Nation Topics - Regions and Countries | The Nation

Maastricht--shorthand now for the speeding up of the European Community's financial integration--is both an eye-opener and a mystification.

Boris Yeltsin celebrated the first anniversary of his reign in the mood of a satisfied yet rather puzzled survivor ("we jumped into the river not knowing how to swim...but we didn't drown").

By the skin of their teeth... Watching on French
television the gloomy faces of the alleged winners
one could not help feeling there was an element of
defeat in their victory.

When in London, if you have some time to spare, go east to the Isle of Dogs to visit what was to have been Europe's biggest office-plus-housing project.

History, whatever Hegel or Marx may have said about tragedy and farce, can also repeat itself as a tragicomedy.

You don't cross the Rubicon, argued Andre Malraux, in order to sit down on the other side and fish in its waters. Yet this is exactly what Boris Yeltsin did.

Nothing is over, not even the counting; given the prevailing mood of mutual suspicion there will be plenty of disputes over the final result.

Jacques Attali, until June 25 the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development but for years the French President's personal assistant, cannot be too happy with the reason he

The plans painstakingly prepared by the master builders of Maastricht now lie torn to ribbons. The once mighty mark is showing signs of wear under the strain of German reunification.

For once Boris Yeltsin was true to his word. He had said in public that August would be the month of "artillery preparations" and September the time of the clash. On September 21, at 8 P.M.