competition for diplomatic post is tough especially in safe and wealthy countries somewhere in western europe and asia a recent study by two professors of international relations at pennsylvania state university looked at available information on president obama's donors direct political contributions and the positions that they received and they concluded that those whose political connections to president obama were measured in dollars for the administration service had an increased chance of representing the united states and western europe and a smaller chance of serving in say central asia or sub-saharan africa donors and advisers involved in the diplomatic selection process say the competition this year has been so tight that those who have raised less than a million dollars are for the most part unlikely to be considered so what is the quote unquote price tag for the highly sought diplomatic posts according to this

but i think jan to economics, there's also a more subtle cultural force in here western europe serves as exhibita. many of us know the contemporary modern warfare states origins go back to need teamed century germany. some of the biggest expansions of the welfare state in europe occurred after 1945. given europe's yearning for economic security after two devastating world wars and the great depression, the yearning for security through the state on the part of western europeans should not surprise us. but what i think was surprising and i talk about this at length in the book is how quickly european publications recognize the state's ability to provide social programs and subsidies was a way to build reliable voting constituencies. governments are not just for laughs, but also the right relays they could attract support by making promises regarding things that pension or retirement age, subsidies, regulation and government jobs. sound familiar? this is paid for us to know in europe increased taxation and when that didn't cover the cost, debt became the means by which the short form is

now, in much of western europe, if not most of western europe, i contrary attitude has long been characteristic of the economic culture. it is this. people are to live a fulfilling lives, as far as is consistent with maintaining minimal incentives to encourage some wealth creation, the attitude is that people need to be provided with things and protected from risk. institutionally that translates squarely into the european social model. what is interesting, however, is , there is very little evidence that such policies actually help make people happy. as i illustrate in "becoming europe," many people who are, for example, on long-term welfare are generally less happy than those who earn the same income but who don't do it through a welfare payment but instead through work in the job. no, there have been lots of studies done this. they talk about these in the book. we have to be careful, of course, not to read too much into the studies because as the saying goes, correlation is not causality. they do, however, suggest that economic cultures which prioritize institutions that are focused upon end

but there are more subtle and cultural forces in western europe serves as exhibit a. with the contemporary modern warfare states origen's origen's, some of the biggest expansions occurred after 1945. giving a the yearning of economic security and world wars and depression year earnings through security should not surprise us. but what was surprising is how quickly european politicians recognizing the state's ability to provide social programs and subsidies as a way to build reliable constituencies. the left and the right realized they could attract support to make promises like subsidies, unemployment benefits, regulations and government jobs. sound familiar? this is by increased taxation and when that did not cover it debt was a means that the shortfall was covered. one justification for democracy provides ways to hold governments accountable when they do not accord with our wishes. but what happens when a citizen tuesday's mechanisms to encourage and officials to use the state to provide citizens with whatever they want? >> when elected officials provide then demand

so for 40 years really, during the entire cold war, the purpose of nato was to protect western europe against the possibility of soviet military, or indeed, ideological conflict. (military marching music) >> this small group of men in the kremlin had long ago dedicated themselves to the spread of communism by all possible means. they control russia. they'd planned to control europe and the world. >> the comment at the time was that nato's role to keep the russians out, the germans down and the americans in. >> the great achievement is the fact, uh, that nato prevented the cold war from getting hot. >> that succeeded beyond anybody's wildest dreams, in 1989 when the berlin wall came down, the cold war ended, the soviet union broke up. >> but as threats to member nations subsided, nato shifted its focus toward helping non-members procure the same freedoms nato states enjoyed. >> after the end of cold war, nato contributed the framework for transition in europe and we have given access to former communist dictatorships and today they are highly valued allies within nato. i think these ar

western europe was assailed on every side by slavs, magyars, saracens, and vikings.any people thought that christian civilization itself might not pull through. in response, powerful dynasties built great strings of fortresses in which their beleaguered populations could shelter. in the 1100s, europe turned the corner suddenly, as if the passing of the millennium was the release. we see a dramatic revival in the use of monumental sculpture and large-scale architecture such as had only been glimpsed in the previous centuries. the cult of saints and the passion for pilgrimage to their shrines were dominant features of medieval culture. one of the most famous was the pilgrimage to santiago in spain. the church was believed to house a sacred rel of christendom-- the bones of saint james, santiago in spanish, one of christ's 12 apostles. from atop the tower at vezelay, you can still make out the old way of saint james, winding its way to spain. it's astonishing to think that hundreds of thousands of men and women made that pilgrimage during the medieval period. they under

