title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The convergence progress for the newly accessed EU member states, is supported and evaluated by the yearly submission of the "Convergence programme" under the Stability and Growth Pact. As a general rule, the majority of economic experts recommend for newly accessed EU member states with a forecasted era of catching up and a past record of "macroeconomic imbalance" or "financial instability", that these countries first use some years to address these issues and ensure "stable convergence", before taking the next step to join the ERM II, and as the final step (when complying with all convergence criteria) ultimately adopt the euro. In practical terms, any non-euro EU member state can become an ERM II member whenever they want, as this mechanism does not define any criteria to comply with. Economists however consider it to be more desirable for "unstable countries", to maintain their flexibility of having a floating currency, rather than getting an inflexible and partly fixed currency as an ERM II member. Only at the time of being considered fully "stable", the member states will be encouraged to enter into ERM II, in which they need to stay for a minimum of two years without presence of "severe tensions" for their currency, while at the same time also ensuring compliance with the other four convergence criteria, before finally being approved to adopt the euro.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The compliance check above was conducted in June 2014, with the HICP and interest rate reference values specifically applying for the last assessment month with available data (April 2014). As reference values for HICP and interest rates are subject for monthly changes, any EU member state with a euro derogation has the right to ask for a renewed compliance check at any time during the year. For this potential extra assessment, the table below feature Eurostat's monthly publication of values being used in the calculation process to determine the reference value (upper limit) for HICP inflation and long-term interest rates, where a certain fixed buffer value is added to the moving unweighted arithmetic average of the three EU Member States with the lowest HICP inflation rates (ignoring states classified as "outliers").


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The black values in the table are sourced by the officially published convergence reports, while the lime-green values are only qualified estimates, not confirmed by any official convergence report but sourced by monthly estimation reports published by the Polish Ministry of Finance. The reason why the lime-green values are only estimates is that the "outlier" selection (ignoring certain states from the reference value calculation) besides depending on a quantitative assessment also depends on a more complicated overall qualitative assessment, and hence it can not be predicted with absolute certainty which of the states the commission will deem to be outliers. So any selection of outliers by the lime-green data lines shall only be regarded as qualified estimates, which potentially could be different from those outliers which the commission would have selected if they had published a specific report at the concerned point of time.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The national fiscal accounts for the previous full calendar year are released each year in April (next time 24 April 2019). As the compliance check for both the debt and deficit criteria always awaits this release in a new calendar year, the first possible month to request a compliance check will be April, which would result in a data check for the HICP and interest rates during the reference year from 1 April to 31 March. Any EU member state may also ask the European Commission to conduct a compliance check, at any point of time during the remainder of the year, with HICP and interest rates always checked for the past 12 months – while debt and deficit compliance always will be checked for the three-year period encompassing the last completed full calendar year and the two subsequent forecast years. As of 10 August 2015, none of the remaining euro derogation states without an opt-out had entered ERM II, which makes it highly unlikely that any of them will request that the European Commission conduct an extraordinary compliance check ahead of the publication of the next regular convergence report scheduled June 2016.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: In the wake of the financial crisis, Eurozone governments have sought to apply additional requirements on acceding countries. Bulgaria, initially aiming to join the Banking union of the European Union after its ERM accession agreed to enter into closer cooperation with it simultaneously to joining ERM II, requiring its banks to first undergo stress tests. Bulgaria also agreed to reinforce supervision of the non-bank financial sector and fully implement EU anti money-laundering rules. While the reforms from the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (which applies only to Bulgaria and Romania) were also expected, leaving the CVM is not a precondition.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Each country aspiring to adopt the euro has been requested by the European Commission to develop a "strategy for criteria compliance" and "national euro changeover plan". In the "changeover plan", the country can select from between three scenarios for euro adoption:


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The second scenario is recommended for candidate countries, while the third is only advised if at a late stage in the preparational process they experience technical difficulties (i.e. with IT systems), which would make an extended transitional period for the phasing out of the old currency at the legal level a necessity. The European Commission has published a handbook detailing how states should prepare for the changeover. It recommends that a "national steering committee" is established at a very early stage of the state's preparation process, with the task to outline detailed plans for the following five actions:


