Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Philip Gordon made these remarks during a Media Roundtable at the U.S. Embassy in London, England, on January 9, 2013, and addressed the possibility of Britain leaving the EU.
This act grants permanent normal trade relations with Russia and was signed into law on December 14, 2012. See also the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. The U.S. Treasury Department releases sanctions under the Magnitsky Act, which bans specific Russian citizens from entering the United States. The Russian Foreign Ministry recently released a list in response, banning specific U.S. citizens from entering Russia.
Still in its infancy, the international anti-corruption movement has the potential to enhance and augment human-rights rhetoric enormously. Both rely on arguments about justice, fairness, and the rule of law.
"Europe's leaders were right about the pressure. Monetary union without banking union will not work, and a workable banking union requires at least some elements of fiscal and political union. But they were wrong about the irresistible part. There is no inevitability about what comes next."
Authors: Konstantin von Hammerstein and René Pfister
"She currently holds the fate of Europe in her hands. If the euro is rescued, Merkel will get most of the credit, and if it falls apart, she will be forced to shoulder the blame. No other German chancellor has had as much power on the European continent as the current one. And yet, ironically enough, none of Merkel's predecessors were as dispassionate about the European Union as the woman currently governing from the Chancellery."
Elliott Abrams examines recent news of Jews in Denmark being warned against openly wearing religious symbols amid rising anti-Israeli sentiment in Copenhagen.
EU leaders at this week's summit are expected to advance a banking union crucial to restoring confidence in the eurozone, but its full implementation is a long way off, says CFR's Robert Kahn.
Charles A. Kupchan argues that David Cameron's changes to Britain's relationship with the European Union run the risk of a British exit from the union and a weakening of Britain's role as a bridge between the United States and Europe.
Acrimony among European leaders regardinga new EU budget is indicative of larger challenges the union faces in facilitating further economic integration, says CFR's Sebastian Mallaby.
The eurozone crisis has consequences far beyond the continent's economic performance, such as the EU's ability to forge coherent defense and foreign policy.
Poland has maintained economic growth despite the global financial crisis and eurozone woes, while asserting itself as a leading advocate for greater European integration, explains this Backgrounder.
Ed Husain says Europe needs to foster a greater sense of multiculturalism. In the United States, immigrants are accepted; in most of Europe, they are just tolerated.
Steven A. Cook says leadership in the Middle East is up for grabs as the Syrian war intensifies, the Arab Spring changes regional power dynamics, and Israel's airstrikes and Hamas rockets again roil Gaza. Last year, Turkey was the assumed role model for the region. But it has fallen down on the job.
Sebastian Mallaby argues that the European Central Bank should embrace a weighted-vote governance structure in its plans for a new bank supervisory board.
The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.
Special operations play a critical role in how the United States confronts irregular threats, but to have long-term strategic impact, the author argues, numerous shortfalls must be addressed.
The author analyzes the potentially serious consequences, both at home and abroad, of a lightly overseen drone program and makes recommendations for improving its governance.
Two experts argue that despite myriad development strategies, only one can succeed in alleviating poverty in India: the overall growth of the country's economy. More