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We need to talk about NATO
Dear NATO and European ministers of defense, I know youâre worried. Youâre worried that the United States is about to have a commander in chief who has called the NATO alliance âobsolete.â...
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For Turkey, there’ll be no turning back
I have watched the authoritarian crackdown in Turkey unfold incrementally from near and far. I arrived back in the country a week after the attempted coup. Soon after, collective round-ups began and...
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Greece is no place for refuge
In the same week as the world marked Human Rights Day, the European Commission announced its plans to resume the so-called âDublin transfersâ of refugees back to Greece. If the recommendation is...
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Italy’s best hope: Berlusconi
ROME â If the leaders of Italyâs largest political parties are to be believed, they all want the same thing: new elections as soon as possible. The trouble is the country doesnât have a...
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Why Trump should support a probe into Russia’s hacking
As reports increasingly indicate that Russia interfered with the U.S. presidential election to benefit Donald Trump, the president-elect has forcefully pushed back on the intelligence community....
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How the Dutch Left blew it
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands â Ahmed Aboutaleb was giving a lot of Dutch politicians sleepless nights earlier this year. A moderate Muslim of Moroccan descent, the mayor of Rotterdam is the most...
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Lindsay Lohan’s Greek nightclub for refugees
ATHENS â âLohanâ â the word is splayed in glowing white letters against a deep red background on a tall, rectangular building in central Athens. Steel pipes puff out tendrils of smoke. It...
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‘Every Arab refugee in the world knows this song’
THESSALONIKI, Greece â One afternoon in August, a group of 12 schoolchildren gathered for a music lesson in a converted shipping container in an abandoned paper-towel factory on the outskirts of...
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Jarosław Kaczyński’s grip on power slips in Poland
WARSAW â In the little more than a year that Polandâs Law and Justice party has been in power, it has introduced a series of dramatic and controversial changes to the countryâs core...
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Who’s to blame for Monte dei Paschi?
The new Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni is famous for never losing his temper. But he should consider making an exception for Monte dei Paschi di Siena. If the Italian bankâs latest desperate...
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Death of an ambassador
ISTANBUL â Russiaâs ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, had come to the art exhibit in Ankara to present beautiful photos of the Russian countryside. When he stepped up to the podium to speak,...
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Berlin is no longer an island
BERLIN â This city has always been an island, in some form or another. In the 13th century, early settlers built their houses on what is now called Museum Island, in the Spree River. In the decades...
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Why taking the UK government to court was necessary and democratic
LONDON â The past 12 months have been a period of protest and disruption, a year when many political certainties across the Western world have been profoundly shaken, if not demolished. Regardless...
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Germany’s fragile center holds — for now
BERLIN â The German capital has reacted with remarkable calm to Mondayâs terror attack. The city is bustling with life. Citizens are mourning the victims, but otherwise going about their...
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The EU’s Morocco problem
On Wednesday, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered a vindication for the people of Western Sahara. In a long-awaited ruling on a trade deal between the European Union and Morocco, the court...
View ArticleNo Christmas for Syrian Christians in Turkey
ISTANBUL â In Samatya, one of Istanbulâs oldest neighborhoods, the tumbling melody of midday prayers cuts through the chatter of a group of Syrian Christian refugees preparing lunch in the hall of...
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Home Alone in Ukraine in the age of Trump
KIEV â Channel-surf through Ukrainian television during the holiday season and youâre bound to come across a rerun of the classic Christmas film “Home Alone.” The slapstick comedy â whose...
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How to die in Latvian
When it comes to … well … dying, other languages have highly inventive euphemisms for the tricky subject of kicking the bucket. In Spanish â particularly in Central America â colgar los guantes,...
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Erdoğan, the new Atatürk
ISTANBUL â At the beginning of December, Turkeyâs president felt compelled to shift the focus of his speeches from the near-daily diatribes against political opponents, critics and terror to the...
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A day in the life of Nariman Dzhelyal
SIMFEROPOL, Crimea â The day starts with traditional coffee. Nariman Dzhelyalâs parents wave him off, just like any couple watching their son leave for the office. But Dzhelyal no longer has an...
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