Europe
“Something is happening and you don’t know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?” Bob Dylan sang. Mr. Jones was the typical suburban “square,” and the “something” that was happening was the sudden explosion of the new left and the counter-culture during the Sixties. Something extraordinary is happening now in European and American politics. READ MORE >>
Obama's Pivot to Europe
Forget China. An EU trade deal would be the real game-changer.
At a time when everyone in Washington wants to talk about making a “pivot” to Asia, both economically and politically, it would be tempting to dismiss President Obama's decision, announced in his State of the Union address, to pursue a United States-European Union free trade area. It would also be a big mistake. The fact is, the U.S. READ MORE >>
Much of Benedict XVI's papacy necessarily consisted of damage control, most notably relating to the widening scandals relating to child molestation. But beyond the many crises he faced, Benedict's legacy deserves to be measured against the goals that he chose to devote himself to as leader of the Catholic Church. Indeed, the manner in which Benedict attempted to pursue one of his central ambitions—the re-evangelization of Europe—sheds revealing light on his other missteps and failures. READ MORE >>
Obama's Europe Troubles, Thomas Friedman’s Self Indulgence, and Women with Guns: Today's TNR Reader
Editor’s Note: We’ll be running the article recommendations of our friends at TNR Reader each afternoon on The Plank, just in time to print out or save for your commute home. Enjoy! Thomas Friedman’s columns are not just self-indulgent. They are an assault on humanity. Jacobin Magazine | 7 min (1,717 words) READ MORE >>
What Happened to Europe?
Europe's 1960s protest movement sought to chart a path to political power in the interest of a socialist agenda—a “long march through the institutions” is what they called it. But in his street fighting days, it’s safe to say that Dany Cohn-Bendit, the former enfant terrible of 1968’s Paris May, never imagined where this march would deliver him: ensconced at the European Parliament in Brussels, at the very pinnacle of the European establishment. READ MORE >>
Editor’s Note: We’ll be running the article recommendations of our friends at TNR Reader each afternoon on The Plank, just in time to print out or save for your commute home. Enjoy! Something new from an old master: A short story by Elmore Leanord. The Atlantic | 9 min (2,276 words) READ MORE >>