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The table below summarises each candidate country's national plan for euro adoption and currency changeover.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The European microstates of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City are not covered by convergence criteria, but by special monetary agreements that allow them to issue their own euro coins. However, they have no input into the economic affairs of the euro. In 2009 the authors of a confidential International Monetary Fund (IMF) report suggested that in light of the ongoing global financial crisis, the EU Council should consider granting EU member states which are having difficulty complying with all five convergence criteria the option to "partially adopt" the euro, along the lines of the monetary agreements signed with the microstates outside the EU. These states would gain the right to adopt the euro and issue a national variant of euro coins, but would not get a seat in ECB or the Eurogroup until they met all the convergence criteria. However, the EU has not agreed to this alternative accession process.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The eurozone was born with its first 11 Member States on 1 January 1999. The first enlargement of the eurozone, to Greece, took place on 1 January 2001, one year before the euro had physically entered into circulation. Along with the formal eurozone states, the euro also replaced currencies in four microstates, Kosovo, and Montenegro who all used the currencies of one of the member countries. Denmark and Sweden held referendums on joining the euro, but voters voted down the referendums leading both to remain outside. The first enlargements after the euro entered circulation were to states which joined the EU in 2004; namely Slovenia in 2007, followed by Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014, and Lithuania in 2015.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The chart below provides a full historical summary of exchange-rate regimes for EU members since the European Monetary System with its Exchange Rate Mechanism and the related new common currency ECU was born on 13 March 1979. The euro replaced the ECU 1:1 at the exchange rate markets, on 1 January 1999. During 1979–1999, the German mark functioned as a de facto anchor for the ECU, meaning there was only a minor difference between pegging a currency against ECU and pegging it against the German mark.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: All members who joined the union from 1995 onwards are required by treaty to adopt the euro as soon as they meet the criteria; only Denmark obtained treaty opt-outs from participation in the Maastricht Treaty when the euro was agreed upon. For the others, the single currency was a requirement of EU membership.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Since 10 July 2020, the lev has been part of ERM II, pegged to the euro at a fixed rate of €1 = BGN 1.95583. Previous to that, since the launch of the euro in 1999, it had been pegged to the euro at the same rate through a strictly managed currency board. In all of the three latest annual assessment reports, Bulgaria managed to comply with four out of the five economic convergence criteria for euro adoption, only failing to comply with the criteria requiring the currency of the state to have been a stable ERM II member for a minimum of two years. The former chief inspector of the Bulgarian National Bank, , in office when the currency board of the state was established, believes that adoption of the euro soon would "trigger a number of positive economic effects": "Sufficient money supply (leading to increased lending which is needed to improve economic growth), getting rid of the currency board which prevents the national bank functioning as a lender of last resort to rescue banks in financial troubles, and finally private and public lending would benefit from lower interest rates (at least half as high)."


