2011 ~ İBG Blog

Dramatic History of Europe and the Emergence of the European Union

Brief History of the European Union

Thursday, December 29, 2011

The South Stream Project and the European Union's Energy Supply Security

6:13 PM energy, energy security, energy supply, european energy policy, Igor Sechin, Nabucco project, Russia, South Stream Pipeline, Taner Yildiz, Trans-Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline, Turkey, Vladimir Putin

After the project of Trans-Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) was signed between Turkey and Azerbaijan, the South Stream project was signed between Turkey and Russia, yesterday. Russia reaches Southstream agreement with Turkey. Russia has said it has reached an agreement with Ankara permitting Moscow to bed down the Southstream natural gas pipeline to Europe via Turkish territorial waters. The agreement of the construction of South Stream was...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dead

1:12 AM asia-pacific, China, Japan, Kim Jong Il's Death, kim jong un, kim jong-il, Kim's death, military, North Korea, POLITICS, South Korea

Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on the morning of the 19th that North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il died on his private train due to overwork on the 17th at 8:30 a.m. In a short dispatch, KCA stated, "Chariman Kim passed away in the train on December 17th, 2011 at 8:30am due to physical overwork." He took the helm of the communist state upon the death of his father and national founder Kim Il-sung in 1994. His successor, Kim Jong-il...

Putin's party wins but suffers setback in Russian Duma Election

10:45 PM Duma, elections, Putin, Putin's victory, Russia, Russian elections, Russian parliamentary elections, United Russia Party, выборы 2011, Дума, Единая Россия, политика, Путин

Today's parliamentary elections in Russia, Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia Party had won the day. Putin's United Russia Party won 49.5 percent of votes, a significant drop from their current two-thirds majority in parliament with a decline from 315 seats to around 220 in Russia's 450-seat State Duma - lower house of parliament after Sunday's election. Putin's party won 64 percent of the vote in 2007, but his party won 50 percent of...

10 years of BRIC countries

12:31 PM 10 years of BRIC, ASEAN, BRIC, BRIC Countries, CIVETS, Colombia, comparative politics, economy, Egypt, European Union, finance, G-6, Goldman Sachs, Indonesia, Jim O’Neill, South Africa, Turkey, Vietnam

Ten years ago, Goldman Sachs' global economist Jim O'Neill introduced the BRIC statement into our lives. He argues that "the economic potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China is such that they could become among the four most dominant economies by the year 2050" (Financial Times, 2006). Since 2001, the BRIC countries continued to develop rapidly. 2008 Financial Crisis affected even if they are not influenced much of Europe and America....

Energy giant Shell signs Turkish oil and gas deal

12:22 PM eastern Mediterranean, Fossil fuels, Gas, Shell, Turkey, Turkey Cyprus gas dispute, Turkey Cyprus relations, Turkish Petroleum Corporation

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell signed a deal Wednesday with the Turkish state-run petroleum company, TPAO, to explore oil and gas. The deal will allow the two companies to search for oil and natural gas offshore in the Mediterranean as well as onshore in Turkey's southeast region, the paper said on its website. Turkey has long-running disputes with Greek Cyprus over delineating the Mediterranean and Aegean seas for the...

Hungary could not resist the impact of the economic and financial crises

11:28 PM Eastern Europe, economic crisis, EU Commission, European Union, financial assistance, Financial Crisis, Hungarian economic crisis, Hungarian economy, hungary, IMF

The Hungarian government requested financial assistance from the EU Commission and the IMF that cancel the agreement with the IMF last year. Hungary could not be reached the desired level of growth and financial stability and the government is obliged to ask for help from the IMF again. The statement made by the Commission to "Today the Hungarian authorities have requested for a possible EU financial assistance. Moreover, Hungary have requested...

Is Portugal Next?

4:33 PM European Union, eurozone, eurozone crisis, eurozone debt crisis, Financial Crisis, financial markets, International relations, political policy, portugal, trade policy

Portugal's economy shrank 0.4 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter. Also, the economy shrank by 0.1 percent year-on-quarter in the second quarter. According to the Portuguese National Statistics Institute (INE), the country's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.4 percent in the third quarter-quarter basis. The country’s economy declined by 1.7 percent in the same period of last year in the third quarter. Portugal's...

Why Berlusconi stepped down?

1:38 AM Berlusconi, berlusconi era, Council of Ministers, Europe, European Commission, European Union, italian politics, Italian Prime Minister, Italy, POLITICS, Senate, Silvio Berlusconi, why Berlusconi stepped down

After the adoption of amendments of the financial stability law in Italy by the House of Representatives, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met with President Giorgio Napolitano and submitted his resignation. Republican Senate previously approved changes to the financial stability law in Italy, was also accepted by the House of Representatives. President Napolitano accepted the resignation and expected to press the button for early elections. Silvio...

The Top 20 Most Valuable Countries of the World

9:33 PM brand finance, brand values, business, finance, most valuable countries in the world, my brand's value and my business, success story of Turkey, Turkey

Brand Finance Brand assessment body, identified Turkey as a brand value of $ 373 billion. According to this survey, Republic of Turkey is the most valuable 19th in the world and 10th most valuable country in Europe. Brand Finance made a statement regarding the results of research, Turkey's brand value increased by 19.8 percent from a year earlier rose to $ 373 billion, was emphasized. This value comes between the first time...

