For several decades, there has been general consensus bridging the Dutch political class regarding the notion of a multicultural society. This consensus is now being challenged.

The Snowden affair could bring about major changes in the structure of the Internet and its governance. Technologies should now a priori integrate standards which give citizens the capacity to keep a check on what data is available.

The Internet Governance debate opposes multilateral thinking, favoring the role of State and interstate bodies, with a multistakeholder model, which aims to unite all concerned actors: states, business, experts, academics and internet groups, among others. 

This paper intends to take a step back from current developments in Ukraine in order to analyze the lessons Europeans ought to draw from the crisis that caught many by surprise. Whether the Ukrainian crisis really turns out to be a »game changer« in a structural sense remains to be seen, but it has made clear that Europeans should rethink a number of fundamental assumptions underlying European foreign policy.

In March 2011, after a half-century of relative isolation and autocratic military rule, Myanmar took the world by surprise in announcing an unexpected political transition. Less than two years later the emergence of aggressive Buddhist nationalism grabbed the spotlight. The epidemic of violence against Muslims that began with pogroms in June 2012 in the Arakan region of southwest Myanmar has now spread across a large swath of the country and is a testimony to the seriousness of this phenomenon. In a country with a large Buddhist majority, the presence of Muslims is now considered a threat.

Following the 2014 separatist conflict in Ukraine, observers have worried about the potential for a similar conflict in Moldova that would interrupt the country’s EU association. Indeed, Moldova’s national minorities largely oppose the country’s process of approximation and integration with the European Union.