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Before 2015 it had been government policy to hold-off application until the European sovereign-debt crisis had resolved but with the election of Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria began pursuing membership. In January 2015, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov aimed to apply during the current government. He began talks with the Eurogroup and established a co-ordination council to prepare for membership. Following the 2017 parliamentary elections Borisov's government was re-elected. Borisov stated that he intended to apply to join ERM II but Goranov elaborated that the government would only seek to join once the eurozone states were ready to approve the application, and that he expected to have clarity of this by the end of 2017. On taking the presidency of the Council of the European Union in January 2018, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov indicated no clarification had been given but announced he was going to pursue applications for both ERM II and Schengen by July regardless. Bulgaria sent a letter to the Eurogroup at the end of June on its desire to participate in ERM II, and issued a commitment to enter into a "close cooperation" agreement with the Banking union of the European Union that July.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: While the CVM reforms are mentioned, and progress in judicial reform and organised crime is expected, leaving the CVM is not a precondition.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: According to the latest statement of Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov as of December 2019, Bulgaria expects to join ERM II by July 2020 and to adopt the euro by 1 January 2023 at the latest.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: On 30 April 2020, Bulgaria officially applied to join ERM II, the first step to introduce the euro. On 10 July, the ECB accepted Bulgaria into ERM II.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Since 10 July 2020, Croatia's currency, the kuna, has been part of ERM II, pegged to the euro at a fixed rate of €1 = HRK 7.53450. Previously, the kuna used the euro (and prior to that one of the euro's major predecessors, the Deutsche Mark) as its main reference since its creation in 1994; a long-held policy of the Croatian National Bank has been to keep the kuna's exchange rate with the euro within a relatively stable range. Before Croatia became a member of the EU on 1 July 2013, Boris Vujčić, governor of the Croatian National Bank, stated that he would like the kuna to be replaced by the euro as soon as possible after accession. In 2013 the European Central Bank expected Croatia to be approved for ERM II membership at the earliest in 2016, leading to a subsequent euro adoption at the earliest in 2019. In Croatia's first assessment under the convergence criteria in May 2014, the country satisfied the inflation and interest rate criteria, but did not satisfy the public finances and ERM membership criteria.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: In April 2015, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović stated that she was "confident that Croatia would introduce the euro by 2020", although the then-Prime Minister Zoran Milanović subsequently refused to commit his government to such timeline for the euro adoption.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: In November 2017, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said he was aiming for Croatia to join ERM II by 2020 and to introduce the euro by 2023. On 23 November 2019, European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said that Croatia could join ERM II in the second half of 2020. On 10 July 2020, the ECB effectively accepted Croatia into ERM II. A July 2021 opinion poll revealed that 60% of Croatians support the adoption of the euro.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: In September 2021, the European Commission and euro area member states signed a memorandum of understanding with Croatia outlining the practical steps that will allow the country to begin producing euro coins when it receives the go ahead to join the euro area.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: In November 2021, the Croatian right-wing and eurosceptic party Hrvatski Suverenisti was unable to obtain the required number of signatures to force a referendum to block the planned adoption of the euro.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: In May 2022, the Croatian Parliament approved the law on the introduction of the euro as the official currency in the Republic of Croatia. This law is an overarching act that stipulates that the euro is official currency and legal tender in the Republic of Croatia. Furthermore, it states how the changeover will happen, basic obligations of financial institutions, consumer protection and retail adjustments to the new currency. The law comes in force first day after the publication of the council's decision on Croatia's euro adoption in the Official Journal of the European Union.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: On 12 July 2022, the Council of EU adopted the final three legal acts that were required for Croatia to adopt the euro as legal tender. Croatia will become the 20th member of the eurozone from 1 January 2023.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Following their accession to the EU in May 2004, the Czech Republic aimed to replace the koruna with the euro in 2010, however this was postponed indefinitely. The European sovereign-debt crisis further decreased the Czech Republic's interest in joining the eurozone. There have been calls for a referendum before adopting the euro, with former Prime Minister Petr Nečas saying that the conditions had significantly changed since their accession treaty was ratified. President Miloš Zeman also supports a referendum, but does still advocate adoption of the euro.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Adoption was supported under Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka but supported a recommendation from the Czech National Bank to refrain from setting a target date. The government agreed that if it was re-elected in 2017 then it would agree a roadmap for adoption by 2020, however the election was lost to Andrej Babiš who has been against euro adoption in the near-term. Babiš's successor Petr Fiala and his cabinet, formed after the 2021 legislative election, maintained their predecessor cabinets' intention not to adopt the euro, calling the adoption "disadvantageous" for the Czechs.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Denmark has pegged its krone to the euro at €1 = DKK 7.46038 ± 2.25% through the ERM II since it replaced the original ERM on 1 January 1999. During negotiations of the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, Denmark secured a which gave it the right to decide if and when they would join the euro. Denmark subsequently notified the Council of the European Communities of their decision to opt out of the euro. This was done in response to the Maastricht Treaty having been rejected by the Danish people in a referendum earlier that year. As a result of the changes, the treaty was ratified in a subsequent referendum held in 1993. On 28 September 2000, a euro referendum was held in Denmark resulting in a 53.2% vote against the government's proposal to join the euro.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Since 2007, the Danish government has discussed holding another referendum on euro adoption. However the political and financial uncertainty due to the European government-debt crisis led this to be postponed. Opinion polls, which had generally favoured euro adoption from 2002 to 2010, showed a rapid decline in support during the height of the EU debt crisis, reaching a low in May 2012 with 26% in favour towards 67% against while 7% were in doubt.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: With their accession to the EU in 2004, Hungary began planning to adopt the euro in place of the forint. However, the country's high deficit delayed this. After the 2006 election, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány introduced austerity measures, reducing the deficit to less than 5% in 2007 from 9.2%. In February 2011, newly elected Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, of the soft eurosceptic Fidesz party, made clear that he did not expect the euro to be adopted in Hungary before 1 January 2020. Orbán said the country was not yet ready to adopt the currency and they will not discuss the possibility until the public debt reaches a 50% threshold. The public debt-to-GDP ratio was 81.0% when Orban's 50% target was set in 2011, and it is currently forecast to decline to 73.5% in 2016. In April 2013, Viktor Orbán further added that Hungarian purchasing power parity weighted GDP per capita must also reach 90% of the eurozone average. Shortly after Viktor Orbán had been re-elected as Prime Minister for another four-year term in April 2014, the Hungarian Central Bank announced they plan to distribute a new series of Forint bank notes in 2018. In June 2015, Orbán himself declared that his government would no longer entertain the idea of replacing the forint with the euro in 2020, as was previously suggested, and instead expected the forint to remain "stable and strong for the next several decades".