Steve Jobs: The magician

11:28 PM Apple, Economist, incredible, Industries, Mr Jobs, Steve Jobs, Technology industry, The magician

The revolution that Steve Jobs led is only just beginning. When it came to putting on a show, nobody else in the computer industry, or any other industry for that matter, could match Steve Jobs. His product launches, at which he would stand alone on a black stage and conjure up an “incredible” new electronic gadget in front of an awed crowd, were the performances of a master showman. All computers do is fetch and shuffle numbers,...

Russia and China veto new UN sanctions against the Syrian regime

2:05 PM China, International relations, Middle East, Middle East Studies, Political Science, POLITICS, Russia, Syria, syrian revolt, syrian revolution, syrian uprising, UN Sanctions, veto

As the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Syria continues, Russia and China have blocked an effort by Western nations to impose new sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.After last-minute negotiations delayed a United Nations Security Council vote on Tuesday evening, Russia and China exercised their veto right and quashed a European-led resolution threatening Syria with sanctions.Germany, Britain, France and Portugal...

Greek Cypriots Start Oil Drilling In the Eastern Mediterranean

12:24 AM Cyprus, cyprus oil crisis, cyprus problem, drilling for oil, eastern Mediterranean, International relations, oil, Political Science, POLITICS, Turkey

The Greek Cypriot administration is reported to have started drilling for oil in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Israeli media say that the Israeli partnered American company Noble has started exploration on Monday. According to the Globes website, the company Noble has started drilling for natural gas with ten days to go before the expiry of the agreement it struck with the Greek Cypriot administration. A Greek Cypriot news agency...

Merkel and Sarkozy Propose New Economic Government

12:24 PM Angela Merkel, Europe, European Economic Government, European Union, eurozone crisis, eurozone debt crisis, International relations, Nicolas Sarkozy, Political Science, POLITICS, World News

Sarkozy told reporters that he and Merkel want a "true European economic government" that would consist of the heads of state and government of all eurozone nations. The leaders of France and Germany called Tuesday for greater economic discipline and unity among European nations but declined to take immediate financial measures seen by many investors as the only way to halt the continent's spiraling debt crisis.The Dow Jones industrial average fell,...

S&P Downgrades US Credit Rating to AA-Plus

5:06 PM American economy, Credit Ratings, debt, Financial Crisis, International relations, Political Science, POLITICS, Wall Street

The United States lost its top-notch triple-A credit rating from Standard & Poor's Friday, in a dramatic reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about growing budget deficits. "The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary...

Europe’s resurgent far right focuses on immigration, multiculturalism

11:00 PM Europe, far right, ideological, immigration, Islamisation, Marxism, multiculturalism, Nationalism, POLITICS, precedent, Society

The far right in Europe has enjoyed a renaissance over the past 30 years, driven by resentment of the growing powers of the European Union and by rejection of the “multiculturalism” that has accompanied rapid immigration from the developing world. Political parties opposing immigration and integration have done well in elections in recent years — and beyond them, neo-fascist and “national socialist” groups have become well-established across the...

Turkey on Cyprus: No More Mr. Nice Guy

9:59 AM Cyprus, Cyprus issue, eastern Mediterranean, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, TRNC

Cyprus, that cute little island in eastern Mediterranean, has never been on the top of my following list. I have always wished all the best for its peoples, the Greeks and the Turks, but their never-ending disputes have been not just too complicated but also too uninspiring for me. However, being Turkish inevitably means being connected to Cyprus, for the fate of the island is unavoidably linked with Turkey’s place in the international scene, including...

LIBYA MEETING OPENS IN ISTANBUL

12:19 AM Gadhafi, Istanbul Meeting, Libya, Libya Contact Group, Libya National Interim Council, Turkey

The 4th meeting of the Libya Contact Group set up by the international community to find a solution to the Libyan crisis is taking place in İstanbul. The Libya Contact Group formed at the London Conference held at the end of March to defuse the crisis which emerged with the popular uprising in Libya and the Gadhafi administration's crack-down on its own people has convened in Istanbul in a bid to surmount this crisis. The meeting co-chaired...

Four parties to form new Turkish Parliament

7:45 PM 2011 ELECTIONS IN TURKEY, NATIONAL, POLITICS, Turkey, World

Four party groups will take their place in Turkey’s new Parliament as electoral officials had opened more than 90 percent of the nation’s ballot boxes by late Sunday. The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, will form a majority government after winning over 50 percent of the popular vote; the incumbents will be joined again by the opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP, the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, and the Peace...

İsa Burak Gonca graduated from the Department of International Relations of the Faculty of Business and Economics of the Eastern Mediterranean University of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Masters Program in Political Science and International Relations of the Institute of Social Sciences of Yeditepe University. He is now a PhD Candidate in the Field of the International Relations of the Institute of Social Sciences of the Suleyman Demirel University. He is currently doing his PhD studies on China's energy security and geoeconomic interests in Central Asia.