China is the victor at the Olympic Games and the West the loser, writes the Spanish newspaper El Mundo: "The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing are already history, and they represent an undeniable success for China ... and its totalitarian regime. Beijing has achieved what it wanted: to show the world its economic miracle, to present its visiting card as a superpower and to definitively displace Japan as the major protagonist in Asia. ... But a bitter aftertaste remains in the wake of the glamour and exuberance of the sporting event, along with a vague feeling that the West has been defeated. The Olympic Committee maintained that the games would promote freedom in the country. But nothing of the sort has happened. .. The flame has been extinguished in the Bird's Nest, however it remains to be seen if the torch of freedom will burn enduringly in China. The facts indicate the contrary." (25/08/2008)

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According to the leading article in Le Figaro newspaper, with the Olympic Games China has shown the world that it has become a major economic power even without Western democracy: "Beijing has demonstrated its ability to mobilise the human and material resources necessary for such a gigantic enterprise. ... But what about the political criteria? The priority of the Chinese authorities was to suppress protest of any kind. ... The Chinese Communist Party has delighted in the presence of a majority of foreign heads of government, without making the slightest concession to human rights. ... China has disappointed the hopes of those who thought that in bestowing the country the honour of organising the event, it would open to the world and develop toward democracy. But no. ... China has no need to import our political system to prevail as an industrial and economic power." (23/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política interior, » China
Todos los textos disponible de » Pierre Rousselin

The news magazine Newsweek Polska believes the Olympic Games helped China open up to the world: "The world is wondering if the Olympic Games will change China at all. Nothing happens quickly and painlessly there. But today a new generation is having its say - people who were born after 1980, when the state to all intents and purposes forbid families from having more than one child. These young people are well situated and well educated, and for them Mao is more a pop icon than a charismatic chairman. In the 16 days of the Olympic Games the young Chinese opened up to foreigners and came much closer to the outside world. ... They will now do much to ensure that things remain that way." (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política interior, » Deportes, » China
Todos los textos disponible de » Michal Kobosko

With the next Olympic Games to be held in London the Olympic flame will be returning to Europe. According to Dejan Kresnik, commentator for the daily Dnevnik, the British organisers face a huge task over the next four years: 2When the curtain fell on an Olympics of superlatives in Beijing yesterday, the headaches began for the organisers in London. ... The fears of the London organisers are justified, because a repeat of Beijing would be a 'mission impossible'. After Beijing broke all the records with a budget of 43 billion euros, the calls for more rational games are growing louder in the UK. The Mayor of London is convinced that the 2012 Games will be even more spectacular. If that is their goal they will have to work extremely hard!" (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Deportes, » Gran Bretaña, » China
Todos los textos disponible de » Dejan Kresnik

Following the Caucasus crisis John Palmer, founder of the European Policy Centre in Brussels, calls in the Irish Times on the EU to devise a long-term strategy for dealing with Russia and found a European Commonwealth. "EU governments seem bereft of ideas for a long-term strategy to overcome a looming new division on the Eurasian continent. ... One possibility would be ... to create a United European Commonwealth. ... The mandate for such an overarching, pan-European community would have to be more limited than that of the EU itself - perhaps focusing on the security, legal, economic, human rights and energy issues at the heart of the draft EU-Russia agreement. ... It would provide a constructive alternative to further (militarily meaningless) enlargement of NATO. It could provide a multi-lateral framework for resolving innumerable border and minority-nationality disputes between states which emerged from the Soviet Union. Above all, it might replace the current exchanges of mutual abuse with dialogue about working out a common destiny." (25/08/2008)

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Todos los textos disponible de » John Palmer

