New Aspen Review: State vs. Economy

With Greece on the verge of bankruptcy and other European states struggling to reach economic growth, discussions arise once again about the right proportion of state intervention in the economy and about European governance. The new issue of the Aspen Review (2/2015) brings analyses of the currently much debated topics by renowned experts.

Two articles discuss the need for creating a “European state.” First, Brendan Simms calls for the adoption of proper state instruments in order to govern the Eurozone more effectively. Marek Cichocki then argues that the ideas on which European integration has been based are inadequate, and the financial and geopolitical crises showed the fundamental dilemmas of the EU.

In another Cover Story piece, Ulrike Guérot analyzes the role of Germany within the EU. She focuses on the way the current crisis brought changes to Germany’s position among other member states and its struggles to assume economic, as well as political and strategic leadership.

The new issue also looks into the tensions caused by the current Russian government’s actions in Ukraine. Professor Włodzimierz Marciniak says in an interview that the activities are just an excuse for Russia’s confrontation with the West. Andrew Wilson then brings an in-depth analysis of the political and ideological strategies of Russian leaders, while Robert Cooper reflects on the history of misunderstandings and wrong assumptions between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.

In the Economy section, Martin Ehl discusses why start-ups are not well-integrated into the real economy in Central Europe and why state-owned or semi-state-owned companies still play a dominant role in a region that was once referred to as the heart of economic reforms.

In the Culture section, film critic Jakub Majmurek analyzes the controversies behind the Polish Oscar-winning film Ida. Pointing out at the tragic aspects of the common Polish-Jewish history, “the film forces us to take responsibility for our own desires concerning what was, is and should be the community of all nations living in Poland.”

All Aspen Review issues, past and present, are available on-line. You can either read a particular text on-line or browse the whole issue in pdf format.