Today, though, the pivot to Asia appears to have been largely called off. The Middle East, with its revolutions and power vacuums, is sucking America back in. Meanwhile, the European Union’s failure to stop the Russian invasion of Crimea means that the United States has again been drawn into continental politics, with the looming possibility of another Cold War. And both Europe and the United States are now making a quietly revolutionary attempt to rewrite the rules of trans-Atlantic trade.

Read more: The New York Times

Le gouvernement japonais a adopté, vendredi 11 avril, une nouvelle politique énergétique qui revient sur la décision de mise en sommeil progressive des centrales nucléaires prise par le précédent gouvernement après la catastrophe de Fukushima, de mars 2011. Le premier ministre, Shinzo Abe, a passé des mois à convaincre les sceptiques de sa formation, le Parti libéral-démocrate (PLD), ainsi que de son partenaire de coalition, le Nouveau Komeito, qui est contre l'énergie nucléaire, d'accepter son plan.

Lire sur: Le Monde

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's chief economic advisor Yiğit Bulut has claimed that Turkey will no longer need Europe, stating that the “new West” solely comprises the US. Writing for the pro-government Star daily, Bulut said: “I'll state it in clear terms: In the new equation, the new West for Turkey means only the US. We no longer need Europe and its material and moral affiliates which may become a burden on us.”

Read more: CIHAN

Nur einer von sechs Amerikanern weiß, wo die Ukraine liegt. Das haben US-Forscher in einer Umfrage herausgefunden. Die zeigt auch, dass es einen Zusammenhang gibt zwischen dieser Wissenslücke und der Einstellung zur Außenpolitik.

Mehr lesen: Focus

Two days of intensive negotiations between U.S. and Japanese trade representatives ended Thursday in failure as the two sides failed to break the deadlock over the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, clouding the prospects for a summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later this month.

Read more: Japan Times

If Europeans don’t want to get trapped into a downward spiral of incendiary threats and escalating reprisals – which however much they might pain Russia will hurt Europe significantly, America hardly at all, and Ukrainians most – they would do well to listen to the “other” American voices that are more in accord with Europe’s own interest

Read more: Neurope

Mas: Vozpopuli

¤ March 20 to 26, 2006: Iran-USA, beginning of a major world crisis
1. Crisis of confidence in the Dollar
2. Crisis of US financial imbalances
3. Oil crisis
4. Crisis of the American leadership
5. Crisis of the Arabo-Muslim world
6. Global governance crisis
7. European governance crisis

NewropMag

Speaking on the latter subject, Solis pointed out that he was a strong opponent of the country’s Free Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), which passed by national referendum seven years ago, saying he believed the agreement damaged the agricultural sector and other sectors of Costa Rica’s economy.

Read more: Inside Costa Rica

Wie denken österr. Parteien über TTIP? Was ist ihr Standpunkt und wofür setzen sie sich ein? neuwal bringt die einzelnen Positionen auf den Punkt.

Mehr: Neuwal

Bereits in dem Überblick über die Reaktionen auf die NSA-Enthüllungen in Europa stand, dass Österreich für Nachrichtendienste besonders interessant sei, weil viele internationale Organisationen ihren Sitz in Wien haben. In der Hauptstadt gibt es demnach etwa 17.000 Diplomaten. Einen massenhaften Abgriff von Daten an Glasfaserkabeln im Land hielt der investigative Journalist Erich Moechel dagegen für eher unwahrscheinlich – wegen der geografischen Lage. Dabei ging es aber vor allem um Daten, die das Land durchqueren, während Format nun den vollständigen Zugriff auf inländisch entstandene Daten enthüllt.

Mehr: Heise online