Kaj Leers
RealClearWorld
Amsterdam, NH, Netherlands
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Past articles by Kaj:
Fragmentation in the Netherlands
The Dutch election of 2017 was one of fragmentation. For the first time in history, a Green party may enter government. Yet the left is altogether decimated, while the populist anti-European Union,... → Read More
A Final Twist in the Battle for the Netherlands
Whether intended or not, a renewed sense of urgency is precisely what Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte needed to reignite hopes of a two-way battle with Geert Wilders in a bid to draw in strategic... → Read More
The Dutch Are Rejecting Populism
The Dutch nation-state as it exists today came into being in 1815 when the royal house of Orange was installed after the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. Before that, the country was in many ways... → Read More
Why Geert Wilders Loses
Geert Wilders of the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) is riding high in the polls. Hes locked in a campaign battle with Mark Rutte of the ruling party, the free-market conservative VVD, to... → Read More
Can the Dutch Turn Back the Populist Tide?
After the election of Donald Trump in the United States and the Brexit referendum in Great Britain, eyes now turn to a slew of elections taking place in Europe. The Dutch vote first, on March 15, and... → Read More
Europe's Tax Haven Hypocrites
For years national politicians have pronounced in chorus that tax evasion problems should be dealt with on a European level. Now that the European Commission has done exactly that -- slamming Apple with a €13 billion bill in back taxes -- the veil has come off. Ireland is appealing the decision. Tax competition is alive and well in Europe. Ireland's appeal clearly shows how much the framing of… → Read More
Bad Banks and Turf Wars: Europe Stuck Again
So the European Commission announced that Spain and Portugal will not be punished for breaching Europes Growth and Stability Pact. The decision lands yet another blow on the credibility of the... → Read More
One for All, All for One. If Only.
In 2002, six French Republican Guards ceremoniously carried the coffin of Alexandre Dumas to his last resting place in the Pantheon, France's impressive burial chamber for national heroes in Paris.... → Read More
The Quick Death of the EU-Turkey Refugee Deal
Anyone in Europe who had worked with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in the past months probably saw it coming: the death of the European Unions refugee deal with Turkey. With Davutoglu... → Read More
Time To Write Off Some Of Greece's Debts
It was off the radar screen for some time but it looks to return with a vengeance this summer: the Greek Question about debt relief. Pressure is on eurozone nations to finally write off some of the... → Read More
Turkey Delights
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's police forces close newspaper after radio station after news website, and while Turkish armed forces pursue a veritable civil war with the Kurds, the... → Read More
Can France's Socialist Leader Survive?
With one year to go before the 2017 election, France's socialist president, Francois Hollande, is fighting for his political life. After boldly stating in the past that he would not stand for... → Read More
Is Europe Better Off Without Britain?
It was to be expected. The "deal" hashed out between British Prime Minister David Cameron and the European Union is enticing other countries to rake in some goodies of their own. Thus Cameron's campaign to keep Great Britain inside the European Union is already having a detrimental effect on European solidarity. Cameron needed a deal with the European Union as a motif; a tangible reason to… → Read More
There Is no Plan B for Europe
As European leaders prepare for a mid-February summit -- just the latest such gathering to seek a solution to the Continent's refugee crisis -- the politics surrounding that crisis are intensifying.... → Read More
Who Dares, Wins
If headlines from the United States and Europe are to be believed, old democracies will be eclipsed by so-called benevolent dictators who will do away with all the tiresome → Read More
The Changing Face of Europe
Where is leadership in the European Union? Who dares to don its trappings, now that German Chancellor Angela Merkel no longer seems to command the authority she did up until the end of the summer?... → Read More