Constantinos Alexiou and Joseph Nellis (Cranfield): Is There Life After “Death” for the Greek Economy? Christmas in Thessaloniki: Arnon Grunberg on life in the long shadow of Greece’s economic collapse, as related by five citizens of the nation’s second-largest city. The barbarism of reason: John Gray on the Notebooks of Leopardi — the first full translation of a reclusive Italian poet’s philosophical “hotchpotch” is a major event in the history of ideas. When evil was a social system: Christopher Caldwell on the moral burdens of living under communist rule in Eastern Europe. The reluctant giant: Ullrich Fichtner on why Germany shuns its global role. The reign in Spain is mainly on the wane? Bob Colacello on King Juan Carlos’s controversies. Alexander Stille on why the French are fighting over work hours. Leo Tolstoy so admired the Doukhobors, a remote pacifist sect in the highlands of Georgia, he tried to shield them from the modern world — now only 500 of them remain. Forty years ago, squatters in Copenhagen set up the “free zone” of Christiania inside an old military base — the main drag is now a drug market called Pusher Street, but against all odds, and with a little help from the establishment, Christiania is doing just fine. Denmark is considered the happiest country — you'll never guess why. The New Barons: Michal Kus, Stephan Russ-Mohl, and Adam Szynol on power, politics, and media. Chantal Mouffe on how most countries in Europe are in a post-political situation.
