Last week marked 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. This will be always a remarkable date in history, as it heralded the end of the Cold War and the confrontation of the two blocs. The Cold War was also the high-water mark of global politics being shaped according to ideological alliances, as ideology played a major role in shaping the nature of alliances and the role of the ally. Many countries have found themselves playing a role or being part of alliances according to these criteria over the last generation.
1. La Nato, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, nasce il 4 aprile 1949 con il trattato di Washington. I membri fondatori sono 12. Oltre a Stati Uniti e Canada ci sono 10 Stati europei: Belgio, Danimarca, Francia, Islanda, Italia, Lussemburgo, Norvegia, Paesi Bassi, Portogallo e Regno Unito. L'articolo 5 del trattato prevede che un attacco ai danni di uno degli Stati membri va considerato come un attacco contro l'intera Alleanza.
A picture that has been seen all over the world: a black flag waving on the top of a building in Kobani (also known as Ayn al-Arab), a Kurdish town in northern Syria, just 15 kilometres from the Turkish border.
Beware not to talk about a forthcoming invasion toward Europe though. It must be considered that Turkey is neither Syria nor Iraq. Unlike the other two states: Turkey benefits from an essential political and institutional stability that guarantees solidity to the whole country, Turkish armed forces are both better prepared and equipped and, finally, Turkey is NATO Member State and would receive necessary support from the Alliance in case of spillover.
On last 30 of September, the first sample of the new Airbus A400M took its first flight over Seville skies. It’s a flying colossus, a strategic transport aircraft jointly designed by European industrial companies EADS and Airbus. Among all countries that ordered this new aircraft (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain and United Kingdom) France is the first beneficiary.