European Union

Submitted by Valentin Katasonov via Strategic-Culture.org,

The financial crisis of 2007-2009 effectively terminated the process of globalization. In 2015 world trade suddenly dropped by more than 10% for the first time since 2009. Nothing like this has been seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. But some politicians, public figures, scholars, and journalists continue to talk about globalization as an «objective» and «progressive» process, even though it has already ended.

Submitted by Alex Gorka via Stratgic-Culture.org,

Matteo Renzi resigned as the Italian Prime Minister after the people of Italy voted «no» in a historic referendum on constitutional reform on December 4. The vote results triggered a shock wave across Europe much like Brexit. It’s up to Italian President Sergio Mattarella now to decide what will happen next – an appointment of new prime minister supported by parliamentary majority or a snap election, paving the way for an anti-euro party, the 5-Star Movement, to come to power.

Submitted by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,

The next domino has fallen...

I recently spent several weeks in Italy, taking the pulse of the country. The Italian referendum on December 4 turned out exactly how I predicted it would.

The “No” vote won in a landslide, with 59% of the vote versus 41% for “Yes,” with a 70% turnout.

The pro-EU Prime Minister promptly announced his resignation after the crushing defeat.

Continuing in the tradition of making a selection of calls aimed at provoking conversation on what might surprise or shock the investment returns in the year ahead this year's predictions cover a range of scenarios, including a Chinese growth rebound, an Italian bank rally, Brexit giving way to Bremain and the EU's willingness to change in the face of populist backlash, among others.

The EU has threatened social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube with immediate “action” unless they remove subversive posts within 24 hours.  Earlier in 2016, all the major social media giants agreed to a European “code of conduct” pledge, promising to remove “hate speech” from their platforms when they become aware of it. They also agreed to promote pro-European narratives and suppress anything deemed “subversive”.