kennyo wrote: Actually, Egenera's CEO is staying on as Board chairman. As the company transitions to be a multi-platform player, the feeling is to have management who are experts about software, the converged infrastructure market, and familiar with the players in the space. Ergo the new CEO, and ergo the new levels of backing from investors. The company is still hiring in its field and OEM spaces, and in conversations with multiple IHV partners.
Current Events and Politics: The Berlin Wall and European Reconciliation -- Vision.org
The European Union Is Enlarged and Enriched, but to Be Effective It Must Speak About Its Social Issues With a Clear and Coherent Voice in International Affairs
PASADENA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/10/09 -- In recent current
events and politics, the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the
Berlin Wall reminds us that historic happenings in the European theatre can
provide the world with great moments of international drama. Does the
recent ratification of the Lisbon Treaty set the stage for another such
scene of reconciliation and unity on the European continent? Vision.org
writer Tom Fitzpatrick reports on a recent event at Brown University's
Watson Institute of International Studies titled, "The European Union in a
Moment of Crisis" where two former European heads of state explored the
future of European unity.
The two former European heads of state, now academics at Brown University's
Watson Institute for International Studies, addressed the future of
European unity. The two-day event titled "The European Union in a Moment of
Crisis," took place in Providence, Rhode Island, October 28 and 29, 2009.
Efforts at European unity over the last fifty years have produced a
remarkable record of accomplishment. The European Union has enlarged its
size, empowered its member economies and now enhanced its constitution.
However, the European Union remains somewhat frustrated by its inability to
play an effective role in international affairs.
Romano Prodi, former prime minister of Italy and past president of the
European Commission and Alfred Gusenbauer, former Chancellor of Austria
described the inherent challenges hindering further integration. They also
proposed institutional changes needed if the European Union is to perform
an influential role in future geopolitics.
While the EU has demonstrated a remarkable record of enlargement,
institutions of integration have lagged behind. Professor Prodi laments the
current lack of common economic, energy and foreign policy that relegates
the EU to the role of spectator rather than actor in world affairs. The
inability of the Eurozone to speak with one voice on these matters limits
its influence on the world scene. He describes the definition of Europe as
"a union of minorities" each with its diverse views and defensive of its
vested national interests. The European Constitution currently requires
that all member states agree before change can be implemented. Prodi
declared that differences in national interests and the requirement of
unanimity make continued integration difficult to achieve through
democracy.
Nevertheless, he sees greater unity for Europe as a necessity. "The world
is changing," he emphasized. "This is not the same world as a generation
ago. We are entering an era of cross-continental issues where social issues
can't be solved by one nation. Europe must adapt by uniting, or its
individual countries will become irrelevant in shaping the future."
The European Union is enlarged and enriched, but to be effective it must
speak about its social
issues with a clear and coherent voice in international affairs. The
ratification of the Lisbon Treaty represents the European Union's desire to
audition for a greater role on the world stage.
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