Riots have broken out in the French northern city of Amiens. They seem to similar to the riots that occurred in 2005–young people protesting the lack of jobs and opportunities in France. There is a strong racial and anti-immigrant sentiment which has fed this discontent and it will be interesting to see how the new President, Hollande, responds to this challenge.
Stephen Walt has a great realist take on terrorism–essentially that it should not be considered so seriously given the expenditure of resources devoted to addressing it. This perspective is rock-solid realism, devoid of an emotional response the assault on values that terrorism poses.
The European economy ground to a standstill in the last quarter. France and Germany registered economic growth rates between 0.1 and 0.2 percent. Spain, Italy, and Greece all saw drops in the economic activity. The extended recession is taking a real toll on the mental health of Europeans, leading to a new category of disease, “economic suicides.” The recent data, however, suggest that the economic downturn will only get worse next year.
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