The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will hold meetings on May 20 and 21 in Chicago. This will be the first time an American city other than Washington will host a NATO summit. Let's hope that the Chicago Summit will be long remembered but not only for this...

In the spring of 2011, historical events unfolded in the southern part of the Mediterranean. Countries from Egypt to Libya were going through popular revolts to seek political changes. These events led to an uprising in Libya and later to an armed conflict, resulting in a NATO-led operation against the...

2011 started with high hopes in the Arab world. A series of uprisings toppled long-ruling dictators: with four down so far, the blood-drenched Syrian despot will surely follow his counterparts in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. If the uprisings were welcomed, the new regimes' instability has fuelled anxieties. Power struggles...

In a perfect world, Gaddafi would be tried fairly and Libya would emerge as a flourishing democracy free of tribal conflict and Islamist interference. Since the world is unfortunately not perfect, the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) and its international supporters must now find the ways of securing a post-Gaddafi...

Since Mubarak's ousting, a pivotal player has been brought to light in the Egyptian political structure: the army, which is clearly not neutral as it has an agenda and interests. If Tahrir Square's protesters certainly help, the army played the main role in Mubarak's resignation and it now enjoys absolute...

The public perception of immigrants is often negative, linking them almost exclusively to poverty and security risks. Despite this conventional wisdom, which materializes during elections, there is no proof that immigration has a negative effect on natives. The opposite, in fact, may be true. Immigration may well affect natives positively....

Algeria embraced the popular overthrow of Benali and Mubarak with happiness and pride. More onerously, however, these developments are a sobering reminder of Algeria's recent history.

Far from being unprecedented in modern North African history, these recent events were long-preceded: in October 1988, a spontaneous and massive Algerian...

Three imports shape US foreign policy towards Latin America: Energy, Migration, Cocaine and the Criminality that too often goes with drugs. A scientific mind would be tempted to summarize Washington's policy towards the rest of the continent using Einstein's equation E=MC2. Instead of describing the mass-energy equivalence, this equation within...

Two decades ago, many commentators predicted the demise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Without the Soviet threat, they argued, it had outlived its purpose. However, NATO fulfilled other political functions, such as strengthening democracy amongst member states and peaceful relationships between allies. Although its main purpose was...

France has always maintained that the possession of nuclear weapons first and foremost provides a deterrent to aggressive acts against its interests. However, it retains the policy option of using nuclear weapons in a further first strike capacity. The French strategic doctrine has always been and remains one of crushing...

Both debate on pension reform in France and international media coverage focused on the excesses of social protest. Sadly this has only deepened what was already perhaps the most entrenched stereotype about the French -- their predilection for going on strike. This clash was not, however, only or even primarily...

Europeans and Americans often feel uneasy about each other's attitude towards capital punishment -- a punishment that many in the US openly support but which Europeans consider abhorrent to the point that 'executions per capita' is quite frequently used as a negative global measurement of political and human rights. Curiously,...

After months of controversy, the French Senate recently adopted the law banning the burqa -- the enveloping outer garment worn by women to conceal their bodies from head to toe in some Islamic traditions -- in public spaces. Whether we like the burqa or not, we should recognize that French...

The consequences of both the recession and the subsequent foreclosure crisis have highlighted the failure of urban policies on both sides of the Atlantic. In part, this is due to insufficient funds for the tasks at hand. However, this failure also reflects the difficulty of devising policies that encompass multiple...

2010 has been rife with anti-immigrant rhetoric and action on both sides of the Atlantic. There were the atrocious anti-migrant riots in Italy and the passing of controversial Arizona law SB 1070. France has taken a demagogic turn, which some commentators dub xenophobic. Even Canada, which is celebrated...

The United States sells itself as the land where women and men can rise from humble origins to the highest offices in the land. Americans describe the triumphs of Abraham Lincoln, the president who was born in a log cabin, and Bill Clinton, the president who was born in a...