The European Council on Foreign Relations

ECFR this week: 13th July 2012

Date: 13th July 2012  |  Author: Nicholas Walton,

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This week we were pleased to carry an exclusive article by Catherine Ashton – ‘The EU’s rights of passage’ -  arguing that human rights should lie at the centre of the EU’s foreign policy.

“Global politics will increasingly be shaped by the demands of ordinary people - demands for rights, peace and prosperity - while social media will increasingly carry their message, and allow activists to break free from their isolation, to disseminate ideas and to denounce oppression. These are issues that the EU was founded to address and has sought to support globally. No other power can say as much. Our commitment to human rights does not track the economic cycle.”

Elsewhere:

• Julien Barnes-Dacey draws on his personal experience of Ali Haidar, Syria’s new minister of national reconciliation in ‘Meeting Assad’s interlocutor’.
   
• Dimitar Bechev attempts to untangle the complicated recent political events in Romania, and wonders whether the EU can help provide a long term solution to the country’s incomplete democratic transition.
   
• From Rome, Marco de Andreis questions the impact of recent reforms in Italy and hopes that Mario Monti’s special touch is enough to deal with a gathering crisis.
   
• Francois Godement laments the inability of European nations to work together when dealing with China, in ‘EU-China: will there ever be a level playing field?’
   
• Jonas Parello-Plesner argues that East Asia is faced with security challenges as well as economic opportunities over this coming century, and examines the role the EU may play in the region.
   
• In ‘Democracy and the EU’s special relationships’ Hans Kundnani makes the case for Europe to push its normative values in foreign policy.
   
• Ulrike Guerot argues that time is running out for solving the euro crisis – not just in economic terms, but also for public opinion.