At the start of his visit to Asia US President Barack Obama declared himself the first Pacific president. With this gesture he made it clear that the balance in world politics is shifting to Asia, writes Lluís Foix in the liberal daily La Vanguardia: "Barack Obama sent a clear message when he began his trip to Asia by calling himself the first American president from the Pacific. ... Normally after the Second World War presidents always called themselves Atlanticists and concluded military, economic and political alliances with Europe in order to curb Soviet expansionism. The Atlantic axis continues to exist, but economic power and the world's population are gradually shiting, and Obama has taken advantage of the first opportunity to state that the Pacific is displacing the Atlantic." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Demographics, » Economic Policy, » Asia, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Lluís Foix

The visit of US-president Barack Obama clearly demonstrates how powerful China has become and how terrifying it remains, writes the business paper La Tribune: "Following the first steps of the American president in China, it's tempting to portray his visit as a homage by yesterday's power to tomorrow's. If a crisis always separates the old from the new, to borrow Gramsci's apt phrase, our current crisis has devalued America's power and created a world where China plays the preponderant role. Obama's trip marks a humiliating step: now nothing is possible without Beijing's consent. ... True to its name, the 'middle kingdom' has established itself at the heart of global economic and strategic issues. ... Nevertheless it lacks the essential attribute needed to enjoy undivided rule: this pragmatic dictatorship doesn't inspire dreams. On the contrary, its values are the source of nightmares." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Economic Policy, » U.S., » China
All available articles from » François Lenglet

Speaking to an audience of Chinese students in China US President Obama called for the guarantee of human rights. These are the basis for good bilateral relations, The Irish Examiner believes. "He focused on one of the great divides separating communist China and the West - human rights.That is why these engagements are so important. Co-operation will build confidence and confidence will encourage growth bringing the kind of social stability that will encourage openness ... and challenge the insularity that tolerates human rights abuses in China. If the talks are as fruitful as they might be the links between the world's two superpowers will have been strengthened and that must be good for us all." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » U.S., » Global, » China

With his visit to China US President Barack Obama has shown that he has begun to engage in Realpolitik, the daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna believes: "On Monday there was a dinner with the Chinese leader Hu Jintao during which assurances were given of the [United States'] strategic relations with Beijing. Barack Obama's visit to Asia is the latest evidence that the president of the USA has been transformed from an idealistic politician who is highly skilled at selling himself through the media and who dreams of world peace and harmony into one who has begun to learn the hard lessons of political realism. Obama is aware that the United States, weakened by the crisis and two wars [in Iraq and Afghanistan], must also deal with those who have not read [Alexis de Tocqueville's] 'Democracy in America'." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » U.S., » China
All available articles from » Zbigniew Parafianowicz

The heads of state and government of the developed industrialised nations were conspicuous for their absence at the world food summit that has just ended in Rome, the left-liberal newspaper Népszabadság writes in a critical article. "Many stayed away from the summit because they feared unpleasant questions would be asked. At this year's G8 summit the major powers promised to provide 20 billion dollars in emergency aid for needy countries, but so far they have failed to keep their promise. Not a cent has been transferred to the aid organisations. Rapid help is urgently needed, however. We are currently experiencing the worst food crisis for 44 years. One billion people are under-nourished, a hundred million more than a year ago. ... In view of this fact we must ask ourselves the following question: "Why does part of the world's population have to starve, when in the developed world there is surplus food production." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Global
All available articles from » Attila Seres

The new Berlusconi law stipulates that most court cases in Italy should be limited to a maximum of six years. Should the judges fail to deliver a verdict by then they will lose the chance altogether. The EU must finally step in, writes the daily Aftonbladet, because the law is above all meant to put an end to a series of trials against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi: "The Berlusconi system violates basic principles laid down by the EU and the Copenhagen criteria on respect for democratic institutions and independent judiciaries. ... Until now Berlusconi has not had to worry about facing sanctions, or even having to answer critical questions. Italy is one of the most powerful countries in the EU, of which it is a founding member. Its right-wing government can count on the solidarity of friends from affiliated European parties, including the Swedish prime minister [Fredrick Reinfeldt who holds the Council Presidency]. The main task of the EU is to secure democracy. Until now Reinfeldt and the European Right have preferred to protect Berlusconi." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Italy, » Europe

The first independent elections in the new state of Kosovo ended with a turnout of 45 percent. The 1,000 Serbs in a south Kosovar community who voted in the local elections despite calls from Serbia to boycott the elections have shown their faith in Europe, the left-liberal Berliner Zeitung writes: "They are counting on being able in the future to grow their maize and let their sheep graze without harassment. ... The Serbs of Štrpce will only be able to continue living peacefully in Kosovo if Europe keeps its promise to admit the whole region to the EU. Only if the momentum of European unity is maintained can the Serbs of Štrpce hope that the governments in Belgrade and Pristina will at least put their quarrel about the status of Kosovo on hold. If they do not, then the citizens of Štrpce will have to leave their villages. ... The Kosovo election is thus a precise Euro-barometer. The message is: faith in Europe has not yet disappeared, but nor has it grown in the past two years." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Elections, » Europe, » Kosovo
All available articles from » Norbert Mappes-Niediek

The daily newspaper The Daily Telegraph welcomes British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's announcement of a conference to be held on pulling out of Afghanistan: "For many years now, it has been apparent that the most immediate threat to life and limb has been posed by Islamists linked to al-Qaeda, either operating out of Afghanistan and Pakistan or taking their orders from there. ... If the Nato mission in Afghanistan fails, it will encourage jihadis throughout the Middle East and the sub-continent, destabilise Pakistan and undermine the embryonic anti-clerical movement in Iran, a country whose nuclear ambitions remain the other great foreign policy headache. To that end, Mr Brown's proposed London conference in January, which would map out a timetable for transferring power to the Afghans from next year, is welcome. It is important to establish clearly how success will be recognised." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Afghanistan, » Pakistan

