Mid April the EU signed a free trade agreement with Colombia. Now it is the turn of the parliaments involved to ratify the agreement. To remove any possible obstacles – Bogota’s human rights situation is controversial – a delegation of Members of the European Parliament paid a visit to Colombia. MO* was there too.

The EU aspires to environmental leadership. At times it manages to materialise that ambition, but is uncertain whether the EU will attain its so-called 20-20-20 climate and energy targets. After all, this ambition touches the heart of our economic model. European policy on these matters is ambiguous: considerable sums of money are spent on initiati ...

These days, Judaism and Christianity are often presented as kindred souls who stand for democracy and human rights, while Islam is cut from a wholly different cloth. This essay by Tom Kenis argues that the books and practice of the three religions barely support this contention.

The article ‘Sustainable on paper’ that was published in September in MO* Magazine, has stirred up a hornet’s nest. In the article, Veracel’s certification by FSC was heavily criticized. Veracel is a large Brazilian paper company, and has been under continuous attack by local farmers and activists.

Some will claim that the true, structural causes for these Arab revolts reside in the rising food prizes or other objective economic factors. Others will claim it is the new social media. Others again will hail the rise multitude foretold in the West, happening in the Middle East. Who can prove them wrong? But that is not what the street interviewe ...

A hundred years ago today, women across the world took an historic step on the long road to equality. The first ever International Women’s Day was called to draw attention to the unacceptable and often dangerous working conditions that so many women faced worldwide. Although the occasion was celebrated in only a handful of countries, it brought ove ...

The ongoing Revolutions in the Middle East change everything. Or at least: a lot. We have to reconsider the entire picture. It is a geopolitical paradigm shift. But I cannot even start to tackle all this.

A spectre is roaming the Middle East: the spectre of the multitude. The beauty and in a sense the world historical importance of this Jasmine Revolution (or whatever it will be called in the annals of humanity) is that it had no leadership. It might also prove its fatal weakness, but that does not contradict its beauty and importance. It was th ...

The Rwandese president Paul Kagame came to Belgium early December 2010 in the framework of the European Development Days. His visit was anything but uneventful: several braved the bitter cold and snow to express their anger or support for  him. Kagame addressed 2400 Rwandan from the diaspora in Europe, but did not meet with king Albert II, nor ...

Early next week, Uzbekistan’s dictator Islam Karimov will visit Brussels for meetings with the Council of the European Union, with European Commission president Barroso, and with NATO. It is difficult to imagine a stronger contrast between the regards for Karimov, and the EU ban and pariah status put upon Belarus’ Lukashenko, another, yet certainly ...

Joseph Vogl is a culture- and literature scientist and lectures in Berlin and Princeton. The 7th of December 2010 he was one of our guests on a MO*lecture in Ghent about capitalism in the 21st century. Title of his lecture: 'Volatile financial markets and the ghosts of capital'. We publish here the full text of his intresting lecture.

Lecture given at the Conference on the ‘Crisis of Capitalism, Welfare State and Labour’, Madrid, November 18, 2010. The Conference was organized by Instituto de Cultura del Sur, an institution under the patronage of eight municipalities of Madrid. Other participants on this Conference were Roberto Savio (WSF), Susan George, Ricardo Petrella, Rémy H ...