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: In July 2016, National Economy Minister Mihály Varga suggested that country could adopt the euro by the "end of the decade", but only if economic trends continue to improve and the common currency becomes more stable. While Varga backed away from that, saying convergence was still needed, Sándor Csányi (the head of the country's largest bank and ranked the second most influential man in Hungary) argued that further integration of the eurozone would provide a likely catalyst as Hungary would not want to be left out of closer integration. Attila Chikan, a professor of economics at Corvinus University, and a former economy minister to Orban, added that "Orban is at once very pragmatic and impulsive, he can make decisions very fast and sometimes on unexpected grounds."


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The Polish government in 2012 under Prime Minister Donald Tusk had favoured euro adoption, however it did not have the required majority in the Sejm to amend the constitution due to the opposition of the Law and Justice Party to the euro. Further opposition arose due to the on-going sovereign-debt crisis, with the Polish National Bank recommending Poland wait until the Eurozone had overcome the crisis. The leader of the Law and Justice Party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, stated in 2013 that "I do not foresee any moment when the adoption of the euro would be advantageous for us" and called for a referendum on euro adoption. Donald Tusk responded saying he was open to a referendum, as part of a package in Parliament to approve the constitutional amendment. However the 2015 Polish elections were won by Law and Justice who not only opposed any further moves towards membership, but whose relations with the EU degenerated due to a potential violation of EU values by Poland. A group of Polish economists have suggested that euro adoption could be a way of smoothing over relations from the dispute.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Polls have generally showed that Poles are opposed to adopting the euro straight away, with a eurobarometer poll in April 2015 showing that 44% of Polish people are in favour of introducing the euro (a decrease of 1% from 2014), whereas 53% are opposed (no change from 2014). However, polls conducted by "TNS Polska" throughout 2012–2015 have consistently shown support for eventually adopting the euro,


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: though that support depends on the target date. According to the latest "TNS Polska" poll from June 2015, the share who supported adoption was 46% against 41%. When asked about the appropriate timing, the supporters were divided into three groups of equal size, with 15% advocating for adoption within the next 5 years, another 14% preferring it should happen between 6–10 years from now, and finally 17% arguing it should happen more than 10 years from now.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Originally, the euro was scheduled to be adopted by Romania in place of the leu by 2014. In April 2012 the Romanian convergence report submitted under the Stability and Growth Pact listed 1 January 2015 to be the target date for euro adoption. In April 2013 Prime Minister Victor Ponta has stated that "eurozone entry remains a fundamental objective for Romania but we can't enter poorly prepared", and that 2020 was a more realistic target. The Romanian Central Bank governor, Mugur Isărescu, admitted the target was ambitious, but obtainable if the political parties passed a legal roadmap for the required reforms to be implemented, and clarified this roadmap should lead to Romania entering ERM II only on 1 January 2017 so the euro could be adopted after two years of ERM II membership on 1 January 2019.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: As of April 2015, the Romanian government concluded it was still on track to attain its target for euro adoption in 2019, both in regards of ensuring full compliance with all nominal convergence criteria and in regards of ensuring a prior satisfying degree of "real convergence". The Romanian target for "real convergence" ahead of euro adoption, is for its GDP per capita (in purchasing power standards) to be above 60% of the same average figure for the entire European Union, and according to the latest outlook, this relative figure was now forecast to reach 65% in 2018 and 71% in 2020, after having risen at the same pace from 29% in 2002 to 54% in 2014. However, in September 2015 Romania's central bank governor Mugur Isarescu said that the 2019 target was no longer realistic. The target date was initially 2022, as Teodor Meleșcanu, the foreign minister of Romania declared on 28 August 2017 that, as they "meet all formal requirements", Romania "could join the currency union even tomorrow". However, he thought Romania "will adopt the euro in five years." In March 2018, however, members of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) voted at an extraordinary congress to initially back a 2024 target year to adopt the euro as Romania's currency. But in February 2021, the country was scheduled to enter the eurozone [recte ERM II] instead in 2024, with the changeover to the euro delayed again to 2027 or 2028 and then again to 2029 in December 2021. An April 2022 Eurobarometer poll showed strong support for the Euro in Romania. According to the poll, 65 percent responded yes to the question "Do you think the introduction of the euro would have positive or negative consequences for Romania? (33 percent responded no). In the same poll, 77 percent responded yes to the question "Generally speaking, are you personally more in favour or against the idea of introducing the euro in Romania? (22 percent responded no).


