Modern Political Climate
Despite vastly improved relations between Russia and the Western European states since the end of the cold war, recently tensions have risen over the spread of "Western" organisations, particularly the EU and NATO, eastwards into former USSR states.
Most European states have either joined, or stated their ambition to join, the European Union.
There are few conflicts within Europe, although there remain problems in the Balkans, the Caucasus, Northern Ireland in United Kingdom and the Basque Country in Spain.
According to 2007 data published in 2008 by Freedom House, the countries of Europe that cannot be classified liberal electoral democracies are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Russia.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Europe
Famous quotes containing the words modern, political and/or climate:
“The higher processes are all processes of simplification. The novelist must learn to write, and then he must unlearn it; just as the modern painter learns to draw, and then learns when utterly to disregard his accomplishment, when to subordinate it to a higher and truer effect.”
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