tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-2425 2009-11-15T15:26:28+01:00 TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c42969e20120a6a1d4d1970b 2009-11-15T15:26:28+01:00 2009-11-15T15:29:43+01:00

Anyone unsure about the ruthlessness of the enemy we face in Afghanistan and Pakistan should read this piece about a young boy in Pakistan: 'I Agreed to Become a Suicide Bomber'. It is hard to believe that the majority of...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c42969e20120a623d3f4970b 2009-10-27T14:33:39+01:00 2009-11-24T17:52:20+01:00

A classmate of mine from Georgetown days (and someone I greatly admire) offers this outstanding analysis of how women are used and exploited by various Jihadist movements. A must-read. UPDATE: Part II available now.

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c42969e20120a5a65c78970b 2009-09-29T02:36:48+02:00 2009-11-10T04:09:22+01:00

Out of ideas and without any hope of a last minute hate-America hail-mary pass or flood disaster to rally the party faithful à la Gazprom Gerhard Schroeder, the SPD gets destroyed in German elections. With just 23% of the vote,...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c42969e2011570c33811970c 2009-07-04T20:05:00+02:00 2009-07-04T20:05:00+02:00

One of our longest standing guests - Helian - has started his own blog - Helian Unbound. Topics range from politics to foreign policy to cold fusion. Check it out.

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67678799 2009-06-05T17:50:28+02:00 2009-06-05T17:53:48+02:00

Talk of tolerance is one thing. The reality in Germany is another - as this article and YouTube video document. Violent Islamic extremists, along with the far-right, continue to foment open hostility towards Jews and Israel in Germany and around...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67395941 2009-05-29T08:45:07+02:00 2009-05-29T08:52:47+02:00

German politics and the German media have largely blamed the U.S. for the current financial crisis. Germany's cherished "social market" policies, so the unified chorus, would have never produced the reckless behavior of banks witnessed in the country of profit...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-65385449 2009-04-13T02:44:35+02:00 2009-11-11T18:41:48+01:00

SPIEGEL ONLINE headline: "Kidnapped Captain: Somali Pirates Make Fools of US Navy" Big surprise: According to SPIEGEL ONLINE, members of the US military are once again humiliated fools - just as they have been in every conflict since the American...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-63797495 2009-03-09T02:46:57+01:00 2009-03-09T18:35:48+01:00

(By Ray D.) Perception and reality are not always clear in the media world. That is particularly true when supposedly trustworthy media sources misreport (or simply distort) the most basic facts. Case in point - Tagesspiegel's recent coverage of statements...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-63771407 2009-03-07T15:47:51+01:00 2009-03-07T15:58:13+01:00

A worthwhile article (also published in German) by an Iraqi Kurd that echoes past posts on our site. Excerpts: "I must admit that I was astonished when I recently read in the newspaper that a German parliamentary delegation was visiting...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-63574401 2009-03-03T09:38:12+01:00 2009-03-09T15:26:39+01:00

An English journalist visited Gaza on January 28, 2009, and found... well, not what the German media, in particular ARD, ZDF, etc., etc., wants us to believe. Apparently, the Israelis did an excellent job during Operation Cast Lead, hitting Hamas...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-61934234 2009-01-26T20:50:48+01:00 2009-01-26T20:50:48+01:00

The United States and Israel ranked below North Korea, China and Russia by Germans Polled Poll results from a 2007-2008 BBC World Service Poll reveal that a higher percentage of Germans surveyed viewed the United States (72%) and Israel (64%)...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-61475460 2009-01-16T16:25:12+01:00 2009-01-16T16:25:12+01:00

To its credit, the Financial Times published an article by Philip Stephens entitled "The Obama challenge: is Europe just a spectator?" that cuts to the heart of several key issues that will shape future transatlantic relations. Excerpt: "Behind this lies...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58298862 2008-11-30T06:45:00+01:00 2009-03-09T15:25:14+01:00

It has been a few weeks since the election. We would now like to open our comments section completely to a conversation for our readers. What is your reaction to the election? Some things to consider: How will the Democrat...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-34120172 2008-11-25T16:22:00+01:00 2008-11-25T16:22:00+01:00

(By Ray D.) UPDATE: I conducted this interview with Brent Scowcroft on the future of US-EU relations and foreign policy in general for a graduate paper I completed last year. It appears he may play some significant foreign policy role...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58849802 2008-11-21T19:55:39+01:00 2008-11-21T19:55:39+01:00

(By Ray D.) Today I attended a seminar at the Goethe Institute in Washington DC on Germany and the challenges of terrorism. In attendance was Stefan Aust, until recently the editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel. During the questions-and-answer period, I introduced...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58686310 2008-11-18T21:11:27+01:00 2008-11-18T21:11:27+01:00

