Greek Slurs, Swastika Show Germany’s the Key: Celestine Bohlen Ten years after the euro, it’s still all about Germany, which isn’t the way it was supposed to be.

Russia’s Gold Deficit Shows Us What’s Wrong: Celestine Bohlen Russia is in a funk. Its performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver was its worst ever, and its economy suffered more last year than any other nation in the Group of 20.

Live Terrorists Are Worth More Than Dead Ones: Celestine Bohlen The good news last week was that the Americans, with the help of the Pakistanis, didn’t kill a top Taliban commander. They captured him instead.

Iran Gives China Chance to Prove Its Stuff: Celestine Bohlen That’s it. Iran has gone too far. Even Russia is fed up and is now talking about tough sanctions, with the U.S., France, the U.K. and Germany.

German Bounty Tears Veil Off Swiss Secrecy: Celestine Bohlen The Swiss are shocked again, this time over the German decision to buy a list of some 1,500 possible tax cheats saved on a disc lifted from a Swiss bank. It’s stolen property, say the Swiss bankers. It’s bank robbery, cry the lawyers. It is behavior unfitting of a “civilized state,” harrumphed one Swiss politician.

Sniping at U.S. Haiti Role Shows EU Weakness: Celestine Bohlen Most Americans are probably unaware that the rapid dispatch of U.S. troops and military equipment to Haiti after the Jan. 12 earthquake was an occupation.

Women Under Wraps Don’t Deserve French Ire: Celestine Bohlen To listen to French politicians now making the round of TV talk shows, there is no issue more urgent than the burqa, the head-to-toe Muslim garment worn by very few women in France.

War on Terror Ignores Rule to Know Thy Enemy: Celestine Bohlen Here we are, eight years into a global war against al-Qaeda, and we still have trouble identifying the enemy.

World War Pope Sainthood Like Obama’s Nobel: Celestine Bohlen It’s not at all clear that the world needs another Roman Catholic saint, let alone another canonized Catholic pope. By one count, there are already more than 10,000 saints and “beati” or blessed, accumulated since Roman times, with at least three saints already assigned for every day of the year.

Attacks, Girls, Chaos Do Berlusconi’s Work: Celestine Bohlen Silvio Berlusconi has always said that people were out to get him. After he got smashed in the face with a replica of Milan’s Gothic cathedral, it looks like he’s been proved right.