Europe is a woman, now middle-aged, who has already had a number of heart attacks and is currently experiencing the biggest health crisis of her life, but one that need not be fatal. Timothy Garton Ash More Quotes by Timothy Garton Ash More Quotes From Timothy Garton Ash The Eurozone has clearly gone spectacularly wrong, pulling down all the continental economies. Timothy Garton Ash continental economy gone As one looks back, one sees that the fall of the Berlin Wall opened the door to three developments - the Eurozone, which was crafted around German unification, the free movement of peoples within Europe, particularly people from the new democracies of Eastern Europe, and, more broadly, it opened the door to globalization. Timothy Garton Ash wall doors fall I'm a historian by training and by conviction. And so the thing that has throughout informed my thinking about international relations is history. I think, for example, the reason that I was perhaps able to see sooner than some others that the Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe was decaying--if not disintegrating--was that I came to it through history and through Germany, rather than through Sovietology and through Moscow. And therefore the starting point was that no empire in history has lasted forever, and this one won't either. Timothy Garton Ash forever europe thinking Every step that produces a single job for a currently unemployed European should be taken. Every centimetre of red tape that puts someone out of work must be torn up. Timothy Garton Ash tape taken jobs Well, that's the way democracy works. We have to build this Europe with the material we have at our disposal. And this material is national democracy. Timothy Garton Ash democracy europe way I find Chinese debates about their political system domestically, but also about China's claims in the international system, to be among the most original and surprising and exciting of our time. The starting point is a system that none of us had anticipated, which I call Leninist capitalism, but also obviously because it is the most important emerging power. The question of China's relations with the United States in particular, and the rest of the world in general, is the question of war and peace in the 21st century. Timothy Garton Ash chinese political war But transitions from the politics of violence to democratic compromise are always messy. Timothy Garton Ash transition compromise violence Developments in information technology and globalised media mean that the most powerful military in the history of the world can lose a war, not on the battlefield of dust and blood, but on the battlefield of world opinion. Timothy Garton Ash powerful military war Canadians tend to be a bit more religious than most Europeans - though not more than the Poles or Ukrainians. Most important, their attitude to immigration and ethnic minorities is more positive than that of most Europeans. Timothy Garton Ash important religious attitude Yet another thing Canadians and Europeans have in common is an obsession with the United States, and with distinguishing themselves from it, often by crude stereotyping. Timothy Garton Ash united-states obsession common To be in Florence is to reflect on Europe's intricate diversity - and its lost creativity. Timothy Garton Ash diversity creativity europe I love this country, but the union jack leaves me cold. Timothy Garton Ash unions heart country America is divided by a great argument about itself. Europe is divided by a great argument about America. Timothy Garton Ash argument europe america America should do a reverse Columbus. The world no longer needs to discover America; but America urgently needs to discover the world's view of America. Timothy Garton Ash views america needs Russia has lost an empire but not yet found a role. Russia has to decide what it wants to be. And as we know in Britain, that takes some time. It is quite tough to lose an empire and Russia lost its empire very rapidly and very admirably, that is to say peacefully, it didn't fight. Timothy Garton Ash russia roles fighting In a democracy it is ultimately for us, the citizens, to judge where to place the balance between security and privacy, safety and liberty. It's our lives and liberties that are threatened, not only by terrorism but also by massive depredations of our privacy in the name of counter-terrorism. If those companies from which governments actually take most of our intimate details want to show that they are still on the side of the angels, they had better join this struggle for transparency too. Timothy Garton Ash angel struggle names It is not just that it is profoundly offensive to the leaders and people of a democratic Germany to paint Hitler on the wall (or on the remnants of the Wall). It is also consummately counterproductive. Such sauce does not make the meat of substantive criticism more interesting. It means that the whole dish is pushed away. It does not mean that Britain's voice is listened to more attentively in the councils of Europe. It means that it is listened to even less. Timothy Garton Ash wall europe mean So what were Europeans telling their leaders? The general message was perfectly summed up by the cartoonist Chappatte, who drew a group of protesters holding up a placard shouting "Unhappy" - and one of their number shouting through a megaphone into the ballot box. There are 28 member states and 28 varieties of Unhappy. Timothy Garton Ash leader unhappy numbers America is replicated at every level of British life, from the taxi driver to the prime minister. Timothy Garton Ash prime levels america A central claim of the Bush administration's foreign policy is that the spread of democracy in the Middle East is the cure for terrorism. Timothy Garton Ash middle-east administration democracy
