The failed bomb attack on an American airliner on Christmas Day should rouse the West from its slumber, writes the daily The Times: "The one bright spark is that Al-Qaeda's technical shortcomings meant no one died. So we got this wake-up call for free and would be foolish not to heed it. That means finding out why agencies did not communicate better and ensuring they do so in future. It also means taking airline security even more seriously. That will lead to yet more delays and airport tedium, but it is necessary. It also means using scanning machines that can detect hidden explosives. That may be unpleasant, but it is a small price to pay to avert mass murder." (04/01/2010)

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In the wake of the foiled attack on a US airliner, President Barack Obama is coming under fire for not taking terrorism seriously enough. Nonsense, writes the daily Der Standard: "Right from the start of his campaign Obama made no secret of his hawkish attitude. ... Thwarted attacks like the one in Detroit tend to play right into his hands, and aid his plans. Perhaps some do need such a 'free warning' (The Times), but not Obama. Nevertheless, what the Americans and British must realise in their anti-terror cooperation in Yemen and Somalia is that fighting Islamist terrorists with arms alone is not enough. What is needed are programmes that could push back the social influence of Saudi-Wahabite groups, for example. But to push such programmes through a US president cannot be 'soft on Washington'." (04/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » U.S.
All available articles from » Christoph Prantner

The US has closed its embassy in Yemen after the attempted terrorist attack on a passenger jet, in an attempt to protect staff from further attacks. The attacker was probably trained in Yemen, yet it would be wrong to open a new Yemenese front in the war against al-Qaida, the left-liberal daily El País warns: "The biggest mistake the White House could make would be to send US forces to Yemen. That would further endanger the outcome of the war in Afghanistan, while giving the jihad fighters yet another stage for their activities. As experience in Iraq and Afghanistan shows, it's not difficult for the US to attain conventional military victories, but securing long-term victories and transforming them into effective instruments in the fight against terror is another thing altogether." (04/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » U.S., » Middle East, » Afghanistan

After the failed assassination attempt on the Danish Muhammad cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, the daily Berlingske Tidende warns readers not to be paralysed by terror: "Just as the attempt to blow up an airplane on its way to the US on Christmas Day should not stop us from flying, so people like Kurt Westergaard with dangerous jobs who are in continual danger should not let themselves be intimidated by terrorists. The thing is to seek the right balance between security on the one hand and the need to live a free, normal life on the other. Terror is on the wane in many parts of the world. In others it is particularly active, allowing certain crazy individuals to attack an airliner, a cartoonist or a subway station. The key is to to live with this threat without having society become all too tightly cinched into the corset of security measures." (03/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Denmark, » Global, » Somalia

Whether the subject is terrorism or swine flu, politicians and the media love to fan people's fears, writes Dejan Kovač in the daily Dnevnik: "When the subject is invisible viruses, the fear and panic are understandable if often unfounded. ... But even if the loss of common sense is more difficult to understand when it comes to terrorism, fear and panicky behaviour are nonetheless widespread. ... People are now willing to show themselves stark naked before boarding an airplane, for example, because only then do they feel secure. Interesting! Since September 11 2001 the upgraded and vastly irritating security systems have only uncovered one rather dubious conspiracy in the UK while missing the only two real terrorsts, who were then overcome by the passengers." (04/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Global
All available articles from » Dejan Kovac

Lithuania shut down the Ignalina nuclear power plant at the end of 2009. The closure of the Chernobyl-type reactor was one of the conditions for the country's EU accession in 2004, following pressure from nuclear-free Austria. The conservative daily Lidové Noviny criticises the move: "Lithuania has gone from being an energy exporter to an energy importer overnight. At what cost? The people must now pay a third more for their electricity and the country will once more become dependent on Russia for its energy. ... The fate of Lithuania shows that the EU doesn't work as a union, but as an association of unequal states. The EU enforced Vienna's no to nuclear energy, and who cares if the country needs alternative power sources. Could someone please tell me where the common European policy is?" (03/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Energy, » Corporations, » Consumers, » Lithuania, » Austria, » Europe
All available articles from » Zbyněk Petráček

Only a few weeks before the Afghanistan conference in London the country is without a cabinet after the parliament rejected two-thirds of the candidates proposed by President Hamid Karsai. It is no coincidence that two weeks before he is to be tested by the international community Karsai has fallen victim to the revenge of the members of parliament, the left-liberal daily Frankfurter Rundschau believes: "Every second candidate on the cabinet list did credit to himself in Karzai's election campaign. Like the secret ruler of Herat, Ismail Khan, who was to be rewarded by retaining his post as minister of energy, but failed together with 16 other candidates. ... On 5 January the parliament will adjourn for a 45-day winter recess. Even while the members of parliament were putting Karzai in his place, they were continuing to adhere to Afghanistan's election timetable. On 22 May parliamentary elections are to be held, despite all the misgivings of the Nato states. It is estimated that holding the elections will cost more than 30 million euros and it is currently unclear who will finance this sum." (04/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Willi Germund