The latest Der Spiegel cover seems to offer a glimpse of what's to come... "The Capital Crime: Anatomy of a World Crisis that has Really Just Begun" With Obama, Spiegel and others will no longer be focusing attacks on the...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58476186 2008-11-13T21:20:27+01:00 2008-11-13T21:20:27+01:00

An interesting article on the United States and the tendencies of its political factions with regard to foreign affairs and image abroad. (Via RealClearPolitics.com)

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57947067 2008-11-03T18:13:18+01:00 2009-03-09T15:25:43+01:00

With the election imminent, it now appears that an Obama presidency is more likely than unlikely. That being the case, we would like to offer a few predictions as to how many in German media and society will react. We...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57833315 2008-10-31T18:50:58+01:00 2008-10-31T18:50:58+01:00

Looking around the blogosphere this week, we couldn't help but notice an interesting discussion taking place in the comments section of the blog "German Joys," a left-leaning blog written by Andrew Hammel, an American living in Germany. One of the...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57724329 2008-10-29T15:50:54+01:00 2008-10-29T15:50:54+01:00

Reader's Digest published a surprisingly insightful passage on European media in a recent article by Carl M. Cannon entitled "How the World Sees Us". It discusses factors leading to Obama's overwhelming popularity in much of Western Europe: "Other factors are...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57609043 2008-10-27T16:02:00+01:00 2009-03-09T15:26:15+01:00

One last Hate-Bush Hurrah at Der Spiegel... "The Bush Warriors: End of the Show" - a play on an earlier Der Spiegel cover. Kinda funny, kinda sad, kinda pathetic at this point... And let's not forget Stern declaring the United...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57394439 2008-10-23T16:04:00+02:00 2008-10-23T16:04:00+02:00

It's election season and - as usual - things are getting ugly at SPIEGEL ONLINE. In his most recent article, SPIEGEL ONLINE America correspondent Marc Pitzke smears John McCain as a liar and characterizes Bill Ayers as a "widely respected...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-56614823 2008-10-09T17:25:00+02:00 2009-11-11T18:44:50+01:00

SPIEGEL and Stern: Global Economic Crisis = America's Fault SPIEGEL ONLINE's decision to launch an English site a few years back has proven a double-edged sword. It can reach a wider audience - but - when it chooses to translate...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-56671683 2008-10-07T22:30:58+02:00 2008-10-07T22:30:58+02:00

We at Medienkritik have decided to translate a piece by Jan Ross of Die Zeit to give our readers a feel for the current strain of elitist thought on the United States in German media. Because they can no longer...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-56716295 2008-10-06T13:48:00+02:00 2008-10-06T13:48:00+02:00

Just further evidence of an all too well-established way of thinking among Europe's elites. "Yesterday, the literary world on this side of the Atlantic reacted with bemusement and anger to an extraordinary tirade against American writing by Horace Engdahl, the...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-54508028 2008-08-21T16:42:48+02:00 2009-03-09T15:27:43+01:00

Source: Augsburger Allgemeine, August 19, 2008 Spotless friendship: "From now on, my lawyer will explain my Georgia policy to you, Mrs. Merkel!" "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-53326298 2008-07-27T17:11:27+02:00 2008-07-27T17:11:27+02:00

A worthwhile opinion article that points out the fundamental problem either Obama or McCain will face in Afghanistan with Europeans (and especially Germans) reluctant to contribute. And - the German love affair with Obama may already be cooling. A recent...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-53094090 2008-07-23T02:22:26+02:00 2008-07-23T02:22:26+02:00

An interesting essay on Europe, Obama and anti-Americanism in the Times Online. Excerpt: "...there isn't an American president since Eisenhower who hasn't ended up, at some point or other, being depicted by the world's cartoonists as a cowboy astride a...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-52388572 2008-07-08T12:37:54+02:00 2008-07-08T12:37:54+02:00

These Germans...it's so difficult for them to adapt to the virtues of multilateral agreements: Germany in Hot Seat as G8 Pushes Nuclear Power (...) Germany is now the only member of the G8 club resisting expanding nuclear power as part...

David Kaspar tag:typepad.com,2003:post-52286470 2008-07-05T10:09:09+02:00 2008-07-05T10:09:09+02:00

From SPIEGEL, Germany's enthusiastically pro-Bush news source: Optimism Grows in Iraq as Daily Life Improves There is an unexpected air of normalcy prevailing in Baghdad these days, with consumption flourishing and confidence in the government growing. The progress is astonishing,...

David Kaspar