Last month, the world woke up to find that the British actually voted 51.9 percent for an exit from the European Union.World stock markets lost over $3 trillion in market value, with the credit rating agencies downgrading the U.K. from “AAA” to “AA,” making it more costly for British companies and government to raise funds. The pound sterling depreciated sharply to its lowest level in years.  What will happen next?Brexit was technically a referendum on whether the United Kingdom wanted to remain

July 5, 2016

Breaking up, it turns out, is not so hard to do. It is a simple matter of a stupid vote. The Brexit result is a shock to the international financial system and a threat to post-cold war stability, and it raises tensions in a region with a historically bad war habit.Brexit dealt a new blow to European integration and collective strength, and it adds pressure to a further weakened European Union already facing strategic challenges from places like Russia.Despite Brexit’s destabilizing potential, t

July 5, 2016

Point one: Bill and Hillary Clinton are victims of a perpetual right-wing smear campaign, a highly personalized subset of a decades-long, coordinated and sleazy conservative crusade to discredit government.Point two: Bill and Hillary Clinton evade rules and skirt laws that others are required to follow. They seek to hide conduct that should be open to scrutiny and intentionally evade accountability. When their improper actions are exposed, they invariably dissemble. Why did Hillary Clinton use a

July 5, 2016

In July 2000, a Group of Eight summit meeting was held in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arrived late, spoke to the other world leaders about a meeting he had with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang two days before.　According to Putin, Kim suddenly opened a window to look outside during their two-hour talk. It was at that moment that Putin urged him to engage with the international community. “We, the Russian Federation, were born after the Soviet

July 4, 2016

In 1947 Winston Churchill stated, “The UK is with Europe but not part of it.” “We are linked to Europe but not included in it,” He added. This signifies that that the U.K. keeps privileged relations with the U.S. in security cooperation. This cooperation has the strong interlocking networks in operating NATO since the very beginning of the military security organization. Charles de Gaulle then proposed to the U.S. to establish the trilateral cooperation system of NATO, with a view to reviewing i

July 4, 2016

When terrorism hits Asia, fewer tears seem to be shed than when Europe or the U.S. is targeted.This past week, a gang of terrorists massacred 41 people and injured 239 at Turkey’s Ataturk International Airport, one of Europe’s business airports.It was the second terrorist attack -- ninth since last summer -- to hit the country within a month. The three fully armed terrorists could have killed more but for the brave actions of police.Nevertheless, the scars are deep and it will take some time for

July 4, 2016

By the time British citizens went to the polls on June 23 to decide on their country’s continued membership in the European Union, there had been no shortage of advice in favor of remaining. Foreign leaders and moral authorities had voiced unambiguous concern about the consequences of an exit, and economists had overwhelmingly warned that leaving the EU would entail significant economic costs.Yet the warnings were ignored. A prereferendum YouGov opinion poll tells why: “Leave” voters had no trus

July 3, 2016

I wrote an opinion piece in April 2013 at the height of the Cyprus financial crisis and criticized the European Union for its handling of that crisis, particularly the heavy-handed approach of some of the strong members of the union. Now I am thinking maybe that criticism was too soft.　The American journalist of the early 20th century, H. L. Mencken, said, “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”  Sadly, the case in point has become the saga of the United

July 3, 2016

While the short-term economic consequences of Brexit are not to be dismissed, it is the impending failure of the European project that should provoke the bigger sense of concern. The EU‘s two biggest achievements since the establishment of the single market -- the euro and border-free travel -- are both under threat. These implosions would be a magnitude more painful than the British vote.　The two are closely linked. European governments realized in the 1980s that competitive currency devaluatio

July 3, 2016

The leaders of the remaining 27 European Union members have spoken on Brexit, and it would appear that they spoke with one voice. Could it be, however, that France and Germany, the EU-27’s two leaders, really have different approaches to handling the U.K.’s  departure?　　The statement from their Brussels gathering this week was calm and firm: The U.K. should start the formal withdrawal process “as soon as possible,” but hopefully it will remain a close partner. It can, however, only be part of th

July 1, 2016

Type “Brexit lessons” in the Google search engine and you get 1.95 million results. This is as of Saturday night.The one that I liked the most was from the Huffington Post.“The decision to stay or leave the EU is a phenomenally complex mash-up of politics, geopolitics, economic and social entanglements with benefits from being part of a larger community (including retired Brits living in sunnier places). Voting made the decision look simple. It was anything but. Media failed to communicate what

June 30, 2016

The British vote to leave the European Union is likely to trigger a chain of complex reactions whose impact cannot be fully calculated. It has already caused a steep drop in the value of the pound sterling and of shares in the London stock market. That was expected. But the ripple effects in the rest of Europe’s markets have been just as bad, if not worse. This was not foreseen.　In voting to leave, the British intended to “take back control” of their country from the Brussels-based EU bureaucrat

June 30, 2016

Over 2,000 years ago, Plato was skeptical of democracy because he felt that voters, even though restricted to property-owning male citizens, were swayed easily by the rhetoric of politicians.Democracy disappeared for over 1,500 years following its demise in Athens and it was only then that its slow evolution began in England and spread to other parts of the world. Doubts regarding its efficacy persisted but were countered by arguments that it was the worst form of government except for all other

June 30, 2016