European Institute

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Category: EA April 2011

Created on 08 April 2011

The U.S. State Department has some new pro-active policies toward Muslims and other minorities in Europe that seem to mark a salient change. For example, Charles Rivkin isn't your traditional American ambassador in Paris: a political appointee with a career background in entertainment, he is regularly spotted doing things like this: hosting hip-hop artists and ethnic-minority politicians at embassy receptions; inaugurating a large art mural in Villiers-le-Bel, the site of major urban riots in 2007; visiting a youth cultural center and engaging in debates with the audience; dropping in on embassy-sponsored seminars on social issues and engines of change;

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Article Information

Category: EA April 2011

Created on 08 April 2011

This bold and deliberately provocative book on geopolitical forecasting has smart and suggestive points to make about the whole geopolitical scene, especially the U.S. and Europe.

According to the author George Friedman to manage its "unintended empire," Washington will need to learn the doctrine of playing off new regional contenders against each other. He advocates this "Machiavellian" strategy -- sometimes called "off-shore balancing" -- because it seeks to avoid getting U.S. "boots on the ground" and getting sucked into future wars that might resemble Iraq.

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Category: Roundtables

Created on 09 December 2010

His Excellency João Vale de Almeida, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, was the guest of honor at The European Institute’s Annual Ambassadors’ Gala Dinner on December 9, 2010. Emphasizing the unparalleled maturity and shared purpose of the European American relationship, Ambassador Vale de Almeida stressed the need for constant commitment to a partnership whose common mission is all the more vital in the face of globalization’s challenges. Europe and the United States can maximize their influence on the emergent multi-polar global stage by setting aside differences, concentrating on commonalities, and adopting a positive agenda. The Ambassador applauded what he termed a “new attitude” in the transatlantic relationship and said he was motivated by the development of both new and renewed tools of cooperation on such vital fronts as the economy, trade, energy and cyber security. In 2011, the shared priority for both the European Union and the United States will be to achieve the needed growth for economic recovery and job creation, while also restoring public confidence in governance.

Article Information

Category: Roundtables

Created on 07 December 2010

On December 7, 2010, The Honorable Maroš Šefcovic, Vice President of the European Commission, responsible for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration offered his assessment of the transformative changes in the European Union’s governance since the Treaty of Lisbon came into force and outlined the key challenges that lie ahead in the EU’s quest for an "ever-closer union."