Or have we just got the wrong end of the stick?
In world affairs, the more you learn, the more you realise you don’t know – especially when you try and see things from another perspective.
Who is right?
Who is wrong?
Who knows?
The Voice – What the World Heard
18 October, 2023
On Saturday, 14 October, Australians did themselves no favours. Again.
8 October, 2023
On Saturday, 14 October, Australians will vote on a seemingly inoffensive change to their Constitution. Why is it meeting such opposition?
Simone Veil – Woman of the Century
26 January, 2023
A homage and a timely reminder of how close we always are to the horror of totalitarian hell, and why, if the European Union didn’t exist, we would need to invent it.
Knowing the Neighbours – Interview with Dr Stephen FitzGerald
14 September, 2022
How much does Australia matter in Asia, in the Pacific? What is its role in addressing pressing regional issues such as security and climate change? How is the new Albanese government positioning itself and what signals has it so far sent? Dr Stephen FitzGerald, author and first Australian ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, shares insights gained through decades of diplomatic experience and advising corporations, governments and in regional forums. From his home in Sydney, he spoke to Frances Cowell by telephone on 15 August.
History versus geography? How things might change under the new Australian government.
21July, 2022
On Saturday, 21 May, 2022, Australians voted for a change of government, replacing the Liberal-National coalition with a new Labor government, led by Anthony Albanese. Early signs are that Australia’s neighbours will notice the difference.
Fact or fiction? Science or gastronomy?
August, 2022
A well-known French scientist reminds us not to believe everything we’re told.
Kiss a non-smoker: Taste the difference!
July, 2022
The WHO reports that smokers harm our planet, oceans, atmosphere and non-smokers even more than they do themselves. The European Network’s Frances Cowell believes a new debate is needed.
July, 2022
Nuclear energy is the ideal complement to wind and power – until you consider its costs and risks.
June, 2022
Lobbying is not necessarily bad for democracies.
But the lobbying you don’t see is worst.
The Tip of the Iceberg – How we end up with governments we neither want nor deserve
February, 2022
An EU Parliament report shows that Brexit and Trump were but the tip of the iceberg. The European Network’s Frances Cowell looks at some of its highlights.
December, 2021
My grandmother, who lived from 1890 to 1961, told her four daughters never to “look down on” prostitutes, as it is “thanks to those women that the streets are safe for the rest of us”. Wise words.
Why AUKUS could be good for the EU
November, 2021
How it was done matters at least as much as what was done. While its too soon to say what the eventual fallout will be, the AUKUS contretemps could be good for the EU. The European Network’s Frances Cowell explains why.
October, 2021
In April 2021, as Europeans were being jabbed in the arm at a furious rate, emerging blinking in the post-confinement light, our Future of Europe podcast asked and tried to answer some questions about what the post-Covid world might hold for us. TEN’s Frances Cowell attempts an update.
Why the German Election Matters beyond Germany
September, 2021
Whatever happens on 26 September, 2021, Germany’s government is likely to be quite different to how it has been these last sixteen years under Angela Merkel’s firm hand. Now that she is retiring, the whole world is paying attention, and for good reason.
September, 2021
Five of the most amazing women you’ve never heard of.
Women at War – and why nineteenth century soldiers all seemed to wear moustaches
February, 2022
Perceptions of women’s role in war tend to draw on film and television portrayals as nurses or other support staff, or as decoders of intercepted enemy communications. Women in combat roles is, for most of us, very much a twenty first century development.
Agents of opportunity – from nowhere in particular
July, 2021
There are as many reasons for upping sticks and moving to another part of the world as there are people on the planet and vastly more if non-human migration is counted.
Should the EU Put America First?
February, 2019
At the Munich Security Conference on Friday 15 February, Mike Pence seemed to expect applause when he brought “greetings from” the “champion of freedom” and demand that Europe follow America’s lead out of the Iran nuclear accord. One wonders what he was smoking. Amusing, to be sure, but perhaps more consequential was the comment by Nicholas Burns, a former American diplomat, who named Angela Merkel as the “Leader of the West”.
The media can’t be trusted and politics is irrelevant – Its what people say, but not always what they do
March, 2021
Two recent lectures at Sciences Po give Europa United contributor Frances Cowell insights into the three-way relationship between politics, the media and the voting public.
Is Europe being unfairly targeted by US Sanctions?
February, 2019
Fighting corruption and terrorism is, most people would agree, a Good Thing.
But what if the measures used to combat crime are also used to gain unfair commercial advantage over one’s rivals?
November, 2018
By promising a Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v Wade, Trump persuaded the Religious Right to vote for him despite unapologetically flaunting every moral they espouse. With the confirmation of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, he has kept his promise. But the real agenda has nothing to do with abortion.
Ken Clark’s daft opinion poll comment is about more than just Brexit
October, 2018
Its about democracy itself