Europe
May 15, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Thirty-two years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Poland is fast becoming one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in Europe. Daniel Johnson reports in the Telegraph: On a visit to Wrocław a fortnight ago, the zloty dropped: Poland is rapidly becoming the new central European superpower. *** [N]owhere else in the Soviet empire did people’s power prevail so triumphantly as in Poland. The land of lost causes
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April 10, 2023 — Elizabeth Stauffer
Following six hours of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to a Politico reporter and two French journalists aboard COTAM Unité, France’s Air Force One this weekend. He discussed his concept of “strategic autonomy for Europe, presumably led by France, to become a third superpower.” Specifically, Macron said Europe’s “greatest risk” is getting “caught up in crises that are not ours,” such as a potential conflict
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March 27, 2023 — Scott Johnson
I must lead a sheltered life not to have heard of Eva Vlaardingerbroek. I only learned of Ms. V. this morning from reading Taki Theodoracopulos’s enticingly headlined Spectator column “My lunch with a Dutch blonde bombshell.” It is published in the March 25 number of the Spectator’s UK magazine under the somewhat blander headline “The lost art of lunching.” Having met Ms. V. for lunch, Taki reports that he immediately
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March 17, 2023 — John Hinderaker
We have written (here and here) about the Dutch government’s war on its own people. In service to the mythical god of global warming, the Netherlands is driving its farmers out of business. Which is not only bad for the farmers, it is bad for the Dutch economy, since that country is the number two exporter of food products in the world. Not to mention that it is bad for
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February 27, 2023 — John Hinderaker
We are fans of Italy’s new, populist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Now it appears that a similar figure is rising in Spain: Madrid’s President, Isabel Díaz Ayuso: Fresh from freeing Madrid from lockdown, Isabel Díaz Ayuso is waging a war on woke and seeking to turn Madrid into the “Florida of Europe” in a campaign that could ultimately lead to her becoming Spain’s first female prime minister. The “Florida of
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December 26, 2022 — John Hinderaker
In general, political apologies are worse than useless. The Left can never be appeased, and an apology just leads to more demands, often of a financial nature. But the case of Belgium tests that principle: Why Belgium Won’t Apologize For Its Savagery In Congo: Belgium’s king has vetoed an apology for his country’s savage colonial past in central Africa, raising the ghost of his ancestor Leopold II whose reign of
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November 13, 2022 — John Hinderaker
The NATO alliance seems stronger in light of events in Ukraine and Russia. But economic competition and security may be something else. The Telegraph headlines: “Europe has picked a side in the new Cold War – China.” In the new Cold War economy, trade will be restricted, technology fenced off, and intellectual property fiercely protected. Manufacturing capabilities will be built up, and supply chains brought closer to home to ensure
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November 11, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Last week we noted that European inflation is running higher than U.S. inflation, and today news out of London that the British economy is officially in recession. It also appears that recession is already under way in continental Europe, at least in their all-important manufacturing sector, which is swooning toward 2009 and COVID shutdown levels. This may be more on account of the insane energy policies and incipient shortages, but
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November 6, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Yes indeed I am presently en route to Europe for a number of meetings in several different undisclosed locations to plot and scheme against the left, though my podcast co-conspirators John Yoo and Lucretia and I will surface briefly for a podcast recorded on location in Milan early next week. I do have one public event, however. I know Power Line has a handful of readers in Budapest, because one
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October 7, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Joe Biden’s dementia took center stage in world diplomatic circles when he went off-script at a fundraiser last night. He was quoted as saying: “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since [President JFK] Kennedy and the [1962] Cuban missile crisis. “I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.” *** Mr Biden said he
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September 29, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Conservative electoral victories across Europe have the continent’s left-wing establishment nervous. New British Prime Minister Liz Truss and her chancellor have announced a program of tax cuts intended to incentivize growth in Britain’s economy. Who knows? It has worked before, it may work again. But the International Monetary Fund isn’t waiting to find out. It demands that the U.K. change its announced policy to conform to liberal norms. The Telegraph
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September 28, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines? Your guess is as good as mine. It does seem peculiar to think Russia would have blown up their own pipeline, but it is not inconceivable that a faction of Russia’s military is trying to sabotage Putin as a prelude for ousting him, or that Putin sees it as a kind of “Cortez burning his ships” moment to indicate that he is all-in
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September 26, 2022 — Steven Hayward
We’re getting another confirmation today of a key definition in Power Line’s Lexicon of Leftist Terms: ‘”Populism” is when the wrong person or cause wins a free election”.’ The corollary is that every Republican candidate for president is Hitler, and now we learn that every Italian conservative is Mussolini. On the other hand, I can see why the authoritarian elites of the European Union, who have made vague threats against
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September 24, 2022 — John Hinderaker
We wrote here about today’s election in Italy, and the likelihood that it will be won by a conservative coalition led by Giorgia Meloni and the Brothers of Italy party. Meloni is “far right,” which means she is skeptical of the benefits of endless illegal immigration, and a “firebrand,” which means she gives speeches that voters like. The election is going on right now, and Meloni is favored to emerge
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September 15, 2022 — Steven Hayward
I’ll bet Tom Friedman would really like to indulge his authoritarian impulse to be “China for a day” (because then we could impose the “right solutions” to all our problems) right now. Today he uncorked a primal scream whose subtext is: Sarah Palin (and Donald Trump) were right: we should drill, baby, drill! here in the U.S. Yes—for oil and natural gas! Don’t believe me? It turns out that Putin
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September 13, 2022 — Steven Hayward
The Washington Post reported yesterday that someone woke up Slow Joe: White House alarm rises over Europe as Putin threatens energy supply White House officials are growing increasingly alarmed about Europe’s energy crisis and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats to force a bleak winter on the continent. Seeking to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine and force a retreat, Western allies have moved to set a cap on what
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September 11, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Perhaps the most memorable comment at the outbreak of World War I—or at least the one quoted in every history book—came from the British foreign minister Sir Edward Grey: “The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time.” The first half of this statement suddenly applies again to Europe’s energy crisis that threatens a cold and dark winter ahead, and we’ll have
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