Czech Republic

Think Tank's Advice To Europe: Stop 'Fetishizing' American Relationship

Spiegel Online | Gregor Peter Schmitz | Posted 11.03.2009 | World


The council released a study on Monday called "Toward a Post-American Europe," based on wide-ranging interviews and research conducted in the 27 EU me...

Remembering The Fall Of The Berlin Wall And Soviet Domination: Commentary

GlobalPost | Posted 11.02.2009 | World


I first saw the Berlin Wall in 1971. It was then about 10 years old and was the ugliest human structure I'd ever seen: gray, brutal, pitiless, unyield...

Ondra Completes 5.15a/b First Ascent 

Climbing Magazine | climbing | Posted 10.26.2009 | Home


10/26/09 - Adam Ondra, the 16-year-old from the Czech Republic, has completed his hardest route yet, and it was a first ascent: Marina Superstar (9a+/...

The Ironic Curtain, a Czech Film Series, Comes To New York

Brad Balfour | Posted 10.26.2009 | New York


Brad Balfour

The Ironic Curtain opens with the North American premiere of Pavel Koutecký and Miroslav Janek's intimate documentary, Citizen Havel, about the private and public life of this playwright turned president.

Obama Shouldn't Ignore Eastern Europe: Commentary

nytimes.com | MIRCEA GEOANA | Posted 10.23.2009 | World


The decision by the Obama administration to reshape its missile shield deployment in Central and Eastern Europe has been seen by some in the region as...

Switzerland, Slovakia qualify for World Cup

AP | STUART CONDIE | Posted 10.14.2009 | Home


— Switzerland and Slovakia earned Europe's final two automatic berths for next year's World Cup on Wednesday night, while Argentina tried to beat out Uruguay and Ecuador for South America's last certain spot in the 32-nation field.

Costa Rica played at the United States, which clinched its sixth straight berth last weekend, and the Ticos hoped to stay ahead of Honduras and gain the final automatic place from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Ukraine finished second in their groups and joined Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Ireland and Russia in the European playoffs. They will be drawn into four pairs on Monday, and the winners of home-and-home, total-goals matches on Nov. 14 and 18 will qualify for next year's 32-nation field.

By the end of Wednesday, 23 of the 32 nations will have been determined for next year's tournament in South Africa.

In addition to the U.S., Mexico had ensured a berth in CONCACAF, while Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia and Spain had clinched automatic berths in Europe. Brazil, Chile and Paraguay had earned berths from South America, and Australia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea won Asia's spots. Ghana and Ivory Coast joined host South Africa, which qualified automatically as host.

Counter-Factual History: McCain Is President and Bono Wins the Nobel Prize

Leon T. Hadar | Posted 10.14.2009 | World


Leon T. Hadar

"I have to admit that I'm beginning to miss George W. Bush," is the way former Republican Senator "Chuck" Hagel responded when being asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer to assess the foreign policy record of the administration of Republican President John McCain.

Full Throttle to Hyperlocal News in Czech Republic

Magda Abu-Fadil | Posted 10.13.2009 | Media


Magda Abu-Fadil

In the Czech Republic, "news cafés" are springing up, where people can relax, meet, down some brew, see their local paper being produced, mingle with editors and contribute copy.

Czech leader demands addition of footnote to Lisbon Treaty

The Independent | Independent | Posted 10.08.2009 | Home


The Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, raised a new obstacle to ratifying the Lisbon Treaty yesterday, telling Sweden, which holds the EU presid...

New missile defense plan bets on Navy interceptors

AP | RICHARD LARDNER | Posted 09.30.2009 | Home


WASHINGTON — Ever since President Ronald Reagan proposed building a ballistic missile shield in 1983 to prevent a doomsday scenario, the idea has been dogged by an unanswered question: Will it work?

The prime target during the Reagan era was Russian missiles. A scaled-down defensive system recently proposed by the Obama administration would aim to shoot down warheads from Iran, which has heightened concerns by building a clandestine uranium enrichment plant and test firing missiles this week with a range of up to 1,200 miles.

But even as the U.S. prepares to meet on Thursday with Iranian officials in Geneva over the regime's nuclear ambitions, the administration's reliance on missile defense to guard against the unthinkable still amounts to a gamble.

Components of the latest system have shone in controlled test environments, but the new plan relies heavily on radars and ship-based interceptors that haven't endured real battle conditions.

"We're not building all these missile defense systems because we're worried about Iran firing a rocket with TNT on it," said Philip Coyle, the Pentagon's chief of weapons testing from 1994 to 2001. "We're worried about nuclear weapons, and nobody knows whether missile defenses can work with nuclear weapons going off."

Spider On Pope (PICTURE, VIDEO): Spider Crawls On Pope Benedict's Face During Speech In Prague

AP | Posted 09.26.2009 | World


PRAGUE (AP) — President Barack Obama had his fly. Now Pope Benedict XVI has his spider. A large arachnid appeared on the pope's white robes as ...

Medvedev lauds US move on missile defense

AP | SLOBODAN LEKIC | Posted 09.23.2009 | Home


Russian president Dmitry Medvedev lauded on Wednesday the Obama administration's decision to scrap plans for an Eastern Europe-based missile shield, a major irritant in relations with Moscow.