In view of the growing populism directed against immigrants across Europe the daily Der Standard calls for a new immigration policy: "It may be that Europe needs immigrants - but it just is not working out: this is the conclusion at which an observer of the growing discomfort in liberal Sweden regarding the problems with integrating foreigners could arrive. ... This delights the populists who purport to be committed to a country's native population and to its traditional values: in Sweden to the true Swedes and Swedishness; in Austria to the true Austrians and what holds them together as a nation and a culture. And so it goes on - across the whole continent which is supposed to be growing together politically. ... Yet the challenges posed by migration call for a general change in thinking: away from the idea that immigrants can be managed in certain numbers - and the frustration when it doesn't work out - and towards an immigration society which, faced with this kind of situation, does not simply try to 'seal itself off' but seeks to solve the problems." (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Migración, » Integración, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Irene Brickner

Latvia held two referendums this August: one on a constitutional amendment and the other on changes to the pension laws. Both were rejected by the people. The daily Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze is happy with the results: "The people have fortunately repudiated these attacks against democracy and the threat they represent to the economy. It is a pity that the initiators themselves do not have to bear the costs of these votes. Each of them costs millions and the initiators carry none of the risk. ... But the politicians have no reason to sit back and relax either, for both referendums were held and a large proportion of the electorate was mobilised. ... At the same time it has become clear that Latvia is not immune to the populist propaganda of people who organise such referendums." (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Letonia
Todos los textos disponible de » Maris Krautmanis

Joe Biden, senator of the US state of Delaware, will run for vice president at the side of US presidential candidate for the Democratic Party Barack Obama. The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung considers this a good decision. "When selecting their vice presidents America's presidential candidates generally have two options: either they choose a candidate who underscores their own strengths or they choose an assistant who will compensate for their weaknesses. Barack Obama went for the second option. At first glance this is not a sign of political power because in nominating fellow senator Joe Biden Obama signalised that he needs help. ... 65-year-old Biden certainly brings political experience. This is likely to assuage the fears of many who had doubted Obama. ... In all the years ... Biden ... never lost contact with the party base, with the white voters in small-town America who Obama has so far failed to win over but whom he urgently needs for an election victory. In this respect Biden's nomination is a clever move - the best thing Obama could have done right now." (25/08/2008)

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The conflict in the Caucasus prompts the conservative newspaper Magyar Nemzet to predict a global increase in geopolitical conflicts. "It is obvious that only on the surface is this crisis about South Ossetia and Georgia. It is really about the conflict between the great powers - in this case Washington and Moscow - for influence. ... Geopolitics is resuming a leading role on the international stage. The events along that axis that stretches from the Middle East to the Caspian region are testimony to this. The military scenarios in Afghanistan and Iraq, American pressure on Iran and the current conflict in the Caucasus belong in this context. Georgia is just a figure on this chess board - however as the current conflict shows - not just a pawn. ... The Kremlin is doing nothing different in the Caucasus today to what the United States did in 1999 in the Balkans. Back then the US prepared for a military battle against Serbia. The Kosovo script is being played out once more. It serves as a precedent and provides Russia with a basis for military intervention." (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política de seguridad / Crisis / Guerras, » Rusia, » EE.UU., » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Gabor Stier

"Anyone who views the world solely from the perspective of evolutionary theory is bound to misconceive the significance of the Christian doctrine of creation", argues Wolfgang Huber, Chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. "Has the triumph of modern science rendered faith superfluous? All that has been ascribed to God's work in the Judeo-Christian tradition is increasingly explained with detailed accounts of the forces and laws of nature. The creation of the world has become cosmogony; and the creation of life with man as its 'crown' has become evolution. ... Creation is perceived not as a matter of faith, but of knowledge. ... Belief, by contrast, focuses on the truth of God's existence, which encompasses and transcends space and time. ... But what is added to scientific knowledge of our world or another when we view the world as creation? We gain access to its inner meaning. The goal for which the world and life on earth were created cannot be revealed from the perspective of science. And for that very reason we need a sense of the whole that transcends what is accessible to our knowledge. The idea that God is just as partial to the world as a whole as he is to my personal life is at the root of the faith in creation." (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Religión, » Filosofía, » Ciencia / Investigación, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Wolfgang Huber

