
Celestine Bohlen is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.
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.