Appointed in 2009 by the European Union’s then-26 heads of state (there will soon be 28), Van Rompuy is bound to their decisions – a degree of separation between his office and European public opinion that he insisted is good and necessary. But he also spoke of wrestling the Council, which must act unanimously, into consensus. “I’ve stayed in good shape for a man of 66,” he joked.
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D'Avila asserted that, “no political leaders are willing to promote cultural change and run political risk” in Brazil and that, “[p]opulism continues to be a recurrent binding constraint for promoting institutional changes."
Read MoreEmiliou mentioned the recent issue of upgrading Palestine’s status in the UN, which prompted a three way split within the EU member nations. He stated that this is “illustrative of the fact that we have a long way to go in order to establish a common foreign policy.”
Read MoreWith a historic number of women in the Senate, more discussion of woman’s rights in politics than ever before, and a Democratic Party that finally has been emboldened to stand for women, it seems as though 2012 truly is the “year of the woman” that feminists have fought so long for, though challenges remain.
Read MoreWoodward is critical of the fact that today’s journalists cover presidential speeches that represent weeks of work in a matter of minutes with a blog and a tweet. Taking no time to reflect and critically analyze, journalists hastily move on to a new topic after a post on their blog.
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Though the conversation covered a lot of ground during the two hour event, one theme that united all the speaker’s discussion of politics was the importance of a continuous progressive force in America.
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The impassioned manner in which Zizek debates reminds us that this is what politics is supposed to be: real debate, real radicalism, and real ideas.
Read MoreTalking to Columbia students Tuesday night on behalf of the Kenneth Cole Foundation, Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey discussed love, hope, change, and this generation’s imperative to tackle the hard issues.
Read MoreFew understand human suffering better than Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor who lost most of his family in the camps, yet still fewer seem to understand the human condition as well as he.
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With the presidential election looming ahead and the economy considered unanimously to be the most defining issue, a debate between the senior economic advisers of the candidates could not have been more fitting for last night’s World Leaders Forum event.
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Amid the discussion of credit default swaps, capital requirements, and mortgage restructuring, Bair stressed the importance of trust – not only that financial institutions need to gain trust from the public, but also that the public needs to trust regulators.
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On a dark, cold Monday evening nearly a hundred students, faculty member, and union organizers sat together at Barnard in the group’s first sign of solidarity. The struggle, pitting Barnard President Debora Spar against 130 of the lowest paid employees on campus, will determine whether these workers get to maintain basic labor rights ranging from serious cuts to healthcare and maternity leave to controversial proposals like the elimination of sexual harassment claims and child care leave.
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This past Thursday, Her Excellency Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf spoke under Low Rotunda, in an event titled “Challenges of Transformation in a Fragile State; The Case of Liberia.”
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Under the rotunda of Low, four of the biggest names in the fight against HIV/AIDS all voiced the opinion that the tide has turned in the struggle against the disease.
Read MoreThe event was timely in light of recent conjecture surrounding the European Central Bank’s predicted interest rate cut, which is will lower interest rates to 0.50 percent (down from 0.75) in an attempt to boost growth throughout the faltering eurozone.
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But being an elite is expensive. Fortunately, Spar and her Wall St. affiliated Barnard board members realized the best way to keep Barnard solvent would be to slash the health, pension, and tuition benefits of the lowest paid employees at the college-the clerical workers. And in order to empower women, Spar decided to drastically cut from the most basic female employment victories — maternity leave and flex time.
Read MoreProfessor Freeman began by setting the tone of the era through the eyes of Alexander Hamilton, noting that, "He was a brilliant, sometimes arrogant, often impatient, and always impulsive politician."
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The future lies in “two vital principles,” which he delineated as good governance and the allowance of political freedoms ingrained in established rules of human rights. This, warned Ihsanoglu, “is no easy undertaking,” especially in a world with such a diverse scale of polities and ideological landscapes. Some Muslim regimes have the “strictest possible” interpretation of Islam, while others deny its role, and others seek a middle way.
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Since her release from house arrest and her election to parliament, Suu Kyi is no longer just a symbol of hope but also a political figure. As a political figure, Suu Kyi has to navigate the treacherous waters of Burma's polity, and that means steering away from the tough questions.
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