The situation in Syria continues to worsen – an observation made innumerable times over the last nine years of brutal conflict. But the further hollowing out of Syrian society, the ongoing suffering of its people – especially given the possible spread of covid-19 – and its impact on European interests should still spark intense internal reflection in Europe. In addition to the moral imperative of helping the Syrian people, Europe’s chief interest in Syria is to re-establish stability, and thereby prevent refugee outflows to its own shores and terrorism in its own cities.

We thought that we are invincibles, we thought that we would never die, but there is nothing more sure in life than the fact that it will end one day.  Nor technology, neither health care or living beyond possibilities can avoid the end of our life at one point.

Unfortunately there are many countries where this moment is earlier than in other. Countries that suffer wars, hunger or hygenic situations put their population in danger every day, there is a Covid-19 situation all the time, even much worse than that. One of those countries is Syria.

We talk today with the founder of ZELTSCHULE, an ambitious project to lecture refugee children from Syria, the wonderful Jacqueline Flory, mother herself. In her world Covid-19 is just another problem.

My name is Firuze and I was born in Kassel in Germany. My parents came to Germany as part of the recruitment agreement between the Federal Republic and Turkey. The first of my family to come to Germany was my maternal grandmother. She left her 5 children with her family and my grandfather, because she got the chance to earn a lot of money in Germany.

It was a difficult decision, however, like many others, she decided to return to her home in Ankara before the end of the employment contract.
While she was working in Germany, there was a tragedy at home. Her husband, my grandfather, had cheated on my grandmother with a widow. The affair blew up and as the culture and traditions demanded at the time, the shame had to be washed clean with blood.

Latin Americans are migrating masively to Europe for a long time, especially from Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Venezuela, suffering Economic crisis and insecurity for many years. In 2020 the flow of people trying to live and work in Berlin, Madrid or Lisbon will increase. From the uncertainty and the global economic slowdown, to the trade tensions and the evolution of the raw materials prices, all of which undermine the growth of Latin America, with forecasts in 2019 pointing towards an economic stagnation (0.2% annual GDP growth). The growth forecasts for the main economies of the region have been revised downwards. Specifically, growth forecasts for Mexico and Brazil are below 1%, and the recession in Argentina intensifies. Inflation remains within the central bank’s target range in most Latin American countries, except in Argentina and Uruguay.

by Zakary Dychtwald

Amidst these truly interesting, bizarre, sometimes sad, often exciting times, I’m proud to share a long-form TV feature about my work. We dive into the topics of China today, the inspiration and impetus for my book and work with Young China Group, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and issues I see impacting China and the US today.

Spain, and Europe, need a new story about migration – there is some recognition of this in Spain but it remains to be seen how the country will put this into practice. Spaniards are relatively open towards migration, but the policy challenge for their government should be to allay, and not provoke, fears of migrant invasion.