The reaction of the media and the politicians to the massive “no” votes
against the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands reveals
the nature of our “elites”. However, all the propaganda was to no
avail. A few days after the “non” vote in France, the same thing
happened in the Netherlands.
Last week’s European summit ended in tears as negotiations on the
European Union budget collapsed. The usual diplomatic talk was nowhere
to be seen at what will become known as the summit where the whole
integration process in the EU was halted in its tracks. Maarten
Vanheuverswyn looks at the conflicting national interests that are at
the heart of this crisis.
On May 24, 2002, in the Kremlin's gilded throne room, Putin and Bush signed an agreement reducing long-range nuclear weapons by two-thirds over ten years. As part of the deal with NATO, Russia and America were supposed to cooperate in Bush's plans to build a missile defence shield once the ABM treaty is scrapped in June. Immediately afterwards, the formation of the "NATO-Russia Council" in which was Russia is supposed to participate was announced to the world. Such an agreement between the old enemies Russia and America would have seemed utterly unthinkable just one year ago. Suddenly, the world seemed a more secure place. However, as Alan Woods explains, the relations between Russia, Europe and America are not what they appear to be.