When we reflect on how gender inequality manifests itself in our societies, we often think of strong ideas illustrated by impactful numbers such as the gender pay gap or the number of victims of domestic violence. These topics are often referred to when highlighting gender inequalities in our countries, but another very important aspect of our societies is an arena of this injustice: politics. On the 1st of December 2019, the most equal European Commission ever formed was entering into office. Led by a woman and accompanied by a record number of women elected to democratic bodies, the European Union of 2019 seemed to be making great progress towards greater equality in politics – but how rep
Europe has since the post-colonialist era played a central role in the African continent, fostering peace and growth through financial and military aid. The EU has also been a major partner in the World Bank’s projects together with the United States and most of this aid has been tracked down in a clear and transparent way. Since 2009 China has been Africa’s main trading partner while European countries have lost their influence in their former colonies. Europe has not been alone in falling behind the fast growth of investments from the East, also other Western countries seem to face the same challenge. European interests in Africa European countries' aid missions in Africa surged in the 70s
Europe is financially well-equipped to deal with the coronavirus shock, but it has to decide what it
Europe is fighting a war, it is clear. No doubt that the priority must be people’s health. However, we cannot ignore that our economies are suffering and that something extraordinary is needed in order to avoid an – otherwise inevitable – depression. Mario Draghi declared in the Financial Times: “The challenge we face is how to act with sufficient strength and speed to prevent the recession from morphing into a prolonged depression […] It is already clear that the answer must involve a significant increase in public debt. […] Much higher public debt levels will become a permanent feature of our economies and will be accompanied by private debt cancellation.” It is sure that the European budg
The current crisis provides us with several painful lessons to learn. One of them concerns the way the society interacts with science. As a short disclaimer, while I believe that what I describe here is not bound by any borders, I rely heavily on my experiences with the handling of the situation in my home country Germany. In my view, the COVID-19 epidemic is another occasion that displays the ambiguous attitudes in societies across the globe towards science. In the last decade we could see a steady rise in the market for alternative medicine, ‘anti-vaccination’ movements gaining traction and many high-level politicians, among them the US president, with a troublesome relationship towards sc
