Hutton and Afghanistan: To surge or not to surge?
The situation that British servicemen and women find themselves in in Afghanistan can no longer be described as ‘forgotten’. The conflict has increasingly found itself in the headlines, and the…
Articles, Briefings and Essays
The views expressed in the articles are those of each respective author and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the Foreign Policy Centre.
Iceland – The 29th member state?
Question: What is the capital of Iceland? Answer: Around four dollars and 50 cents. This cruel jibe epitomises the plight of the North Atlantic country following the ruination of its…
Turkey, Europe’s future
Drowned out by the acclamation for the Obama victory last week, the European commission quietly released its progress report on Turkish accession to the EU. While it welcomed Turkey's economic…
No longer the odd man out? Will Gordon Brown bind Britain more closely to Europe?
Hitherto seen as at least mildly euro-sceptic and barely interested in the doings of Brussels, the British Prime Minister created an entirely different impression during last week’s meeting of the…
ESDP – now or never?
It is ten years since the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) was launched, at an Anglo-French ‘summit’ at St. Malo, and there is now precious little to be shown…
Reforming the EU Budget – time just left for some new ideas…
The long awaited review by the Commission of the EU budget, announced in 2005, when the financial perspectives were agreed for 2007-2013, began in June, after ideas submitted by interested…
Mutual interests bring EU and India closer together
Just back from India after my first visit in seven years, I had two overwhelming impressions. One was the evidence, wherever I went, that the Indian economy has taken off…
The FRA gets down to work
It took a long campaign by human rights activists, strongly supported by the European Parliament, to secure the establishment of the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). It was set up…
The case for British adoption of the euro is stronger than ever
After ten years in which the British economy was outperforming that of the eurozone, according to most economic indicators, it now appears distinctly shaky. A recent report by the Lehman…
Colombia goes up; Argentina goes down; Venezuela stands still
That said, it does not come as a surprise that Chávez is now more 'soft-core' in this period of the year. After successive domestic victories that have helped Uribe reach…