Aspenia Online - international analysis and commentary

John McCain’s campaign started calling Barack Obama a socialist last fall as a last-ditch attempt to avoid what by then looked to be near-certain defeat.  Of course, at that point Obama was surging because the global financial meltdown had…

On April 4, the Atlantic Alliance celebrates its 60th anniversary: it had better be an occasion for reflection as much as for celebration. NATO’s greatest historic achievement is to have successfully defended the independence of the…

Dopo mesi di cauto (e criticato) attendismo, il governo di Angela Merkel ha improvvisamente abbandonato i lidi del rigore nei conti pubblici per passare all’offensiva. Ciò sulla base di considerazioni contingenti, in massima parte legate…

Un dato piuttosto paradossale che ha caratterizzato le elezioni israeliane 2009 è stata la quasi totale assenza, tra le priorità definite in campagna elettorale, di una visione regionale della politica estera. Questo nasconde però un…

Everyone everywhere these days is decidedly glum that the Middle East isn’t closer to an outbreak of peace.  Unlike, say, any other time in the past 50 years.  No, make that 5,000. Americans were dismayed by the violence and death in Gaza,…

Now that the historical election and inauguration of Barack Obama are behind us, it is time to start working directly with his team. A lot has been said and written about the individuals filling the key positions, but less so about the…

Those who thought that with the end of the Bush II era evangelical influence would also wane, are up for a disappointment. That is why few picks of the incoming Obama presidency have stirred up as much controversy as the choice of Rick…

Una leadership, per essere efficace, necessita di consenso. Tra le tante debolezze dell’amministrazione Bush vi è stata anche quella rappresentata da un consenso, domestico e internazionale, che dopo il 2003 è costantemente diminuito. Ciò…

Change and hope and Yes we can were slogans for electioneering. In real life, the heavy lifting is ahead not only for the US, but also, if they want to count in shaping the world, for the Europeans. Whatever the Europeans will say, Obama…

Donne, giovani, afroamericani: tre gruppi di cittadini ed elettori in genere ai margini della vita politica ne sono stati questa volta protagonisti, facendosi portatori di cambiamenti che confermano il ruolo degli Stati Uniti come…