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Although Sweden is required to replace the krona with the euro eventually, it maintains that joining the ERM II, a requirement for euro adoption, is voluntary, and has chosen to not join pending public approval by a referendum, thereby intentionally avoiding the fulfillment of the adoption requirements. On 14 September 2003 56% of Swedes voted against adopting the euro in a referendum. Most of Sweden's major parties believe that it would be in the national interest to join, but they have all pledged to abide by the result of the referendum. Former Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt stated in December 2007 that there will be no referendum until there is stable support in the polls. The polls have generally showed stable support for the "no" alternative, except some polls in 2009 showing a support for "yes". Since 2010 the polls have shown strong support for "no" again. According to a eurobarometer poll in April 2015, 32% of Swedes are in favour of introducing the euro (an increase of 9% from November 2014), whereas 66% are opposed (a decrease of 7% from November 2014). An April 2022 Eurobarometer poll once again showed rising support for the Euro in Sweden, however. According to the poll, 49 percent answered yes to the question "Do you think the introduction of the euro would have positive or negative consequences for Sweden? (45 percent responded no). In the same poll, 45 percent responded yes to the question "Generally speaking, are you personally more in favour or against the idea of introducing the euro in Sweden? (52 percent responded no).


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The EU's position is that no independent sovereign state is allowed to join the eurozone without first being a full member of the European Union (EU). However, four independent sovereign European microstates situated within the borders of the eurozone states, have such a small size — rendering them unlikely ever to join the EU — that they have been allowed to adopt the euro through the signing of monetary agreements, which granted them rights to mint local euro coins without gaining a seat in the European Central Bank. In addition, some dependent territories of EU member states have also been allowed to use the euro without being part of the EU, conditional the signing of agreements where a eurozone state guarantee their prior adoption of regulations applying specifically for the eurozone.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The European microstates of Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City, which had a monetary agreement with a eurozone state when the euro was introduced, were granted a special permission to continue these agreements and to issue separate euro coins, but they don't get any input or observer status in the economic affairs of the eurozone. Andorra, which had used the euro unilaterally since the inception of the currency, negotiated a similar agreement which granted them the right to officially use the euro as of 1 April 2012 and to issue euro coins.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Kosovo and Montenegro have unilaterally adopted and used the euro since its launch, as they previously used the German mark rather than the Yugoslav dinar. This was due to political concerns that Serbia would use the currency to destabilise these provinces (Montenegro was then in a union with Serbia) so they received Western help in adopting and using the mark (though there was no restriction on the use of the dinar or any other currency). They switched to the euro when the mark was replaced, but have signed no monetary agreement with the ECB; rather the country depends only on euros already in circulation. Kosovo also still uses the Serbian dinar, which replaced the Yugoslav dinar, in areas mainly populated by the Serbian minority.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The Danish krone is currently used by both of its dependent territories, Greenland and Faroe Islands, with their monetary policy controlled by the Danish Central Bank. If Denmark does adopt the euro, separate referendums would be required in both territories to decide whether they should follow suit. Both territories have voted not to be a part of the EU in the past, and their populations will not participate in the Danish euro referendum. The Faroe Islands use a special version of the Danish krone notes that have been printed with text in the Faroese language. It is regarded as a foreign currency, but can be exchanged 1:1 with the Danish version. On 5 November 2009 the Faroese Parliament approved a proposal to investigate the possibility for euro adoption, including an evaluation of the legal and economic impact of adopting the euro ahead of Denmark.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: The CFP franc is currently used as a euro pegged currency by three French overseas collectivities: French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna and New Caledonia. The French government has recommended that all three territories decide in favour of adopting the euro. French Polynesia has declared itself in favour of joining the eurozone. Wallis and Futuna announced a neutral standpoint, that they would support a currency choice similar to what New Caledonia chooses.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: However, New Caledonia has yet to make a decision. Following an independence referendum held in November 2018, their opinion on whether or not to adopt the euro depended on the outcome. The result in 2018 was to stay with France, as confirmed later in 2020 and 2021 referendums.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: If the three collectivities decide to adopt the euro, the French government would make an application on their behalf to the European Council, and the switch to the euro could be made after a couple of years. If the collectivities fail to reach a unanimous decision about the future of the CFP franc, it would be technically possible to implement an individual currency decision for each territory.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Northern Cyprus is legally part of the EU, but European law is suspended due to the region being under the control of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which the EU does not recognise. The North uses the Turkish lira instead of the euro, although the euro circulates alongside the lira and other currencies. If the Cyprus dispute is resolved in a manner that results in a single Cypriot state rather than formal acceptance of the status quo, the euro would become the currency of the whole island.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: As a consequence of the ongoing Turkish currency crisis, some Northern Cypriot economists are calling for the region to adopt the euro to curb the high inflation and switch to a stable currency.


