Another Week

Well, another week coming. And for me it starts exactly as last week did.

Monday in Stockholm. And then Tuesday off to Washington again.

It's another - this time somewhat larger and distinctly more public - meeting to take the temperature on the trans-Atlantic relationship. This time more German and Austrian in its orientation and attendance.

It will coincide with the European Commission in Brussels releasing its opinion on whether Macedonia is ready to start accession negotiations with the European Union or not as part of its evaluatgion of the different accession countries and candidates. Most important.

And Wednesday is also the day when the new minority government in Poland will face its vote of confidence in the Sejm. Will it be a government of conservative populism supported by the votes of leftist and nationalist populists?

From Washington I go later Wednesday to the Los Angeles area and Santa Monica by the Pacific.

It is the autumn board meeting of the RAND Corporation. In addition to attending to the business of the corporation, we review and discuss some of the recent research products of this the world's first, finest and probably still most influential think-thank.

A focus of the discussions there will be the global health issues, now very much the centre of attention due to the danger presented by the H5N1 virus. But there will also be discussions on recent research on the development of both India and China.

Simultaneously in Geneve there will the final preparatory meeting prior to the World Summit on Information Society to see if one can bridge the gap between the US and Europe on Internet governance. Geneva during the week will also be the scene of important talks preparing the Hong Kong ministerial of the WTO.

But I will be in California, returning from there to be back here in Stockholm a week from now.