The prelude to the suez crisis, is that the egyptian and president president nasa nationalizes the company that controls the suez canal. And at that point, about 70 % of the oil that western europe used comes up through sues canal into the mediterranean. The american pres dwiht eisenhauer is absolutely horrified. He doesn't want a projection of european imperial power. So he uses american financial power to basically cripple the british position and to make the brits stop. Once the britishes have stopped, the french and disraelis have to stop too. That is the beginning of the the west euro
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine images of war in Europe dominate the news, and questions rage about the political failure to both prevent and end the atrocities. Amol Rajan discusses the political forces that have allowed the West to flourish and the cracks that are beginning to widen.
Developed in the wake of European wars of religion and nationalism, Liberalism was designed as a system to govern diverse societies, with a strong emphasis on the rights of individuals, equality and the rule of law. In Liberalism and Its Discontents Francis Fukuyama argues for a return to its classical form but shows how attacks from both the left and right have left it in a state of crisis.
Europe’s dependence on Russian oil is central to Helen Thompson’s book, Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century. She looks back at the historical origins of today’s overlapping geopolitical, economic and political failures.
Shifts in the global balance of power in the 19th century between Old Europe and the New World of American Imperialism are at the heart of Edward Shawcross’s extraordinary tale. He describes the ignoble end of a Habsburg Archduke, aided by Napoleon III, who crossed the world to become The Last Emperor of Mexico.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Image credit: Francis Fukuyama – © Djurdja Padejski