...quite possible. Along with the Irish, the Spanish and the Portuguese, they do not on the whole feel responsible for what, in effect, the banks have brought on themselves. But Brussels-based official explainers make it appear as if the euro zone is divided into virtuous countries like Germany, the Netherlands or Finland and countries in which wages have been too high, retirement has come too early, and no attempts have been made to increase competitiveness. The taxpayers in the virtuous countries must not be forced to bear the cost of compensation for these wastrels. That those negatives about the victim countries, while perhaps true, are irrelevant in respect to what triggered their current difficulties is hardly ever made clear. Europeans are not well informed about the political setting in the United States that engendered the epidemic. They are mostly unaware that the judges of the creditworthiness of member countries in trouble, headlined in the newspapers and exciting the financial markets, are ratings agencies guilty of monumental fraud. This criminal fraudulent conduct was a significant factor in the operations of speculators that led to the credit crisis and the current recession, and they could and should have had their credibility erased,...

...very possibility as a “mortal threat” to the world. International affairs know no “time out”; a short moment during which the game is suspended and the players get time for reflection and deliberation. Obama and Medvedev could use such a pause in the run-up to their July meeting. No developments demanding immediate reaction for just a bit would allow the contemplation of what Minister Lavrov on his visit to Washington referred to as the common interest, the benefit of our countries and international stability. In his election campaign as well as after entering the White House Obama has emphasised his readiness to listen and to consult, which has prompted appropriate appreciation. But in the meantime new facts emerge, prompting new questions. To what extent, for instance, has Obama reconciled himself with Israeli priorities in his recent meeting with Netanyahu? In this meeting he did plead for a two-state solution (a Palestinian state next to Israel), and for a halt in the building of settlements on the West Bank, but that was in accordance with previous practice. His two predecessors urged the same without any success. The American president demonstrated anew his great rhetorical talents with his recent speech in Cairo,...

Which Obama was visiting Moscow this week? The Obama of the outstretched hand or the Obama of incontestable opinion? In his speech to students of the New Economic School (which was created with support from the West after the demise of the Soviet Union) both Obamas were on display. The presence in the audience of the last president of the Soviet Union, Michael Gorbachev, seemed to underline the new start, the “reset”, which this American president says he wants to achieve in relations with Russia. The outstretched hand: “To begin with, let me be clear: America wants a strong, a peaceful, and prosperous Russia. This belief is rooted in our respect for the Russian people, and a shared history between our nations that goes beyond competition. Despite our past rivalry, our peoples were allies in the greatest struggle of the last century.” And: “So as we honor this past, we also recognize the future benefit that will come from a strong and vibrant Russia. Think of the issues that will define your lives: security from nuclear weapons and extremism; access to markets and opportunity; health and the environment; an international system that protects sovereignity and human rights, while promoting stability...

...comfort under the wings of the United States. It led to “political support” for the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. In practice this came down to participation in the military occupation of that country after the invasion. Just as happened in developments connected with the Dutch military disaster in Srebrenica, new facts keep emerging concerning the motives for participation. Dutch fighting units were there from summer 2003 through spring 2005 in 5 shifts of some 1200 troops under responsibility of the British in a southern the province. Many things went wrong there, and new information about that is emerging as well. These newly known facts cause disquiet and political strife. One thing that has become very clear is that top government officials had, at the very beginning, understood the core of a potentially huge problem right away. They knew that the government could get into considerable trouble by helping with an attack on a sovereign state, and a fellow member of the UN, without a mandate of the Security Council and without the excuse of self-defence. A memo from the judicial department inside the ministry of foreign affairs, which has just surfaced, leaves no room for doubt on that...

the column this jotting refers to New crises inevitably dim older ones. Bits of the past that a nation was half-digesting intellectually may then remain undigested for a long time, perhaps forever. The current financial crisis has pushed the moral crises caused by warcrimes committed by a part of what since World War II proudly called itself “the free world” well down the memory holes in several countries. We should remember that the state of things resulting directly from the American government’s response to the terrorist attacks of the 11th of September 2001, led to lingering moral and intellectual crises on both sides of the Atlantic. Probably none of the Westpoint cadets who flung their caps into the air, after listening to their president announcing his right to attack any country that he decided was an enemy, could have imagined one of the grisly outcomes of what he had said; that perhaps several among them and certainly many soldiers serving under them would kill themselves within two, three, four or five years. One calculation arrived at in 2005 indicated that some 120 veterans would did so every week at the time. Advanced medical technology allows fifteen wounded to survive against...

...World War II, which prompted expert commentary about a possible end to capitalism as we have known it, but also a machinery of government that had purposely been wrecked by Republican officials still obsessed with the romantic notion that the less government you have, the better it is for everyone. This while the American military-industrial complex seemed to have gone berserk. It was of course understood from the very beginning that the new American president could not possibly fulfill the hopes of all who had worked hard to get him elected. But at a minimum he was elected to try to stop the casino type speculation of the large investment banks, and get them to allocate credit again, and to rein in American warmaking. “Please give him more time!” This is, still today, a common reaction when you bring up Obama’s failure in conversations with Europeans or Japanese, or – less so now – Americans. That sounds like a reasonable request. It fits in with the enthusiasm for Obama here and in Europe. What I am telling you instead, is not immediately obvious because it has been hidden in a dense fog of wishful thinking. There is strong resistance to...