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The Great Firewall of Europe
This issue is about statecraft, long-term strategy and will: Wille zur Macht.Incidentally, it is also about EU policies in trade, defence, democracy, industrial strategy, cybersecurity and digital, the Security Union, counter-terrorism and finance.Europe’s slowness and apparent inability to take strong action to protect its interests has long been decried by stakeholders on all sides. Yet, at the conclusion of Juncker’s term (last #SOTEU 12/9), we have the means to finally protect Europe and start asserting ourselves as a world power. That is, if we manage to get the political understanding and will to wield what is at our disposal. We now have the tools. This is about a cluster of policies coming together. Cybersecurity is but one piece of the puzzle. More
People-to-People – The Fundament
Chinese pencils, Chinese pen cases for school, Chinese erasers, Chinese sneakers, Chinese toys - these are some of the symbols associated with China which are still present in the collective memory of the Romanian people. It is a real fact that, on the grounds of the great diplomatic relations that our country has built with China, we have all received with great joy these things, as children. On the other side, Romanian Music, Dance, Dacia, Roman, furniture as a symbol of luxury… But the relations among our countries have gone beyond diplomacy, trade, and mutual support in times of need. And these are perhaps the richest we ever build in the last 70 years, somehow different than any others. Because they are built on a strong, unique foundation: emotional connection between our peoples and sympathy. More
Has Facebook Really Incorporated Us?
Being a social network, Facebook is about protecting privacy with one hand and pledging for publicity with the other. With over two billion users, Facebook scales up (or down) the challenges of every human community (or those of the human species as a whole).While controversies continue to surround its “automatized algorithms” that are “manually… manipulated”, Facebook magnetizes more and more users to its socializing service.We Share the Following 10 essays written by students who Like to scout and scour. More
How to Regulate the Financial System in the Digital Age
In 1920, after the disaster that followed the First World War, contemplating the period before it, Keynes noted:„The inhabitant of London could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth, in such quantities as he might see fit, and reasonably expect their early delivery upon his doorstep; he could at the same moment and by the same means adventure his wealth in the natural resources and new enterprises of any quarter of the world, and share without exertion or even trouble, in their prospective fruits and advantages”. More
ADI DASsler’s “Impossible is Nothing” and “The Miracle of Bern”
“It’s over! Over! Over! Germany are the World Champions!”, Radio reporter Herbert Zimmermann’s jubilant words still resound in the hearts of many Germans, as a newly-created West Germany conquered the most coveted trophy in international football, having beaten the famous “Golden Team” of Hungary in the 1954 World Cup Final. Thus, one of the greatest surprises in the history of the sport opened up new horizons for post-war Germany. What is often overlooked, though, is how Adolf Dassler’s entrepreneurial spirit paved the way for this remarkable performance, for his famous sports shoes helped the German players attain a decisive advantage over their rivals, since the football field from Bern was soaking wet at the hour of the match because of the heavy rain that had fallen that day. More
Exploring the Transformation of Human Work in Relation to the Shock of the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic
Work is one of the concerns of our daily lives. Permanent, but often on very short-term, concerns about work issues are at the forefront of public debates specific to the economic or other fields of social sciences. Countless scientific studies and reports have referred to workforce, professional skills, working time, employment, unemployment, income from work, stress or happiness at work, well-being and work-life balance, their results firmly arguing that the nature of work has changed and that innovation in work can be a driver for sustainable labour productivity growth. As a result, a large number of strategies, policies, programs, measures, each of them regulated at national, regional, union, global level have been elaborated in order to know and control any type of imbalance between the demand and the supply of work. Regardless of the extent to which this has been achieved, or lack thereof, it can be seen that the solutions to the problems have been under the spur of the moment and nobody and nothing has been prepared for what is happening today with the workforce and could happen tomorrow or later on the labour market. More
November Revealed the Highest Number of New Cases Worldwide Since the Start of the New Coronavirus Pandemic
The most powerful 19 countries in the world had different evolutions regarding the number of new cases in the third quarter of the pandemic.November 30 marked 9 months since March 1, considered the beginning of pandemic with the novel coronavirus. Tables 1 and 2 show the monthly figures and daily averages of new cases during the September - November period and the October / September, November / October and November / September volume indices. More
Romania and Denmark – Beyond a Century of Diplomatic Relations
Romania and Denmark can look back on a long and successful cooperation. Since the decision of the Ion I. C. Brătianu Government to establish a Romanian diplomatic office in Copenhagen more than 100 years ago, bilateral relations have reached a level of excellence characterised by a constantly growing political dialogue, increasing economic exchanges, fruitful cooperation in various fields such as culture and science, and people-to-people contacts. It is both challenging and exciting to contribute, in my capacity, to building ever closer relations on this solid foundation, beyond the traditional areas of collaboration, and to diversify our cooperation. More
The Geography that Forged Our History
I do not know if we, Romanians, have a fixation for numbers, I tend to believe not, but we certainly have a penchant for inaugurations: we inaugurate whatever, in any way, just in case. We have reached the performance to crown them all, in 2018, of cutting the ribbon on a school toilet (!), or an end of a road that goes from nowhere to anywhere, and many others. We inaugurate with great pomp the openings of new “construction sites”, no matter which construction, because/although we are certain of one thing, that we will never finish them. More
Mihail Manoilescu: “Protectionism 2.0” – The (New) Name of the (Old) Game in Postwar Developmentalism
Mihail Manoilescu, more than an engineer, journalist or professor, was a Romanian political and economic thinker. Although in his country he was not recognized and his theory used, he has inspired other countries in different regions. His ascension was great, as great as his fall. Mihail Manoilescu ended up in the darkness of oblivion, obscurity and, consequently, death. More
Rumble in the Gulf – A Look at the Significance of the Saudi-Yemeni Conflict
Higher-order cognition in humans is one of the most commonly cited factors that separate us as a species from other life-forms on earth. It enables us to make sense of the patterns in our environment and the laws that govern nature, to think beyond our immediate sensory input and create art and beauty, to encode our knowledge, storing and preserving it, passing it down to further generations who would then use it to yield new knowledge as well as invent new tools and adapt the old into new, to reshape both the internal and the external world. Yet this gift does not come without its caveats, and human cognition is indeed often riddled with biases and shortcuts that, despite allowing us to simplify the complexity of our world, often dull our receptiveness to certain realities or, even more dangerously, offer the illusion of knowledge and understanding when, in fact, they are in short supply. More
Free vs. Fair Trade – Pandemic Edition
At the beginning of studying economics, the two basic ideas every undergrad learns about are the theories of absolute and of comparative advantage, respectively. Ricardo, one of the most influential classical economists, claims that countries specializing in the production of goods for which they have a comparative advantage – meaning a lower opportunity cost in producing those goods – will be better off after engaging in trade with those countries that specialize in different products and services. A win-win situation results from the increased efficiency that derives from specialization of countries, regions or companies. This indispensable theory provides strong arguments in favour of free trade and, more importantly, of the freedom to choose whom to trade with. Its implications apply to all individuals and companies inhabiting those nations. Yet, according to the preacher of fair trade, there seems to be something amiss with Ricardo’s theory. More
