My Country? Europe. | Stephen Sposato | Activity

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Understanding Milan Kundera: The Bridge Between Two Europes

Tue, 27 Apr 2021 06:24:07 +0000

It is difficult to say if Milan Kundera will be remembered in the pantheon of great European authors. Will future Europeans see him as a second-tier important writer of his time, or perhaps as simply one of many […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, From the Identity of Each Nation to a Union

Sat, 13 Mar 2021 11:31:05 +0000

There was a time when one’s dialect, contacts, religion, and even passport hardly ever crossed the mountain range surrounding one’s village. This has gradually changed. Going from local identities to regional, f […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, George Orwell: His Story and Legacy

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 13:20:22 +0000

George Orwell has always been a hero to me. I should not be surprised then to find myself writing about him, only I am. He is English; very English. While as late as the 1960s, English letters were still […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, As the Ink Dries: What's in the Brexit Agreement?

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 09:33:20 +0000

The EU and the United Kingdom have both received a rather unusual stocking stuffer for Christmas: a 2000-page-document agreed to on Christmas’ Eve, the long-sought Brexit deal. This document is the product of c […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, What Happens Next in Case of a No-Deal Brexit?

Sat, 12 Dec 2020 19:19:40 +0000

The chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier had originally set Wednesday, December 9 as the deadline for completing the Brexit negotiations. That deadline has now been extended to this Sunday, December 13. Despite […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Making Good Europeans: Lessons From Nietzsche on European Unity

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 17:16:05 +0000

“When Napoleon wanted to bring Europe into an association of states they botched everything with their ‘wars of liberation’ and conjured up the misfortune of the insanity of nationalities (with the conse […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, As UAE and Bahrain Normalise Relations With Israel, Where Is the EU?

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 13:53:59 +0000

On September 15, the Prime Minister of Israel Binyamin Netanyahu travelled to Washington DC to sign a US-brokered peace agreement with the UAE and Bahrain. While the EU has praised the agreement as conducive to […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, With the German Presidency Steering the Ship, Where Is EU Leadership Headed?

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 20:43:14 +0000

In times of crisis, people rally behind leaders who emerge, most often mirroring their own characteristics. Churchill channelled British steadfastness and resolve to survive the Blitz, De Gaulle French pride to […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Who Is European? A History of Peoples and Movement

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 08:32:31 +0000

The MC?E definition of Europe includes all members of the Council of Europe. Some like Georgia and Azerbaijan are located in Asia but maintain culturally European populations. This would be a good place to start […]

Stephen Sposato commented on the post, Football Is Back! Here's How It Can Help Europe Bounce Back Against Covid-19

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 17:11:33 +0000

Thanks Martina,

I don’t like making mistakes but when I do I really appreciate a correction! The citation on wins and losses was from Wikipedia and they did mention the West German World Cup victory in […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Football Is Back! Here's How It Can Help Europe Bounce Back Against Covid-19

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 06:13:15 +0000

Whether to relief or sadness, excitement or indifference, the football season has started back up. It started on May 20th in Dortmund (vs Schalke), with 300 people in a stadium which ordinarily would have seated […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Are Traditional European Political Parties Relics of the Past?

Fri, 15 May 2020 10:35:54 +0000

Politics in the European region has alternated between periods of relatively steady progress where the grande idée of the major political parties have informed and provided a vision for Europe and periods of […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, EU Fast-Track Reforms: Needs and Priorities After COVID-19

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 14:20:42 +0000

Many readers of this article will be at home quarantined. Some students may be busy with distance learning courses, others with the charade or, in some case, the earnest challenges of ‘work at home’. Many will be […]

Stephen Sposato commented on the post, After COVID-19, Another Europe Will Emerge

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 16:55:03 +0000

Frederico, thanks so much for the information. I have not been following the Italian press recently much less the Spanish and will indeed take a look. I do regularly look at English, French, German and Dutch […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, After COVID-19, Another Europe Will Emerge

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 17:08:36 +0000

Many readers will be at home wondering what to do, as the long day progresses with the COVID-19 pandemic. No school, no work, no ambition, sport, cinema or other, consumes our day. Even the TV is tern. Afraid, […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, The Far Right in France: Nationality vs. Citizenship

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 17:07:19 +0000

In Ancient Greece and Rome, populist movements sought to re-equilibre the distribution of wealth and power. Though less prominent during the feudal Middle Ages, occasional peasant revolts and urban resistance […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Sustainable Economic Growth in the EU: How Do We Get There?

Sat, 22 Feb 2020 23:49:09 +0000

Economic growth has generally been considered disappointing in the EU. The region’s many economic advantages suggest it could be higher: it is the world’s largest single market area, it has a highly educated lab […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Eastern Europe: Between Transition, Tradition and Extremism

Mon, 27 Jan 2020 15:27:29 +0000

November 9, 2019, marked thirty years since the fall of the Berlin wall. The ensuing transition to democracy and capitalism was seminal to the path Eastern Europe took in subsequent years. One of the key […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Completing the European Single Market – The Key to Europe's Future?

Sun, 01 Dec 2019 23:56:23 +0000

When you hear that President Macron of France has vetoed accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia until further reforms happen in the EU, you may ask which reforms he may mean. What reforms are most […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Spain Reburies Franco, While a Buried Past Reemerges

Wed, 27 Nov 2019 22:02:39 +0000

On October 26, the remains of Franco were exhumed from the mausoleum in the Valley of the Fallen near Madrid, and moved to the El Prado cemetery in a family tomb. The disinterment and reburial – the corpse was f […]

Stephen Sposato wrote a new post, Umberto Eco's "Eternal Fascism" And The Long Shadow Of The Past

Mon, 14 Oct 2019 10:19:37 +0000

Fascism is a political movement every European knows about, or at least ought know about. Naturally, the world has witnessed its beginning, its rise, and its bloody defeat – if not yet its full disappearance. […]