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: During the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis, instability in the króna led to discussion in Iceland about adopting the euro. However, Jürgen Stark, a Member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, has stated that "Iceland would not be able to adopt the EU currency without first becoming a member of the EU". Iceland subsequently applied for EU membership. As of the ECB's May 2012 convergence report, Iceland did not meet any of the convergence criteria. One year later, the country had achieved compliance with the deficit criteria and had begun to decrease its debt-to-GDP ratio, but still suffered from elevated HICP inflation and long-term governmental interest rates. On 13 September 2013, a newly elected government dissolved the accession negotiation team and thus suspended Iceland's application to join the European Union until a referendum can be held on whether or not the accession negotiations should resume; if negotiations do resume, after they are completed the public will then have the opportunity in a second referendum to vote on "whether or not Iceland shall join the EU on the negotiated terms".


title: Enlargement of the eurozone

text: Before Brexit, the potential adoption of the euro was part of public discourse in the UK. Ultimately, the country did not seek to adopt the currency, and following Brexit, the topic is no longer part of public discourse.


title: Daniel Platzman

text: Daniel James Platzman (born September 28, 1986) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and composer. He is the drummer for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons.


title: Daniel Platzman

text: Platzman was born on September 28, 1986 in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Berklee College of Music where he earned a degree in film scoring. While at Berklee, Platzman played in the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra, the Urban Outreach Jazz Orchestra and the Berklee Rainbow Big Band, and received the Vic Firth Award for Outstanding Musicianship and the Michael Rendish Award in Film Scoring. He also played in a guitar performance ensemble with future Imagine Dragons bandmates Wayne Sermon and Ben McKee.


title: Daniel Platzman

text: In 2011, Platzman was invited by Wayne Sermon to join Imagine Dragons, based out of Las Vegas. McKee dropped out of his final semester at Berklee to join the band, inviting Daniel Platzman to play drums, completing the lineup. The band proceeded to earn a number of local accolades including "Best CD of 2011" (Vegas SEVEN), "Best Local Indie Band 2010" (Las Vegas Weekly), "Las Vegas' Newest Must See Live Act" (Las Vegas CityLife), and more sent the band on a positive trajectory. In November 2011 they signed with Interscope Records and began working with producer Alex da Kid.


title: Daniel Platzman

text: In 2012, their debut album "Night Visions" brought the band mainstream success. It reached #2 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and won the Billboard Music Award for Best Rock Album (2014). Single "It's Time" became the band's first single reaching #15 Billboard Hot 100 and certified multi-platinum by the RIAA. Second single "Radioactive" reached #3 Billboard Hot 100 and was certified diamond by the RIAA, becoming the best selling rock song in the history of Nielsen SoundScan. Third single "Demons" reached #6 Billboard Hot 100 and was certified multi-platinum by the RIAA. Their album made the highest debut for a new rock band in six years (since 2006) and single Radioactive set a new record for longest time atop the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart with 23 consecutive weeks. Tracks from the album topped the Billboard Rock Songs, Billboard Alternative Songs, and Billboard Pop Songs charts. Radioactive was also nominated for two Grammy Awards, winning the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance.