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, which toppled the communist regime. The most important figure in this movement, Václav Havel, who later became president, takes stock of the last 20 years and looks ahead another 20 in the business newspaper Hospodářské Noviny: "Will we continue to move forward in the next 20 years? Yes, I think we will. ... Twenty years ago I said that our country never blossoms. I couldn't say such a thing today. But when it does blossom it produces strange flowers. ... We never learn from the past, we repeat the mistakes made by others long before our time. We want to play a game but we're afraid to establish any rules. Simple decency is on the decline, theft is becoming widespread, and when someone says that one should not steal they're ridiculed. Nevertheless, even our society looks forward to the future, and it will change step by step. And fortunately we no longer need a revolution to bring this change about. In 2029 we'll be well ahead of where we are today. Truth and love must triumph over lies and hatred." (16/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Václav Havel

The Berlin Wall has fallen, but other walls still stand. The former president of Portugal Mário Soares writes in the daily Diário de Notícias that such walls are criminal and must be torn down: "Berlin was at the centre of the world on November 9. It told us that the world is changing, and that peace, freedom and social justice are well worth fighting for. But there are still other walls of shame which must be torn down. In Israel for example, excluding the Palestinians and intolerably burdening their lives. A mistake, an unforgiveable crime. Betweeen the US and Mexico, restricting access to the US for Latin American immigrants. In the European Union as well there are those who say that such ugly methods may be used to stop immigrants from Africa. The Greeks said that life is our teacher. Unfortunately many people in the 21st century still refuse to learn its lessons." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Migration, » Remembrance culture, » Global
All available articles from » Mário Soares

The pilots of the Finnish airline Finnair have been on strike for several days following the breakdown of wage negotiations between the pilots' union and Finnair. The daily Eesti Päevaleht is worried about the effects on Estonia: "Hardly has the Estonian Air ceased flying to Helsinki on the grounds that there are already enough flights, when the situation is suddenly aggravated by the strike of the Finnair pilots. Estonian Air could hardly have chosen a worse time: Were its spies dozing? Now the route is only being flown by the airline Avies with mini airplanes, which normally fly from Tallinn to Kärdla [on the Estonian island of  Hiiumaa], and that is only a drop in the ocean. If one considers what a major role Helsinki airport plays for the Estonians as a gateway to the world, this strike makes it clear how vulnerable the Estonian transport connections are, while Riga is increasingly becoming a hub." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Corporations, » Tourism, » Latvia, » Estonia, » Finland

Presidential elections will be held in Romania on 22 November. The daily Adevărul takes the opportunity to analyse the country's difficult economic situation and the signifiance of Romania's membership of the EU. "It [the EU] is not letting us go to the dogs, but we remain Europe's low-wage economy. Our minimum growth resembles that of India in the 1980s: one or two percent. Whole regions remain excluded from the wave of modernisation. Our image as a country of great social inequaliy is becoming more pronounced. The best people are emigrating, leaving behind hopelessness and social misery. That is the central question for the candidates running in the presidential elections: how can we avoid the negative scenario for Romania?" (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Economic Policy, » Elections, » Europe, » Romania
All available articles from » Ovidiu Nahoi

Today is International Students' Day and all over the world students are demonstrating against cuts in education budgets. The daily Die Presse compares today's student protests in Austria with the student protests against Nazi terror in Prague in 1939, which today is intended to commemorate, and finds few similarities. On 17 November 1939 the Nazis arrested thousands of Czech students in Prague and deported them to concentration camps:  "Right from the start it was obvious that, driven by a left-wing vocal minority, the demands of those occupying lecture halls go far beyond student concerns. And actually they are wide of the mark - as a recent survey conducted by the Institute for Youth Culture Research shows. 23 percent of the respondents actually supported regulating university entry, while the more general ideological issues - education instead of training (1 percent), socio-political measures (2 percent), democratisation of universities (3 percent), free access to higher education (7 percent) - are of little interest to the vast majority of students. Whereas the demonstrations seventy years ago were about life and death, today many students are protesting just for the sake of it." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Austria, » Europe
All available articles from » Oliver Pink

The Spanish government wants to introduce sex education earlier in schools. In the conservative daily ABC Antonio García Barbeito questions the sense of sex education in an age when sex is omnipresent: "The government wants to introduce sex education in schools for 11-year-old students. I hope it will work, but I'm very much afraid that while the kiss is being dealt with in the classroom - after everything they've seen on television, in the magazines and on the Internet - the children will already be onto sado-masochism and partner-swapping. As a comparison, that would be like learning what a drizzle is in a country where the downpours never stop. Good luck!" (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Health and Medicine, » Spain
All available articles from » Antonio García Barbeito

In the past five years court orders have meant an increasing number of children are growing up away from their parents, the latest statistics published by the Polish Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs show. The conservative daily Rzeczpospolita thinks this is a cause for concern: "The systematic rise in the number of children who are taken away from their parents and placed in children's homes or with foster parents is a worrying signal. It shows a similar tendency in Poland to the one we already know from the family courts in the West: that the importance of blood ties is being neglected. Adherents of 'social progress' are treating the family as a bulwark of conservative superstition. Furthermore in Poland it is often a problem that the courts do not take into account the economic circumstances of parents ... in making their assessments." (17/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Poland
All available articles from » Piotr Semka