Home (Page 2)
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Niepokorni”
Poland’s new strong men prefer to style themselves as persecuted outsiders.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Brexit”
It began life as a variant of Grexit. Fours years on and a referendum later, the term is still devoid of meaning.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Bromance”
Political journalism’s love affair with a newly minted word must end now.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Reflective Power”
The country of poets and thinkers wants to be seen thinking. It may be sinking.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Hotspots”
The obfuscating misuse of the English term is troubling not least because “hot spot” previously referred to the kind of place refugees are escaping.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “I epanastasi tou autonoitou”
Greece’s “self-evident revolution” (Η επανάσταση του αυτονόητου) stumbles over its children’s basic understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Cerchiobottista”
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has long advocated a dramatic break from the country’s political past. Such straightforwardness, however, does not suit most politicians – especially the cerchiobottisti, who make much ado but do not do much.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Bedenkenträger”
After the Germans initially greeted refugees with euphoria, one old phenotype of German political discourse has returned, en masse: the “bearer of reservations.”
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Ertüchtigung”
Think that a “Merkel doctrine” is an oxymoron? Wrong: Ertüchtigung – loosely, “help for self help” – sounds outdated even to German ears, but the concept behind it is useful today.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “France souveraine”
As the European Union shows signs of fraying at the edges, some in France are questioning its core.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Vezhlivye Lyudi”
When “polite people” do impolite things, they can redraw the map of Europe. After facilitating the annexation of Crimea, Russia’s “gentlemen soldiers” have become a national meme.
Words Don’t Come Easy: “Führung aus der Mitte”
Since reunification Germany’s partners have prodded the country to take on a leadership role in security policy. Now Germany’s finally agreed to take a seat at the table – as long as it is not the head.
