Rubrics » Bridging News
Sovereignty, Security, Prosperity, and the Future of the Eurasia Project
It is time to think big, far beyond China’s Belt and Road. From the Arctic Circle bordered by the Nordic nations in Europe to the steppes of Central Asia, the peoples that live and work across the breadth of the world’s oldest trade routes have an opportunity to secure their own future, dictated not by the whims of great powers, but by a common bond, seeking shared prosperity, security derived from stability and peace, and respect for national sovereignty. More
Three Seas Initiative: New Direction Foreign Policy Council
Since its founding in 2015, the Three Seas Initiative has grown in importance in the region, uniting the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and becoming the primary forum for discussion of investment opportunities and energy security. However, in the last few years it equally begun to represent the collective interests of nations that have most strongly voiced their objection to Russia’s expansionist foreign policy. The Three Seas Initiative now represents a golden opportunity to boost the economies of the region, and defend the interests of its members on the world stage. More
The Digital Economy – Generating Opportunities or Vulnerabilities?
I have argued several times (including in papers published in TMFI) that technological progress can be approached as an opportunity, since, through education and the training of new skills on the labour market, it creates circumstances conducive to the growth of the country and the development of the inclusive nature of the labour market. Digital technology plays a key role in transforming the economy, but also society. On the one hand, impending changes (both emerging and planned) can be very promising; on the other hand, the influence of technologies on production, consumption and employment patterns can provide major challenges that require understanding and managing change from the level of the individual to that of the government. More
Romania: The Highest Shares of Children in Poverty or Social Exclusion in the EU
Among the EU Member States in 2021, the highest shares of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion were recorded in Romania, according to Eurostat data. The percentage of 41.5% was well above those for Spain (33.4%) and Bulgaria (33.0%). On the other hand, the lowest shares were reported in Slovenia (11.0%), Finland (13.2%) and Czech Republic (13.3%). More
Some Reflections on My Experience of Romania
My first direct contact with Romania took place in July 1965. It was choreographed in such a manner that opportunities to meet members of the public were limited. An inescapable feature of life in Romania under the Communist regime was the ubiquity of the Securitate or the security police, known officially for much of the period as the Department of State Security of the Ministry of the Interior. I realised as much from this visit and that realisation was reinforced during my subsequent experience of the country. My professional and personal involvement with Romania encompassed the entire duration of Ceausescu’s rule, from 1965 until 1989, and it was inevitable that this familiarity and my friendship with historians and writers should attract the Securitate’s attention, as confirmed by my consultation in 2007 of my Securitate file. More
CAPITOL LETTERS (Ep. ∞): The Industrial Revolutionizing of the Social Contract: 4.0 Generation Updates
The “egg-and-chicken” problem when, for instance, reasoning on and ruminating about the history-long and worldwide plethora of technological shifts/rifts/drifts and social/political/economic realities is secondary to a principal obviousness: these two dimensions of the human(e) existence are involved in a co-evolutionary relationship, implying mutual and bi-directional causes and effects. Hence, defining (or decreeing) the “technological” as the independent variable and the “socio-” as the dependent one, or maybe vice versa, solely provides the scholar with insights onto limited segments from what it is, yet, a continuum; but, for the scientist, understanding each and every modest and simple link gets him/her closer to the underpinnings of the mega-complex chains of events. Studying Industrial Revolutions’ (IR) imprint on the functioning of polities is such a link, a compound of the chain of capturing the practical means which get us closer to our principled ends. More
The Restless Desire of Power for Power
Today, the regulatory operations of central governments impinge upon virtually all areas of life, leading to widespread efforts by interest groups to have their vision of the good life implemented through law and regulatory oversight. Much of the resulting fiscal, educational, and social intervention is largely invisible to the electorate. Nevertheless, what Thomas Hobbes called “the restless desire of power for power” has set into motion an insatiable empire of debt and dependency, redistribution and retribution, while it divides and rules. More
CAPITOL LETTERS (Ep. 12): The Truth per Thaler Spent (or the Return on Insightfulness)
That Economics is a science is a statement against which it is difficult to argue. Be that as it may, enquiring “what kind of science it is” (exact or social science) should be taken as a pertinent question in its own right. Economists, both those that have already made a name for themselves and those that are still learning the ropes needed to master the theoretical or applied approaches, are the ones expected to have addressed, in foro interno, such dilemmas. Notably, the profession is far from reaching a consensus among its members in such regard. However, investigating what sets economics apart that it finds itself in the position to judge the other sciences, actually, Science, is a track of inquiry that is rarely taken, let alone trod, yet one that could prove surprising if we consider all that it may reveal. The type of judgement we are alluding to refers to one’s capacity of logical reasoning, not that of bringing to a court of justice, i.e., of identifying culprits and casualties. Economic analysis is a way of judging/reasoning about things. More
The Hunger Games: Weaponizing Food
Since the beginning of time, food has been used as a weapon of war. Enemies have tried to starve each other to death. The Romans did it, and so did the Germans, the Americans, and Britain weaponized food against India and the Central Powers. Food has always been used as a weapon of choice in almost every conflict or war.An ugly contradiction is playing out in war-torn Ukraine, as thousands of Ukrainians are starving in cities besieged by Russian forces, even though Ukraine is a key supplier in the global food supply chain, responsible for significant food commodity export. More
CAPITOL LETTERS (Ep. 11): Across (Twelve) Land(s) and (Three) Sea(s)
Phobos, kerdos and doxa: fear, egotism and glory. These are the inner forces of human nature, according to Thucydides, the “grandfather” of political realism, if we are to concede paternity in modern times to H. Morgenthau. These forces animate (or do they animalize?) this world since the world began. Realists, as weighers and counters of power both between individuals and nations, look towards and “chart” this world through “balances of power”. They poke fun at idealists, who naively seek concord among men and states through institutionalized bargains and norms (pace Kant and W. Wilson), by claiming that institutions, otherwise upheld as triumphs of reason, are nothing more than secondary products of a primary balance of power. Physical nature is the stage for human nature’s growls and pantomimes: it does not determine, nor dictate, but amplifies or blots human impulses and inferences. Geographies may not hold complete explanations, but they do present complications, as Eastern Europe has learned to its sorrow. More
INFatuated, INFuriated, INFlexible?
What the international press and analysts from every corner of the world have speculated on for more than a year has happened. The White House has announced that the US is withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The decision is congruent with the US President's foreign policy preferences, but it could generate significant consequences because it of the possibility of disrupting an extremely fragile international nuclear balance. More
Material Consumption, a Key Problem for Sustainable Development in Romania
Romania is on the podium in the top 3 in terms of domestic material consumption between EU Member States and holds the first position in the category of non-metallic materials, which includes household garbage. The data were presented by Eurostat for the year 2021 and are calculated in tonnes per person, by resource category, which also includes biomass, metal ores and fossil-based materials. More
