Topic: Estonia

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Just how isolated is North Korea? 6 facts to consider

North Korea's outlook has earned it the title of the 'hermit kingdom.' The country is both cut off from the wider world and intensely focused on its neighbors.
12/28/2011 09:19 am

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Stefan Karlsson Latvia picks up the euro. It won't change much.

Latvia's entry into the Eurozone will not affect exchange rates or monetary policies, Karlsson says.
Estonian believers shop a spiritual 'marketplace'

Though often cited as one of Europe's most agnostic countries, Estonia is not so much a nation of atheists as a place where seekers can explore traditional and non-traditional beliefs equally.
Aurora Borealis tonight? Dazzling northern lights forecast

Aurora Borealis tonight? Yes, New York, Pennsylvania, and parts of the US Midwest could see a rare spectacular aurora borealis light show tonight, based on the forecasts.
British Euroskeptics claim Thatcher, but was she in their camp? (+video)

Though held up today by British Euroskeptics as an icon, the late prime minister left a legacy in Europe that is not as one-sided as it might at first appear.
Estonian austerity, Paul Krugman, and Twitter: All the elements of an opera?

An American expatriate writer and a Latvian economist-cum-composer have turned an online tiff between Estonia's president and Nobel-winning economist Krugman into high art.
In Gear Estonia: a paradise for electric cars?

Estonia has just opened a network of 165 quick-charging stations – more than the U.S. has today – for its plug-in electric cars, Voelcker writes.
Focus Baltic nations offer ex-Soviet states a Western model

The tiny states of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, having shed their Russian-dominated past and joined the EU and NATO, are looking to help their post-Soviet neighbors to do the same.
Focus Left behind? Russian-speaking minorities struggle in new Baltics

While the Baltics make economic and democratic strides, they also face growing pressure to better integrate their poor, disenfranchised Russian-speaking minorities.
New push for two-year degrees could be smart move for US, report says

The US ranks 5th in the world for the share of its adults with degrees, but only 18th when looking at the two-year programs that the study author says will be sufficient for many jobs in the future.
Stefan Karlsson Six types of European economic trends

Recent EU data shows great divergences in Europe between different countries in economic growth, Karlsson writes.
In Pentagon's 'pivot' toward Asia, has Europe been forgotten?

President Obama is pushing the Pentagon to look toward Asia, but some worry that US attention could overbalance away from Europe, which remains the home of many core allies.
Global News Blog Good reads: Growth we missed, Berlin's awkward fit, and where kids know best

This week's long-form good reads may change your perspective on the effects of the Great Recession, the importance of geography, and how to measure the quality of a teacher.
Opinion Beware Russia's hand in elections in Georgia, Ukraine, Lithuania

A top priority of Russian President Vladimir Putin is the reintegration of former Soviet republics – based on tighter economic links and culminating in a political and security pact centered around Russia. Meddling in Eastern European elections is one way to fulfill Putin's regional ambition.
Global News Blog How higher education may be easing the global recession

A new OECD report on education in the world's top economies highlights the importance of higher education, which includes vocational schooling, during an economic downturn.
Energy Voices Europe has had enough, but can it stand up to Gazprom?

Europe wants to escape Gazprom's stranglehold by diversifying into shale gas. But Gazprom is throwing up obstacles.
Andy Roddick makes US Open his swan song

Andy Roddick says he'll retire after the US Open. Roddick is the last American man to get a Grand Slam victory, the US Open in 2003. Roddick played in four Grand Slam finals, losing to Roger Federer in each.
Stefan Karlsson Estonian Austrianism

Building off of his previous posts on the recovery of Estonia's economy, Stefan Karlsson explains how one should strive for the GDP to be at least as high and unemployment at least as low as then.
Horizons DNSChanger: Removing the virus just got a lot harder (+video)

If you didn't act fast enough to the DNSChanger scare, fixing the problem will be a lot more difficult today.
Stefan Karlsson Race against time: Eastern Europe growing old before rich?

With the labor force soon starting to shrink dramatically because of the lagged effect of the collapse of birth rates in the early 1990s, Stefan Karlsson believes that most, if not all, Eastern European countries will grow old before they grow rich.
Stefan Karlsson Eastern Europe's coming labor force implosion

Many Eastern Europeans couldn't afford children following the collapse of communism, and birth rates plummeted in the early 1990s. As a result, over the next decade, the total drop in the region's youth labor market may reach 40 percent.
Stefan Karlsson How should we measure economic recoveries?

Iceland's recent recovery is weak, but many economists are touting it as a model of success. Does this call for more objective standards for what we can and can't hail as a 'recovery?'
Sharapova, attempting career Grand Slam, reaches French Open semifinals

Maria Sharapova has won the Australian and US Open championships, along with Wimbledon. But the Russian has never won on the red clay of France.
Stefan Karlsson Estonia rising: The little country that could

Responding to criticisms of one of the European Union's newest and poorest members, Karlsson argues that even adjusting for fortuitous circumstances along its borders, Estonia's performance the last two years makes it an austerity success story.
Global News Blog With a mouse click, an expat casts his French vote, from Beijing

France is only the second country in the world to allow Internet voting in a national election, allowing citizens like the Monitor's Peter Ford to exercise their democratic right in the heart of Beijing.
Opinion Russia should be rewarded with NATO membership

Russia should be on the agenda for NATO summit in Chicago this weekend. In spite of recent tensions, the historically fractured relationship between Russia and NATO is the most ripe for transformation. Obstacles like missile defense and Eastern Europe can be resolved.