Since Trump took office in 2017, American foreign policy turned its back on nearly any initiative Obama had undertaken in his two mandates. Trump’s rhetoric, whether we like it or not, is direct, perhaps not elegant and neither diplomatic.Yet, this peculiar approach shall not mislead us in the process of understanding his foreign policy. Trump…
Before getting ready to visit a country like Laos we need to reset all our certainties of what we think we know, because the same terms we use every day, concepts, definitions, values, verbs, in other cultures can take on a meaning completely different. Laos is a very poor country, only the main roads are…
STRASBOURG – Volt, the first pan-European progressive political movement, launched at the summit held in Paris over the weekend the start of its campaign for the European elections. The Assembly has registered the participation of over 200 members of the movement, coming from all over the continent, who have developed the strategy to be adopted…
We are living in a world where people hardly tolerate everything that is far from their own culture. “Parler en paix” provides a place, in Paris, where Arabic and Jewish cultures can find a common ground. The association has been founded in 2004 in Paris. It provides lessons in both Arabic and Hebrew in order…
The teenage charged with unleashing one of America’s worst school shootings may have chosen Valentine’s Day to strike after the end of a relationship with a girlfriend. Nikolas Cruz gunned down 17 people at his former school in Parkland, an suburb north of Miami, Florida. Police said he Cruz fired an AR-15 assault-style rifle for…
Despite being the birthplace of Buddha, in Nepal the most widespread religion is Hinduism. This is one of the oldest and provides for the worship of various deities. Among these, there is one that is called the living Goddess: the Kumari. The name means “virgin” and indicates purity. According to Hindu culture, the child reincarnates…
This morning, I read this piece on hurricanes, climate change and human responsibilities in Social News by Max Fanni Canelles. It made me think of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s recent visit to Derry, the walled city in Northern Ireland, as a guest of the organisation ‘Children in Crossfire’ which is marking 20 years of…
Just before yesterday’s murderous and callous attack on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, my daughter had stopped there for coffee. She was preparing to say farewell to Barcelona, her home all summer since, like so many young Irish people, she had moved there in May for the summer. It was her last day. She had intended…
What do Donald Trump, Hugo Chávez, Justin Trudeau, Silvio Berlusconi and Cristina Kirchner have in common? Considering the ideological aspect, experts’ debate goes around whether one is closer to the right wing than the others are or if one is conservative while the others typify themselves as revolutionary. When a specialist tries to classify them…
“Sexual violence is always a hateful and disgusting act, but it is socially and morally even more unacceptable when it is done by those who ask for and receive hospitality in our country.” These words by Debora Serracchiani – Governor of Friuli Venezia Giulia ( Italian region ) – have sparked innumerable controversies evidently exploited by politicians and…
