WASHINGTON — The November U.S. midterm elections could shift control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate to the opposition Republicans, moves that would have widespread implications for U.S. policy on all fronts. But an obscure-sounding referendum in the state of California, if passed by a plurality of California voters on November 2, [...]

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BRUSSELS — As the ballots were counted following Sweden’s election last Sunday, it became clear how historic a day it was in Swedish politics. The governing liberal/moderate alliance (consisting of the Moderates, the Christian Democrats, the Liberals, and the Center Party) became the largest coalition in parliament, gaining a total of 49.3% of the popular [...]

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BERLIN — Rarely has an EU summit been as turbulent as the one on September 16. Viviane Reding, the EU’s justice commissioner, charged France with mass deportations of Roma, violating EU law by, according to a leaked French government document, specifically targeting this group. A fierce dispute ensued between Reding, backed by European Commission president [...]

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President Obama announced at the UN on September 22nd, generally to plaudits from the international development community, an enhanced role for American development assistance.  These plaudits are well deserved.  President Obama stated, both in his UN remarks and in a simultaneously issued Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development, that international development would be elevated in [...]

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BRUSSELS — Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee finally approved a resolution to ratify the New START treaty. But chances of its being debated in the full Senate before the U.S. mid-term elections on November 2 are looking slim, further delaying the treaty’s final ratification. These rather gloomy prospects stand in sharp contrast [...]

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“The President obviously is a – is Christian. He prays every day. He communicates with his religious advisor every single day.” These words came from an Obama White House spokesman on August 19, at the height of the controversy over building a “mosque” near the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City [...]

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The world’s leaders will gather next week at the United Nations in New York to review progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) first laid out a decade ago–eight goals, 20 targets, and more than 60 indicators. Not surprisingly, there will be a lot of self-congratulation on the part of a small group of [...]

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ANKARA — The September 12 referendum on whether to amend 26 articles of the Turkish constitution passed with a clear majority — 58 percent of the electorate voted in favor of the package. The governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its leader, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, were the net winners, while the pro-Kurdish [...]

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According to this year’s Transatlantic Trends survey, Turkey can be seen as drifting away from the West. How do we know? After surveying approximately 1,000 people in Turkey (along with about 1,000 in the United States and each of 11 European Union countries) on a host of foreign policy and economic policy questions, we found [...]

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WASHINGTON — The popularity of Barack Obama as a presidential candidate in 2008 rivaled rock stars in Western Europe. His election as president of the United States suggested that he would open a new chapter in the U.S.-European relationship. This is certainly true, to a degree. The desirability of American leadership greatly improved in Europe, [...]

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