Civic vs Ethnic Nations

 "  In fact the differences between the two models of nationalism have been grossly exaggerated and are simply not real. Western nations were also based on a dominant national group that until very recently did not provide places for minorities in public life. We tend to forget today that in the 1930s an immigration country like the US had extremely restrictive immigration policies meant to retain “Anglo-Saxon” ethnic dominance, and that with very few exceptions, “over the last three centuries the building of all modern nation states required one ethnic group dominating and assimilating others”. " 

https://florianpantazi.substack.com/p/civic-v-ethnic-nations

The Danubian Democracies

 Accordingly, there is an obvious need for a more accurate geopolitical concept covering former Soviet satellite-states, subsequently lumped together into “New” Europe. The latter has proved to be an inadequate reflection of realities on the ground. 

Taking  commonalities and shared political agendas into account, one such grouping could be called  the Danubian democracies.

https://florianpantazi.substack.com/p/the-danubian-democracies

The US and the Polish Honey Trap

 " Following the law of unintended consequences, the pursuit of America’s global hegemony agenda has given rise in Warsaw to hopes that Poland could somehow benefit from NATO’s expansion in order to resurrect the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a confederation that at its zenith in the 17th century covered a million square kilometres and encompassed the territories of today’s Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. 

https://florianpantazi.substack.com/p/the-us-and-the-polish-honey-trap

IT'S TIME FOR AN AMERICAN GORBACHEV ?

 This at least is the opinion shared by the foreign news editor of Cotidianul daily from Romania

I think however that a much more appropriate analogy for the current situation the US finds itself in is not with the USSR in its last decade, but with Yeltsin's Russia.

Consider  this . By 1999, Boris Yeltsin was to ill to fulfill his duties as president, same as Biden is now. Both Yeltsin and  Biden  worked for decades as high-ranking officials in their parties, Yeltsin for the CPSU, Biden for the Democratic party. They were both elected presidents at the end of their careers, when they proved unable to adapt to a rapidly changing international environment. 

Moreover, the two were accused of allowing their children to profit from their positions in the state by taking bribes from foreign business people. And finally, given their medical condition , they were both unable in the end  to work for more than a few hours daily and we're eased out of their positions by their political allies and / or family.

Women as Political Leaders

 

[…]

What are the reasons for putting a woman in charge at the very top ?

More often than not, the choice of a women as heads of government in the West is a clear indication of the dysfunctional political system or of a party, one that is experiencing great difficulty in managing the state’s affairs or its internal dynamics.   This  political innovation was imported by Western democracies from the Third World :

This  post is on Substack, to continue reading click here. 

https://substack.com/@florianpantazi?utm_source=about-page

What's at stake for the EU in Ukraine ?

 

The recent NATO summit failed to address the crucial problem of the European Union’s eastern borders.

https://florianpantazi.substack.com/p/whats-at-stake-for-the-eu-in-ukraine

A Recipe for Losing Elections

 

To be sure, nationalist parties have constantly increased their share of the votes Europe-wide, from Austria, Hungary and Slovakia in Central Europe, to Germany and Italy, Spain , France and the UK in the West. 

https://florianpantazi.substack.com/p/a-recipe-for-losing-elections