logic of op-ed pages would have us choose between a “United States of Europe” and “Eurocalypse Now.” I rather suggest that neither fate awaits us: not a revolution; nor a break-up

“The ideologues of modernization see it as a kind of race, in which, obviously, some are first and some are last”—writes Boris Kagarlitsky in his book “Empire of the Periphery: Russia and the World System” (2012).—It resembles a running contest or a horse race in a hippodrome. In such a race, it is always possible…

Jan Tomasz Gross’s books remind us of the common belief that the extermination of jews was beneficial for Poles. That is why they are so controversial.

Larry Wolff, The Idea of Galicia. History and Fantasy in Habsburg Political Culture. Stanford California Press, 2010

My grandfather was always in the mainstream, always a part of the majority. His experience resembled the experience of most of his contemporaries. He was born in a country where most people (85%) were farmers like himself. His life changed when everyone’s lives changed— in 1929–30, when collectivization was introduced. He was at the front…

Walking the uneven, broken and in many places nonexistent pavement of La Habana Vieja, the Old City of Havana, is a disappointing experience. It is difficult to see the precious patina of artfully framed photographs that are so easy to take here. The charm of films like Buena Vista Social Club, Wim Wenders’s oeuvre, is…