title: Daniel Platzman

text: In 2015, Imagine Dragons' second album "Smoke + Mirrors" reached #1 on the "Billboard" 200, UK Albums Chart, and Canadian Albums Chart. It features singles "I Bet My Life", "Shots" and "Gold".


title: Daniel Platzman

text: The band has contributed songs to several film soundtracks, including "Ready Aim Fire" for "Iron Man 3", "Who We Are" for "", "Battle Cry" for "" and "Not Today" for "Me Before You". In addition, in September 2014, "Warriors" was released by Riot Games along with an animated music video promoting the League of Legends World Championships.


title: Daniel Platzman

text: Platzman appeared on the cover of "Drum!" magazine's March 2015 issue. Two months later he was profiled again in "Drum!".


title: Daniel Platzman

text: Platzman, who studied film scoring at Berklee College of Music, composed the original score for the 2014 season of "Africa Investigates", the award-winning investigative documentary series on Al Jazeera English produced by Insight TWI. "Africa Investigates" is the first internationally broadcast documentary series fronted exclusively by African investigative journalists. Platzman also contributed music to the film "Best F(r)iends" and scored the short film "Eagles are Turning People Into Horses: The Movie" by Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney.


title: Atlanticism

text: Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism, is the belief in or support for a close relationship between the peoples and governments in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and those in Europe (the countries of the European Union, Russia and Ukraine, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and the European microstates outside the European Union) on political, economic, and defense issues. It seeks to maintain the security and prosperity of the participating countries and protect liberal democracy and the progressive values of an open society that unite them. The term derives from the Atlantic Ocean, which is bordered by North America and Europe.


title: Atlanticism

text: The term can be used in a more specific way to refer to support for North Atlantic military alliances, or in a more expansive way to imply broader cooperation, perceived deeply shared values, a merging of diplomatic cultures, as well as a sense of community and some degree of integration between North America and Europe. In practice, the philosophy of Atlanticism encourages active North American, particularly American, engagement in Europe and close cooperation between states on both sides of the ocean. Atlanticism manifested itself most strongly during the Second World War and in its aftermath, the Cold War, through the establishment of various Euro-Atlantic institutions, most importantly NATO and the Marshall Plan.


title: Atlanticism

text: Atlanticism varies in strength from region to region and from country to country based on a variety of historical and cultural factors. It is often considered to be particularly strong in Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Ireland and the United Kingdom (linked to the Special Relationship). Politically, it has tended to be associated most heavily and enthusiastically but not exclusively with classical liberals or the political right in Europe. Atlanticism often implies an affinity for U.S. political or social culture, or affinity for Europe in North America, as well as the historical bonds between the two continents.


title: Atlanticism

text: There is some tension between Atlanticism and continentalism on both sides of the Atlantic, with some people emphasising increased regional cooperation or integration over trans-Atlantic cooperation. The relationship between Atlanticism and North American or European integrations is complex, and they are not seen in direct opposition to one another by many commentators. Internationalism is the foreign policy belief combining both Atlanticism and continentalism. The relative decline of European power in the world, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the spread of Atlanticist peremptory norm outside of the North Atlantic region have decreased the strength of Atlanticist thought since the end of the Cold War. Other international relationships have been increasingly emphasised, although the trans-Atlantic relationship is still arguably the most important in the world.


title: Atlanticism

text: Prior to the World Wars, western European countries were generally preoccupied with continental concerns and creating colonial empires in Africa and Asia, and not relations with North America. Likewise, the United States was busy with domestic issues and interventions in Latin America, but had little interest in European affairs, and Canada, despite gaining self-governing dominion status through Confederation in 1867, had yet to exercise full foreign policy independence as a part of the British Empire.


title: Atlanticism

text: Following World War I, New York lawyer Paul D. Cravath was a noted leader in establishing Atlanticism in the United States. Cravath had become devoted to international affairs during the war, and was later a co-founder and director of the Council on Foreign Relations. In the aftermath of World War I, while the US Senate was discussing whether or not to ratify the Treaty of Versailles (it ultimately didn't), some Congressional Republicans expressed their support for a legally binding US alliance with Britain and France as an alternative to the League of Nations's and especially Article X's open-ended commitments; however, US President Woodrow Wilson never seriously explored their offer, instead preferring to focus on his (ultimately unsuccessful) fight to secure US entry into the League of Nations.