The Financial Times questions whether the Eurozone is really facing a recession. "After a growth sprint at the start of the year, the region's economic fortunes appeared to deteriorate fast. ... Here are [some of the] reasons why the eurozone's economic malaise might have been exaggerated and why we could even see positive signs in the coming months. … Oil and commodity prices have fallen back, ... easing the main constraint on growth ... [which] will have a 'relatively fast effect' on consumer spending. ... The eurozone housing market overall has not collapsed. ... Unemployment remains ... low ... the euro has fallen by about 8 per cent ... which should help eurozone exports. ... Global financial market turmoil shows few signs of wreaking significant economic damage directly on the eurozone ... Bank lending to businesses remains strong and eurozone consumers' finances, generally, are not over-stretched. ... No fundamental flaws have been found in the main engines of eurozone growth." (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Consumidor, » Mercado de finanzas, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Ralph Atkins

The passage of a new foreign trade act in Germany has restricted the influence of foreign investors. The daily La Stampa sees no need for such a course of action in Italy: "The takeover of substantial shares in companies by Asian states arouses hope and fear in the West. ... China and Russia are countries where democracy is weak and no doubt have the intention of playing a leading role in global geopolitics. They could use the profits not to pay the pensions of their citizens but to pursue strategic goals in conflicts with Westerners at management level." These fears, the newspaper writes, are well-founded in Germany, but Italy "does not have such worries because its companies, like the bankrupt airline Alitalia, do not attract foreign investors. It is already being excluded from global market strategies and has no objections whatsoever to the growing ties between political and economic power. ... Italy's main worry should be the lack of interest on the part of state-controlled investment funds." (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Empresa, » Economía política, » Alemania, » Italia
Todos los textos disponible de » Giuseppe Bertola

In its leading article, Le Monde newspaper analyses the economic impact of the Caucasus conflict on Russian financial markets: "Can the economy bring about what Western diplomacy cannot - and induce Russia to respect the territorial integrity of neighbours like Georgia? It can contribute. ... The negative reactions of international financial markets to the movement of Russian troops in South Ossetia on August 7 shook up Russian business circles, which realised the negative impact the war could have on the country's economic and financial situation. In other words, they understood that imperialism has its price. ... The Russian tanks had no problems pushing back the Georgian forces, but they caused capital flight in Moscow. ... The Russian economy shares Putin's desire to revitalise Russia and put the humiliations of the post-Soviet time behind them. But while the new Czar flirts with nostalgia, they are looking to the future." (23/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de seguridad / Crisis / Guerras, » Mercado de finanzas, » Rusia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit the Estonian capital of Tallinn tomorrow as part of her tour of the countries of Scandinavia and the Baltic region. Against the backdrop of the Caucasus conflict and the construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline the news portal Delfi takes a critical view of her visit. "The war in Georgia has put Merkel in an awkward position, because the original intention of her visit was to soothe tensions in the dispute over the 'Nord Stream' Baltic gas pipeline. From a German point of view the energy imports from Russia are extremely important and above all provide a convenient solution because they mean Germany need not invest so much in research and use of renewable energies. Unfortunately, this also has an impact on foreign policy. A couple of leaders of European states have denounced Moscow for what has happened in Georgia and Merkel criticised Russia's conduct, but because of its economic interests Germany continues to be more cautious in its censorship of Russia than other European states." (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Energía, » Economía política, » Alemania, » Estonia, » Rusia, » Georgia
Todos los textos disponible de » Karol Kallas

Spanish daily Cinco Días notes with concern that in the month of July eight percent fewer tourists spent their holidays in Spain, saying this is a warning that must be taken seriously. "We will have to wait for the figures for August to say for sure but there is every indication that each day that passes without taking urgently needed steps is a day too many. ... Even though the economic crisis is aggravating the problems it is not to blame for the weaknesses of the Spanish sector: overcrowded tourist destinations, a polluted environment, poorly trained staff, prices that are less and less competitive and holiday complexes in dire need of renovation, particularly on the coast." (25/08/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Turismo, » España