Why Cologne Will Keep Welcoming Refugees

The Assaults on New Year’s Eve Have Made My Hometown Anxious About Safety, but I Worry More About Our Sanity

The pastry shop Cup Cakes Cologne has put two fancy cakes in its shop window. One cake shows German chancellor Angela Merkel in the style of a red angel. The other spells “Refugees welcome to Köln” (the German name for Cologne) in frosting and depicts a family walking to somewhere.

The cakes are becoming stronger political statements with each passing day.

The pastry shop is located in Ehrenfeld, a district of Cologne. The neighborhood of 100,000 has residents of many different backgrounds: workers and many former immigrants from Turkey, German …

By Cora Pfafferott | January 27, 2016

How Our Scrappy Soccer Team Is Giving Hope to Underdogs Everywhere

Thanks to the Foxes, the City of Leicester Has a Shot at Greatness

By Rob Tanner | January 11, 2016

My hometown of Leicester, like many English cities that aren’t named London, Liverpool, or Manchester, doesn’t get a lot of respect—or, to put it more bluntly, notice. As only the …

For Refugees, Home Is a Place Called Never

Having Fled Sarajevo as a Child, I Find It Hard Telling Syrians There Is No Going Back

By Dragana Kaurin | January 4, 2016

I recognized Basel immediately when the shot cut to a group of refugees standing in the rain, and he turned to look briefly at the camera. I was at home …

Invite Tunisia to Join the European Union

In North Africa's New and Struggling Democracy, EU Membership Could Make All the Difference

By Daniel Schily | December 21, 2015

Tunisia, welcome to Europe—if you still want to join us.

Four years ago, in Germany’s newspaper for intellectuals, Die Zeit, the prominent author Gero von Randow called for Tunisia to be …

What Syrian Refugees Offer the West

Having Ignored Syria's Plight for so Long, Europe Has One Last Opportunity to Care

By Elizabeth Dickinson | October 21, 2015

She came from a safe city, at least by Syrian standards. Tartus is a government stronghold and home to a Russian naval base. Unlike in Aleppo, Homs, and Idlib, the …

Europe Cannot Be Run From Berlin

As Issues Like the Refugee Crisis Continue to Affect the European Union, Its Members Still Struggle to Find Solidarity

By Hans Kundnani | October 21, 2015

Since the euro crisis began, it is has become commonplace to speak of a “German Europe” emerging from it. In one sense, the description is apt: As the largest creditor …

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