2014/10/03 LEAP/E2020 Press Review on the Global Systemic Crisis

Excerpt GEAB No 81 : 2014 – World political chaos, statistical « smog », risk that the financial planet explodes… but solutions for the future continue to emerge

Historians, who usually consider that the 19th century runs from 1815 (Waterloo) to 1914 (the First World War) would certainly define the 20th century by the period 1914-2014, ending with the year in which the old system dies whilst a new one emerges. In this New Year 2014 welcome, then, to the 21st century! We have symbolised 2013 as “the first steps in a chaotic world after”..

LEAP/E2020 - Excerpt GEAB N°81 (January 2014)

ECB to launch asset buying this month

The European Central Bank has said it's willing to use further unconventional policy tools to stave off the risk of deflation in the eurozone. A special asset-backed securities scheme will start later this month.

Deutsche Welle

To Russia With Love

It’s not only the actor Gérard Depardieu, his new residency in Saransk, Mordovia, where he benefits from a 6 percent income tax rate as a “private entrepreneur” and his antics about how proud he is to have become Russian. Less colorful friends of Russia have been quite vocal in France lately, in a sign of the divisions that the conflict over Ukraine has created among the French elite.

New York Times

Gas war escalates as Russia halves Slovakia supplies

Russia has cut gas deliveries to Slovakia by half in a bad sign for EU efforts to broker a deal on Ukraine. Prime minister Robert Fico told press after a cabinet meeting in Bratislava on Wednesday (1 October) that the drop came without any warning.

EUObserver

Pékin s'agace du soutien étranger aux manifestants hongkongais

Alors que plusieurs rassemblements et messages de sympathie ont été adressés des quatre coins du globe aux manifestants, la Chine rappelle que ces événements relèvent de ses «affaires intérieures».

Le Figaro

Russia ends student exchange program with U.S.

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has voiced regret about Russia’s decision to cancel its participation in a major high school student exchange program. U.S. Ambassador John F. Tefft said in a statement that the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program has brought more than 8,000 Russian high school students to the United States to live with American families, attend high school and experience community life.

Washington Times

Common security challenges and risks in the EU-Ukraine relations

Since the beginning of 2014, both the EU and Ukraine have faced many common challenges related to their respective border, energy and defense security. Vira Ratsiborynska, PhD researcher, Institute of Political Studies (IEP) The instability in the Eastern part of the EU’s vicinity, caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine, and the unilateral redrawing of Ukraine's borders by Moscow, push the EU to rethink its current approaches to its own security, with the goal of enabling the EU to adequately respond to these challenges.

Euractiv

Wall Street falls for a fourth day; energy shares, ECB weigh

U.S. stocks were down at midday on Thursday, putting the S&P 500 on track for a fourth session of losses, as energy shares dropped and the ECB failed to ease worries about the euro zone's recovery. In a post-meeting news conference, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gave no indication of an imminent stimulus program through the purchase of sovereign bonds.

Reuters

Putin: Sanctions Will Not Stop Russia Becoming an Economic Power

President Vladimir Putin dismissed Western sanctions as "utter foolishness" on Thursday and said they would not stop Russia developing into a stronger economic power. Attempting to take the higher ground in a speech to foreign and Russian investors, Putin said he was relaxed about the measures imposed on his country over Ukraine even though they had broken the fundamental principles of the global economy.

The Moscow Times

China's central bank: Learning by doing

China’s central bank first cut the flow of money, then flooded the market. It will be making even more adjustments as it revamps the country's complicated financial system, says DW columnist Frank Sieren.

Deutsche Welle

Paying Afghanistan’s Bills

By the end of the year, Congress will have appropriated more money for Afghanistan’s reconstruction, when adjusted for inflation, than the United States spent rebuilding 16 European nations after World War II under the Marshall Plan.

New York Times

Entre Irak et Syrie, le PKK en première ligne contre l'Etat islamique

C’est l’une des conséquences les plus inattendues de la guerre lancée par l’Etat islamique (EI) en Irak et en Syrie. Le PKK, le Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan, s’est imposé comme la principale force antidjihadiste de la région. Contrairement aux peshmergas, ces soldats kurdes irakiens qui ont déserté les villages yézidis (des Kurdes adeptes d’une religion héritée du zoroastrisme) et chrétiens au mois d’août, les rebelles kurdes de Turquie du PKK et leurs alliés syriens ont combattu l’EI les armes à la main, les sauvant d’une mort quasi-certaine.

Le Monde

An environmentalist's calculated push toward Brazil's presidency

In March 2003, three months into her tenure as Brazil's environment minister, Marina Silva gathered a half-dozen aides at the modernist ministry building in Brasilia, the capital. She told them the new government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was about to embark on a pharaonic infrastructure project for Brazil's arid Northeast.

Reuters

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