competition for diplomatic post is tough especially in safe and wealthy countries somewhere in western europe and asia a recent study by two professors of international relations at pennsylvania state university looked at available information on president obama's donors direct political contributions and the positions that they received and they concluded that those whose political connections to president obama were measured in dollars rather than did ministration service had an increased chance of representing the united states in western europe and a smaller chance of serving in say central asia or sub-saharan africa donors and advisers involved in the diplomatic selection process say the competition this year has been so tight that those who have raised less than a million dollars are for the most part unlikely to be considered so what is the quote unquote price tag for the highly sought diplomatic posts according to this study friends and monaco topped the list with a level of personal contribution six point two million dollars quote unquote the price for a position in the u.k. the auth

for the administration service had an increased chance of representing the united states and western europe and a smaller chance of serving in say central asia or sub-saharan africa donors and advisers involved in the diplomatic selection process say the competition this year has been so tight that those who have raised less than a million dollars are for the most part unlikely to be considered so what is the quote unquote price tag for the highly sought diplomatic posts according to this study friends and monaco topped the list with a level of personal contributions at six point two million dollars the price was quote unquote the price for a position in the u.k. the authors find appears to live between six hundred fifty thousand dollars and two point three million dollars a posting in luxembourg that tiny but very wealthy european country for example is valued as three point one million dollars dollars in direct contributions and appointment to portugal was predicted to have a value of around six hundred thousand dollars like all modern presidents before him president obama has appointed f

for the administration service had an increased chance of representing the united states and western europe and a smaller chance of serving in say central asia or sub-saharan africa donors and advisers involved in the diplomatic selection process see the competition this year has been so tight that those who have raised less than a million dollars are for the most part unlikely to be considered so what is the quote unquote price tag for the highly sought diplomatic posts according to this study friends and monaco topped the list with a level of personal contributions at six point two million dollars the price was quote unquote the price for a position in the u.k. the authors find appears to live between six hundred fifty thousand dollars and two point three million dollars a posting in luxembourg that tiny but very wealthy european country for example is valued as three point one million dollars dollars in direct contributions and appointment to portugal was predicted to have a value of around six hundred thousand dollars like all modern presidents before him president obama has appointed f

secretary of state john kerry is on his first official overseas trip visiting nine countries in western europe and the middle east over the course of ten days hillary clinton's replacement will reportedly consult with allies on topics including iran the up peoples in the arab spring countries and syria's civil war secretary kerry is also scheduled to meet with members of syria's opposition according to the state department the top u.s. diplomat thinks of this trip as a quote listening tour meanwhile in his first speaking engagement as u.s. secretary of state mr kerry ran into some geography problems when referring to democratic reforms in the non existant country of cures ixtapa they fight corruption in nigeria they support the rule of law. they support democratic institutions and george kyrgyzstan is the country kerry should have said but unfortunately his speech was written with the mistake of reporting from new york. r.t. well current carries first stop will be in major european capitals like london paris and berlin american foreign policy expert john rees believes kerry's mission there is

on the solar and wind resources in that region and feed into a transcontinental network into western europe. there's activity going on. they are one of our strong -- probably our strongest alley in the -- ally in the arab world. secretary clinton said al jazeera is not part of the problem but the solution. i'm comfortable with it. i completely get the criticism but it was a good choice and the net benefit for the u.s. is positive. >> jon: it shows. the book talks a lot about the sustainability of capitalism. capitalism is based in consumption and very difficult to reform it even while it's being one of the staunchest defenders of sustainability. my point was only in how complicated the ties are. >> i get i. it's complicated. i completely believe in this. it's absolutely the right choice. if i could talk for a moment about sustainable capitalism. >> jon: we're going to go to i believe beer and violent movies and then we'll come back and 1e,x6;h8g99g-x [cheers and applause] >> jon: welcome back. we're talking here with vice president al gore. we're talking earlier. it's one of the most intere