Since Christmas Romania has had a new government of liberal democrats and representatives of the Hungarian minority. Both parties justified the coalition on the grounds that the voters wanted a conservative government. The weekly Dilema Veche believes the new government is simply a collection of old faces rearranged and writes: "The story that a majority of the people have now voted for the right is a fairy tale for the electorate. Whose right-wing government and with whom? ... The real problem is what kind of policies the new government will pursue in practice. And how efficiently it will implement the measures that the IMF and the European Commission have prescribed. ... The advantage that the government has so far is that in January a joint delegation of the IMF, the European Commission and the National Bank in Bucharest will assess the situation. This delegation will decide in February what the credit situation is. And this delegation is neither on the right nor the left." (04/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Europe, » Global, » Romania
All available articles from » Mircea Vasilescu

Despite the disappointing summit meeting in Copenhagen and the G20 last year, the former president of the Bank for Reconstruction and Development Jacques Attali takes positive stock of 2009 in his blog for the weekly magazine L'Express: "This sombre year also saw much progress, magnificent achievements and sublime demonstrations of solidarity. A strange year has come to an end. At first glance it seems burdened with difficulties and failures: the global economic crisis worsened, both in terms of public debt and unemployment. ... The European elections met with general indifference, Iran continued its shameless march towards nuclear arms and repression. ... Nevertheless I cannot help viewing the coming months with optimism. Economic growth has returned to areas populated by three quarters of the people of the world. And notwithstanding all the doubts, the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon and the designation of a president and foreign minister give new force and vigour to the European ideal." (24/12/2009)

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All available articles from » Jacques Attali

The terror attacks of 11 September 2001 have diverted attention from other important historic events like the end of the Second World War or the fall of the Berlin Wall, the writer Axel Odelberg writes in the daily Svenska Dagbladet: "11 September is ever more clearly marking the beginning of a new epoch. Currently there are two wars going on that are directly connected with the attacks: in Afghanistan and in Iraq. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, which was basically always about land and wealth, has acquired a character of religious extremism on both sides. ... September 11 has poisoned the atmosphere and created a general mistrust of Muslims - not only among notorious xenophobics but also among ordinary, open-minded people who are well disposed towards foreigners. ... In the 1970s the Red Brigades and the Baader-Meinhof group tried to produce a revolutionary situation by sowing mistrust of the democratic state. They failed. Osama Bin Laden has been much more successful than they were. Mistrust of the Muslim world is growing and with it Muslim mistrust of the rest of the world. The fall of the Berlin Wall is increasingly becoming overshadowed by the fall of the World Trade Center." (03/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » History, » Germany, » Europe, » Global, » Iraq, » Afghanistan

The sale of the Swedish carmakers Volvo and Saab to Chinese companies could be interpreted as a sign of the decline of the West or else of the advance of globalisation, writes the conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung: "The fact that others have grown stronger does not make the West weak. But the West, be it Europe or the US, must now recognise and correct home-grown errors in politics, the economy and society. Failing that, these errors threaten to undermine the West's achievements, values and ideals in the long term. The true challenges do not lie in Asia, but here at home. And the good thing about this uncomfortable realisation is that we have the power to change the situation, because it lies in our own hands. If Asia can serve as a model for us, then for its energy, its industriousness and its discipline." (31/12/2009)

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All available articles from » Markus Spillmann

Despite the crisis the European Union continues to occupy first place in the world economy. Nevertheless, it faces many challenges if it is to find its way out of the crisis, according to Jérôme Bédier, chairman of the Europe Committee of the French employers' association Medef, writing in La Tribune: "The state of institutional suspended animation that seized Europe ater the French and Dutch 'no' votes in 2005 has come to an end. The Union now has a framework and renewed institutions. Now is the time for Europe to abandon its 'business as usual' approach and to show off its new ambitions. The unique European market, the euro and European enlargement are all success stories. Only 7.3 percent of the world's population lives in the European Union, yet thanks to its private sector it remains number one in the world in economic terms. Europe's goal is simple: to achieve at least 3 percent growth a year. ... In order to overcome the crisis we need to reform - the stability and growth pact will force us to do so." (30/12/2009)

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All available articles from » Jérôme Bédier

At the end of December Portugal's cabinet tabled legislation that would allow homosexual couples to marry. The former Portuguese government advisor and economics expert João César das Neves criticises the legislation in the daily Diário de Notícias: "The legalisation of gay marriages is proceeding as planned. Neither plain common sense nor the lack of democratic legitimacy seem to be able to stop it. .... Having been elected to office in order to solve the country's problems, the government is not showing the least ability to do so. Unemployment is exploding, the justice system is in a mess ... and the economy is sinking into debt without the authorities showing any sign of knowing what to do about it. ... In this bleak situation the government is childishly saving face with confused initiatives like this one. Some of them are expensive, negative and damaging. The gay marriage one is the most stupid of all." (04/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Minorities, » Social affairs, » Portugal
All available articles from » João César das Neves

Private television in Greece is celebrating its 20th birthday. Giannis Anastasakos, chairman of the Greek media research institute AGB, does not mince his words in the Sunday edition of To Vima: "Television - together with mobile telephones and more recently the Internet - has had an enormous influence on our perception of space and time. It does away with age-old certainties, such as the one that tells us that to experience an event ... you have to be there in person at the right place and time. After 20 years of private television the global village now presents a common experience to all viewers. The here and now is conditioned by the subject's perception, rather than the true spatial and temporal circumstances. That is particularly true of Greece, where television dramatises information to such a strong extent." (03/01/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Audiovisual Media, » Greece
All available articles from » Giannis Anastasakos