European Institute

By Michael D. Mosettig, former foreign editor of PBS News Hour

In the weeks since the U.S. presidential election, there  has been growing talk in Washington policy circles and think tanks that it is time for a new push for a trans-Atlantic trade pact. But the idea runs into the practical question of whether the Washington political and policy machinery can handle two big trade deals at the same time, especially amid a still-faltering economic recovery.  "A good idea whose time has not come," said one wag, recently,  of a EU-U.S. trade agreement.  Currently, the international trade community in the American capital is consumed with negotiations already well advanced on a Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that would stretch from Canada to Chile and across to Southeast Asia and possibly Japan.

By Michael D. Mosettig, former Foreign Editor of PBS News Hour

For most Americans, it is the war that barely exists in historical memory, lost somewhere between the Civil War and World War II (and for the baby boom generation, Vietnam). For Europeans, as well as the British dominions, nearly a century later, World War I is the war that will not and cannot go away. Quite simply, the First World War changed almost nothing for most Americans. For all Europeans, nothing again would ever be the same.

By Geoffrey Paul, Middle East Specialist Based in London

Coincidence or historical irony? Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas goes to the UN General Assembly on Thursday to seek an upgrade in the international status of Palestine from “permanent observer” at the UN  to  “non-member observer state,” the same status as enjoyed by the  Vatican. His bid comes  65 years to the day since, on November 29, 1947, the  UN passed a resolution calling for the establishment of separate Arab and Jewish states in the British mandated territory of Palestine.

By The European Institute

The U.S. is not the only country that is “pivoting to Asia.” A heavyweight contingent of Europeans including Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and European Union President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is assembling in the unlikely site of Vientiane, Laos, for a two day summit with Asian leaders.