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The European Council on Foreign Relations

Commentary: José Ignacio Torreblanca

Embryo states

20 Jul 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

Everyone's talking about the BRICs. But we shouldn't forget about the territories trying to become states. Kosovo, Palestine, Taiwan and East Timor: they're all looking for our attention, and in some cases make better 'states' that the recognised ones.

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PIGS can fly

13 Jul 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

Spain's footballing triumph at the World Cup came as a welcome distraction for the Spanish people. Their economy is a shambles; their politicians are struggling to do their jobs; and the Spanish presidency of the EU badly damaged their international reputation. But at least Spain's football team offer lessons as well as hope.

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The BRIC bloc

07 Jul 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

The Political West (the US, Europe and Japan) are in the doldrums while the BRICs keep growing. A third of world economic growth in the last decade has taken place in BRIC countries. So far, so good for the BRICs. But what next?

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Farewell, presidencies

29 Jun 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

Spain's EU presidency fell far short of expectations, but it was handed a presidency without precedent. One thing is certain: a foreign relations system based on holding summits without content has no future at all.

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Rain prayer

23 Jun 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

The common position on Cuba is so anomalous and exceptional that, rather than providing an example of European sponsorship of human rights, what it exemplifies are glaring contradictions in European policy.

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A glass half full

11 Jun 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

The Western Balkans are taking steps towards reconciliation, but there is still a long way to go. At the current rate of progress the chances of these countries joining the EU by 2020, as some hope, are slim. Is the glass half full, half empty - or simply too big for Balkan leaders to fill?

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Foreign policy needs a rethink above and beyond Europe

09 Jun 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

At the end of June Spain reaches the end of its rotating presidency of the EU. Spain's economic woes and the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty have made it a difficult presidency to handle. But there's more at stake: the decreasing influence of the EU on the international stage puts Spain in a difficult position. Should it move away from Europe, and if yes, how?

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Russia is shifting

01 Jun 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

The EU-Russia summit in Rostov is an opportunity for the new EU to show it can act effectively on the international stage. But only if it first tries to understand what Russia's motives are and where it can help.

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Hardware & software

25 May 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

Spain seriously needs to review its priorities in public expenditure, and its attitudes toward education. Otherwise it will go on being that country which a former German foreign minister called "a beautiful country, full of four lane divided highways with no cars on them."

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Do an Obama

18 May 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

The present type of EU summit with international actors ought to change, otherwise we will be perpetuating a type of encounter that is closer to circus than to diplomacy, and where it is hard to tell who are the lions and who are the tamers.

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Europe without Europeans

11 May 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

Of all the problems facing Europe, one seems very difficult to solve: demographic forecasts, added to political ones, point to a Europe without Europeans.

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Holes in the cheese

04 May 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

Nuclear crises require a lot of unlikely events to occur at once, like all the holes in slices of Gruy?re cheese lining up. But as the nuclear ambitions of the Iranian president remind us, that is not a reason to ignore the perils of atomic weapons.

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Downfall

28 Apr 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

Volcanoes, Greek tragedy and government collapses. Divine intervention? Not entirely - greed and stupidity play a big part.

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Despatches from a presidency in limbo

20 Apr 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

Summit after summit. Is the Spanish Presidency of the European Union running out of legs?

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Prejudices

07 Apr 10 - José Ignacio Torreblanca,

Sorry, but protestants do not perform better than catholics and EU laws do not represent 80% of national legislation. It's time to have another look at some deep-rooted prejudices.

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