The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is often lauded as the world’s most successful ever military alliance, and I for one am not about to ‘diss’ the role it played in providing protection for Western Europe against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Supposedly, NATO is not just a military alliance, it is also…
A Colloquia took place at the Institute of Political Studies, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, earlier this month entitled ‘Restless World, Restless Democracies’. It was the third event in an annual series, the purpose of which is – as its chief organiser Prof. Lívia Franco put it – to serve as a laboratory for ideas. This…
In this second article I shall continue with an examination of challenges facing Ireland in a security and defence context but first I need to say a little more about the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). NATO’s woes As I wrote in a piece for this newspaper in July 2024, NATO has had its share…
Some years ago, while on a diplomatic posting at the Irish Embassy in Lisbon, I attended a ceremony at which the then Ambassador of Ireland to Portugal, John Campbell, gave an address to graduating students at St Dominic’s International School. The key sentence of Ambassador Campbell’s speech that day has always remained with me. He…
The splendid Maggio Musicale building in Florence was the venue for the third annual European festival of journalism and media freedom. As the programme explained, the festival is a “three-day event where citizens can come together to explore crucial themes shaping our relationship with information.” The chief organiser is the Centre for Media Pluralism and…
During a recent RTÉ radio interview with Brendan O’Connor, Mairead McGuinness was quizzed inter alia about European Union (EU) issues. The former European Commissioner, former First Vice-President of the European Parliament, and erstwhile Fine Gael Presidential candidate, gave a spirited defence of the EU. Conceding that it needed to be much more agile, nonetheless she…
Donald J Trump is no political philosopher, nor would he have the slightest desire to be one. As Prof. Sheri Berman of Bard College New York quipped last year about Curtis Yarvin, Trump is no Carl Schmitt. Yet in relation to his obsessive desire to gain control of Greenland for the United States, however perversely,…
In a speech to the American Bar Association in July 2000 the then Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Harney, made a profound observation about Celtic Tiger Ireland. “Geographically”, she said, “we are closer to Berlin than Boston. Spiritually, we are probably a lot closer to Boston than Berlin.”…
I’ve been taking part in the annual conference of the Council for European Studies (CES) at Temple University, Philadelphia, June 25-27. The theme this year is ‘Legacies and Ruptures: Making Sense of Europe’ and within that there’s a special focus on the transatlantic relationship. I gave a presentation on Day 1 entitled, ‘An Ocean Apart:…
Ireland must not join the cascade of former colonial powers trampling on people’s wishes, writes Michael Sanfey Western Sahara – previously known as Spanish Sahara – had been under Spanish colonial control since the late 19th century until Spain decided to pull out in 1975 leading to a tussle for control between Morocco, Mauritania and…