"We view this decision as a constructive step in the right direction that deserve a positive response from the international community," Medvedev said, referring to Washington's decision last week to shelve a Bush-era plan for an Eastern European missile defense shield.

President Barack Obama attributed his decision to abandon the plan to deploy U.S. radars and strategic missile interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland, to a changed perception of the threat posed by Iran.

He said the U.S. government now considered that short- and medium-range missiles from Iran now pose a greater near-term threat than the intercontinental ballistic missiles the Bush plan addressed. A proposed new missile-defense plan would rely on a network of sensors and interceptor missiles based at sea, on land and in the air as a bulwark against any potential Iranian attack.

The original missile defense plan was one of the thorniest issues in U.S.-Russian relations. Obama has sought to improve ties with the Kremlin, declaring he wanted to "reset" relations with the former Cold War rival.

With Missile Shield Change, National Interests Get a Leg Up on the Military-Industrial Complex

Leon T. Hadar | Posted 09.22.2009 | World


Leon T. Hadar

Remember the good-old days when the perceived Soviet threat was a constant opportunity for politicians, bureaucrats and interest groups to stimulate new arms races?

Poles, Czechs: U.S. Missile Defense Shift A "Betrayal"

AP | VANESSA GERA | Posted 09.18.2009 | World


WARSAW, Poland — Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern Friday at President Barack Obama's decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defense shield pla...

Report: Obama to shelve Bush's plan for missile shield in Europe

Haaretz. | Haaretz | Posted 09.17.2009 | Home


The White House will shelve Bush administration plans to build a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, the Wall Street Journal repo...

U.S. To Shelve Bush's Nuclear-Missile Shield

AP | ANNE GEARAN | Posted 09.18.2009 | World


WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama abruptly canceled a long-planned missile shield for Eastern Europe on Thursday, replacing a Bush-era project...

Prague: Monstertown

David Parker | Posted 09.15.2009 | Comedy


David Parker

To avoid being robbed of all my korunas and left for dead on a Mala Strana sidewalk, I ducked into a bookstore. In the window, two books were prominently displayed: Mein Kampf and Winnie the Pooh.

Starbucks Is Pulling Back In The US, But It's Growing In Central Europe

GlobalPost | Posted 11.11.2009 | World


PRAGUE, Czech Republic - In a country where people are used to drinking their unfiltered Turkish coffees in small ceramic cups, Starbucks first 18 mon...

US European Missile Defense System: Alternatives Being Considered

AP | DESMOND BUTLER | Posted 08.30.2009 | World


WASHINGTON — A senior Defense Department official said Thursday that the United States is considering options for European missile defense other...

Top 10 Places I Want to Travel to Before I Die

Maria Rodale | Posted 08.27.2009 | Living


Maria Rodale

I am going to share my list of the top 10 places I want to go to before I die (in no particular order, although I hope dying comes last).

Biden to greet eager allies in Ukraine and Georgia

AP | MARIA DANILOVA | Posted 08.19.2009 | Home


Vice President Joe Biden is visiting Georgia and Ukraine starting Monday, meeting leaders eager for further reassurance that Washington still supports their joining NATO and that its effort to warm relations with Russia won't come at their expense.

The Kremlin, having seen several former communist countries of Eastern Europe enter the Western alliance, strongly opposes more of its own former republics joining. And although the Obama administration has insisted nothing has changed regarding the Georgian and Ukrainian candidacies, there's a widespread perception in the former Soviet bloc that the U.S. has opted to move more slowly.

On Thursday, an open letter whose signatories included such icons of the battle against Soviet domination as Poland's Lech Walesa and the Czech Republic's Vaclav Havel urged the Obama administration not to sacrifice Russia's smaller neighbors for better relations with Moscow.

Ukraine and Georgia have drawn some comfort from Obama's explicit warning to Russia, during this month's Moscow summit, to respect its neighbors' borders. Biden's visit comes 11 months after Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war over two breakaway Georgian regions.

"This visit will be aimed at cooling the hotheads in Moscow and starting more active work on de-occupying Georgian territory," said Temuri Yakobashvili, the Georgian government minister in charge of efforts to recover South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Russia has recognized as independent despite international protest.

Diminishing Returns for Obama's Summiteering?

William Bradley | Posted 08.12.2009 | Media


William Bradley

American media, especially cable TV news, is moving more into infotainment mode, stuck on a few areas. Geopolitics has never been its strong suit, and political coverage is mostly focused on food fights.

Obama Does Moscow, and Vice Versa

William Bradley | Posted 08.08.2009 | World


William Bradley

Unlike most of the rest of Europe, Russia is hardly in the grips of Obamamania. He's certainly more popular than George W. Bush or John McCain, but that's damning with faint praise.

Russia: Not Ready for Obama

Amitai Etzioni | Posted 08.06.2009 | World


Amitai Etzioni

As President Obama heads to Russia, stove-piping is blocking what could be a major multifaceted deal. The main negotiations in preparation for the president's visit are taking place in tightly controlled compartments.

Holocaust Survivors, Jewish Groups Gather In Prague For Stolen Assets Conference

AP | KAREL JANICEK | Posted 07.27.2009 | World


PRAGUE — Holocaust survivors, Jewish groups and experts gathered in Prague on Friday to assess efforts to return property and possessions stolen...