secretary of state john kerry is on his first official overseas trip visiting nine countries in western europe and the middle east over the course of ten days hillary clinton's replacement will reportedly consult with allies on topics including iran the up evil's in the arab spring countries and syria's civil war secretary kerry is also scheduled to meet with members of syria's opposition according to the state department the top u.s. diplomat thinks of this as quote listening tour meanwhile in his first speaking engagement as u.s. secretary of state mr kerry ran into some geography problems when referring to democratic reforms in the non existent country of cures ixtapa they fight corruption in nigeria they support the rule of law they support democratic institutions and george kyrgyzstan is the country kerry should have said but unfortunately his speech was written with the mistake of reporting from new york. r.t. . and it's not only time diplomatic tools and negotiations the us is spreading its agenda around the globe the doors of american educational facilities are thrown open for potentia

in the past, many would find new homes with foster families in western europe or the u.s., but american couples are now blocked from adopting. president vladimir putin has tightened the laws, arguing that russia can take care of her children herself, but not everybody is convinced. and that invalid's home 90 four near st. petersburg is one of the better orphanages -- >> invalid home #four near st. petersburg is one of the better orphanages, but the children are still left alone for long periods of time. volunteers helped care for the children. they do what they can, but they would like to do more. >> if you interact with the children several times a week, you can tell that they become a bit more alert and take in more of their surroundings. >> home number four dates back to the soviet era. it houses nearly 400 children. for 10 years now, natalia has been coordinating volunteers from germany. she says they often take better care of the children. >> russia still has a way to go. heare, an invalid is not seen as a complete person. there are many who think the children get too much care. th

russia has now said it may have been sent product tainted with horsemeat from western europe. in france, a meat wholesaler is denying allegations that it knowingly sold horsemeat in 13 countries as beef. it's license is suspended as investigations continue. peter sharp brings us the story from paris. >> us was a pretty damning report from the french authorities, and it concludes that spell euro, the meat processes, -- processors, should have known it was not beef, it was horsemeat because he invoices and the labeling pointed to exactly that. they would also know that the price they paid cannot possibly be beef, that it had to be horsemeat. the supplier should also have known that it was dealing with horsemeat, said the report, because of incorrect labeling and also because of the color, the shape, and the smell of the meat it was dealing with. the trading license has been suspended and the report says it has enough evidence to proceed with legal inquiries. the company denies all wrongdoing. peter sharp, al jazeera, in paris. >> the kashmir has reinforced curfews to stop protes

x has a distinctive style and it happens to be western europe 's tallest building. we are talking about the latest addition to the london skyline. visitors piled in to see the ribbon cutting on the building once described as an intergalactic sphere. while the platform might only be 240 four meters high, it still offers an unbeatable view of the london skyline. tickets will cost 30 euros apiece. that is all for us from now, but the news continues, so do stay with us. [speaking new language -- foreign language] ex what is red is the color of blood and the color of love, and it is also the favorite color for both of them, on a special day of history and storytelling , the number is,, married in most famous battle of the second world war, -- commemorating the most famous battle of the second world war, stalingrad. the 86-year-old veteran cannot forget those terrible weeks. >> i am russian myself. i family still lives in volgograd, as stalingrad is known today. to mark the anniversary, i am accompanied the veteran and his friends to the important memorials, where hitler'

in the past, many would find new homes with foster families in western europe or the u.s., but american couples are now blocked from adopting. president vladimir putin has tightened the laws, arguing that russia can take care of her children herself, but not everybody is convinced. and that invalid's home 90 four near st. petersburg is one of the better orphanages -- >> invalid home #four near st. petersburg is one of the better orphanages, but the children are still left alone for long periods of time. volunteers helped care for the children. they do what they can, but they would like to do more. >> if you interact with the children several times a week, you can tell that they become a bit more alert and take in more of their surroundings. >> home number four dates back to the soviet era. it houses nearly 400 children. for 10 years now, natalia has been coordinating volunteers from germany. she says they often take better care of the children. >> russia still has a way to go. heare, an invalid is not seen as a complete person. there are many who think the children get too much care. th