For the first time since 1994 the House of Representatives has been taken by the Democrats and a slim Democrat majority has emerged in the Senate. The nation’s dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq, alongside the corruption scandals surrounding the GOP, proved to be the most important factors swinging the pendulum of American politics in favour of the Democrats.
A la veille des élections législatives, les États-Unis ressemblent à ce Gulliver empêtré que décrivait Stanley Hoffman après leur échec au Vietnam. À trois niveaux au moins, on touche aux limites de la puissance américaine. Sur le plan militaire, parce que l'échec est possible en Irak. Les 130 000 hommes déployés ne parviennent pas à stabiliser un pays qui plombe la liberté d'action de l'Amérique, alors que les 500 milliards de dollars (soit environ 400 milliards d'euros) de budget militaire (près de 60 % des dépenses mondiales) ne parviennent ni à vaincre le terrorisme ni à rendre le monde meilleur et plus sûr.
In the winter of 2002-03, supporters of regime change in Iraq were upbeat in their vision of the post-invasion phase of the war. Yet a sober assessment of the difficulties ahead would have helped to avoid many of the mistakes that have proved to be so costly in terms of American lives and resources - not to mention the suffering of Iraqis.
The EUISS organised its first seminar in order to enhance understanding of ESDP in the Western Balkans policy community and to exchange views on the current state of affairs within the EU as regards the constitution and the prospects for future enlargement to the Western Balkans.
Une fois membre de l’Union, la Roumanie occupera une place particulière au sein d’une Union élargie, entre les deux régions du continent européen qui demeurent les plus fragiles en matière de sécurité – les Balkans occidentaux et la partie européenne de la Communauté des Etats indépendants (CEI)/Nouveaux Etats indépendants (NEI).
In its 2003 strategy against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the EU underscores that it is ‘committed to the multilateral treaty system’ – considering it the legal and normative stepping stone for all non-proliferation efforts.
The EUISS has conducted a wide-ranging exercise to detect the long-term trends, factors and actors shaping the global environment of European integration - The New Global Puzzle. This Report illustrates the evolution of the key structural factors affecting change over the two decades to come and addresses some of the main questions concerning the future of the international system.
The EUISS convened a selected group of experts and practitioners to examine EU energy interests in a broader geopolitical context, addressed the energy security outlook of other major global players, and outlined the threats and vulnerabilities with which the EU will be confronted.
Following its underground test on 9 October, carried out in defiance of international warnings, it is probable that North Korea has become the world’s ninth nuclear power. Whilst there were initially some doubts as to the strength or the exact nature of the detonation the presence of radioactive particles in North Korea has been now confirmed by US spy planes as well as by neighbouring Russia and Japan.
The ongoing debate on the future of Europe suffers from a lack of perspective on the global developments that are changing the context of European integration itself. The debate on the reform of the Union, its policies and institutions, and on the division of tasks between the EU and its Member States, needs to be linked to a strategic assessment of the rapid transformation of the international system, and its implications for Europe.