Tag: politics

The annual G8 summit has wrapped up earlier this week. On Monday I posted about its expected agenda, now I’d like to briefly go through what’s been decided in Lough Erne in those two days. The EU and US came to an agreement to launch negotiations about what could be “the biggest bilateral trade deal in history” both in worth and in significance. After their main economic discussion, the G8 leaders highlighted the fight against unemployment as a priority in fostering global recovery. They agreed that after bright prospects in 2012, economic and financial difficulties remain in 2013 that require…

The annual G8 summit starts today at the Lough Erne Resort, in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Here’s a brief summary of this year’s agenda. The infographics below are courtesy of the G8 UK Presidency, you can visit their Flickr account clicking the pictures. The free trade agreement between the EU and the US is on the EU’s table for some time now, and the UK Presidency also declared trade advancement one of the most pressing issues. What makes this discussion interesting is the UK’s possible estarngement from the EU. President Obama already said that in the case of the UK leaving…

The G8 heads of states/governments come together each year to discuss current major domestic and global issues. There are lower level ministerial meetings of the G8 several times a year, where foreign ministers, finance ministers, environment ministers meet to discuss issues in their respectable areas. Decisions of the heads of governments of the G8 or its ministerial meetings are notable for taking place within the group instead of other major international forums. Many of those decisions remain decisions without real results though. Since the end of the 90s there were such commintments to fight against global poverty, fight diseases including…

The first G6 meeing in 1975 was preceded by several less formal meetings. These first summits’ prelude was the oil crisis and economic recession of the early 70s. Big industrial countries first came together to discuss solutions to those. The wealth of the 8 wealthiest countries of the world are taken into account by their net wealth instead of GDPs. If we check recent figures of several economic indicators we find that the G8 doesn’t represent the wealthiest nations adequatly anymore.                  Still notable that the summed GDPs of the G8 countries add…

June is my favorite month of the year! With the longest daylight hours, the hot weather (which I hope will arrive in Hungary soon), all the great outdoor events – concerts and festivals, and so on. Reading outdoors until like 9 p.m. on long June nights used to be my favorite thing in the world! I have great expectations for this month and also some good ideas and plans for this blog that I hope you’ll like! Until then, here’s what I have today: On world affairs: Guéhenno: lifting European arms embargo on Syrian rebels ‘backfired’ Yes, the decision did…

The what if’s of Iraq It is entirely fitting that the invasion of Iraq began, 10 years ago Tuesday, based on faulty intelligence: Our actions throughout the war were marred by miscalculation and wishful thinking time and again.

Hungary Tests the E.U.’s Norms A fresh constitutional amendment has provoked alarms within Europe and elsewhere over the balance of the Hungarian government.

BBC News: Hungary defies critics over change to constitution  Hungary’s parliament has adopted a package of constitutional changes proposed by the ruling Fidesz party which critics say undermine democracy. The EU expressed concern about the bill, which defies some court rulings. “These amendments raise concerns with respect to the principle of the rule of law, EU law and Council of Europe standards,” a statement by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said.

huffpostpolitics: Hillary Clinton, Ron Johnson Engage In Heated Exchange At Benghazi Hearing (VIDEO) Although in my opinion it does make a tiny difference whether those four diplomats were killed by protesters or some guys who decided to kill Americans, I think she is doing great. Of course both sides can emphasize parts of the hearings that support their beliefs, I just think she is a true professional and handling this wonderfully. I hope she’ll be back in the game one way or another soon!

Too bad, she would have been a great secretary of state… breakingnews: UN envoy Susan Rice drops out of running for Secretary of State BREAKING: U.N. envoy Susan Rice is dropping out of the running to be the next US secretary of state after months of criticism over her comments on the assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, NBC News reports. “If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama. More…