FRONT PAGE – Where we stand

For the past 10 years, we have strived to inform our readers about what has happened the world over, looking beyond phenomena and current events to provide facts, forecasts and analyses that stem from studies, interviews and journalistic fieldwork. Which have sometimes helped us even anticipate events.
One example is the previous issue’s “East-West” editorial, which examined the disturbing phenomenon of the recruitment of foreign fighters by terrorist groups, only to find them carrying out the most fearsome act of terrorism in Europe – in its very heart – of recent years.
The time has come to state our horizons clearly in an increasingly confusing and complex world. We intend to stand tall, to ensure that our readers – who are growing in numbers and hail from all corners of the globe – can always trust our viewpoint to be reliable, even if they don’t always agree with it.
In other words, it is time to say explicitly that we are on the side of those dedicated to making the European integration model work and not those who criticize it on a daily basis. Between those who believe that migration should be curbed with walls and those who will not give up seeking new recipes to promote integration, we support the latter. Between those who claim that the terrorists were provoked by tasteless cartoons and those who believe freedom of speech is an unalienable human right, we choose freedom.
We do not stand with those who believe that the Western ideal of solidarity is last century’s model but with those who seek a new understanding of democratic coexistence that does not consider skill, entrepreneurship and merit to be profane. It is with them that we are committed to finding the road to recovery from a crisis that is not merely economic but social and cultural as well.
I believe that when our readers hear expert economists such as Nouriel Roubini and John Paulson predicting disasters from the Davos pulpits that turn out to be entirely wrong – for example, the collapse of the euro by the end of 2012 – they want us to be swift, brave and outspoken in countering propagandistic ideas with serious, in-depth analyses.
We are determined to accompany our readers for decades to come by continuing to stimulate an increasingly cohesive community and an increasingly informed global debate.