title: Atlanticism

text: The experience of having American and Canadian troops fighting with British, French, and other Europeans in Europe during the World Wars fundamentally changed this situation. Though the U.S. (and to some extent Canada) adopted a more isolationist position between the wars, by the time of the Normandy landings the Allies were well integrated on all policies. The Atlantic Charter of 1941 declared by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill established the goals of the Allies for the post-war world, and was later adopted by all the Western allies. Following the Second World War, the Western European countries were anxious to convince the U.S. to remain engaged in European affairs to deter any possible aggression by the Soviet Union. This led to the 1949 "North Atlantic Treaty" which established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the main institutional consequence of Atlanticism, which binds all members to defend the others, and led to the long-term garrisoning of American and Canadian troops in Western Europe.


title: Atlanticism

text: After the end of the Cold War, the relationship between the United States and Europe changed fundamentally, and made both sides less-interested in the other. Without the threat of the Soviet Union dominating Europe, the continent became much less of a military priority for the U.S., and likewise, Europe no longer felt as much need for military protection from the U.S. As a result, the relationship lost much of its strategic importance.


title: Atlanticism

text: However, the new democracies of the former Warsaw Pact, and parts of the fragments of the fractured Yugoslavia, took a different view, eagerly embracing Atlanticism, as a bulwark against their continued fear of the Soviet Union's key now-separate great power fragment: Russia.


title: Atlanticism

text: Atlanticism has undergone significant changes in the 21st century in light of terrorism and the Iraq War, the net effect being a renewed questioning of the idea itself and a new insight that the security of the respective countries may require alliance action outside the North Atlantic territory. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, NATO for the first time invoked Article 5, which states that any attack on a member state will be considered an attack against the entire group of members. Planes of NATO's multi-national AWACS unit patrolled the U.S. skies and European countries deployed personnel and equipment. However, the Iraq War caused fissures within NATO and the sharp difference of opinion between the U.S.-led backers of the invasion and opponents strained the alliance. Some commentators, such as Robert Kagan and Ivo Daalder questioned whether Europe and the United States had diverged to such a degree that their alliance was no longer relevant. Later, in 2018, Kagan said that "we actually need the United States to be working actively to support and strengthen Europe".


title: Atlanticism

text: The importance of NATO was reaffirmed during Barack Obama's administration, though some called him relatively non-Atlanticist compared to predecessors. As part of the Obama Doctrine, Washington supported multilateralism with allies in Europe. Obama also enforced sanctions on Russia with European (and Pacific) allies after Russia's first invasion of Ukraine in Crimea. After his presidency, Obama also stressed the Atlantic alliance's importance during the Trump administration, indirectly opposing Trump in the matter. During the Trump years, tensions rose within NATO, as a result of democratic backsliding in Hungary and Turkey, and Trump's comments against NATO members and the alliance. Robert Kagan echoed common criticisms that Trump undermined the alliance. Despite this, NATO gained two new member countries (Montenegro and North Macedonia) during that time. The importance of NATO in Europe increased due to the continuing threat of the Russian military and intelligence apparatus and the uncertainty of Russian actions in former Soviet Union countries, and various threats in the Middle East. German-Russian economic relations became an issue in the Atlantic relationship due to Nord Stream 2, among other disagreements such as trade disputes between the United States and the European Union. As the Biden administration began, top officials of the European Union expressed optimism about the Atlantic relationship. Following the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, journalists noted that the Russian aggression led to a united political response from the European Union, making the defensive relevance of the Atlantic alliance more widely known, and increasing the popularity of NATO accession in countries like Sweden and Finland.


title: Atlanticism

text: Atlanticism is a belief in the necessity of cooperation between North America and Europe. The term can imply a belief that the bilateral relationship between Europe and the United States is important above all others, including intra-European cooperation, especially when it comes to security issues. The term can also be used "as a shorthand for the transatlantic security architecture."


title: Atlanticism

text: Supranational integration of the North Atlantic area had emerged as a focus of thinking among intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic already in the late 19th century. Although it was not known as Atlanticism at the time (the term was coined in 1950), they developed an approach coupling soft and hard power which would to some extent integrate the two sides of the Atlantic. The idea of an attractive "nucleus" union was the greatest soft power element; the empirical fact of the hegemonic global strength such a union would hold was the hard power element. This approach was eventually implemented to a certain degree in the form of NATO, the G7 grouping and other Atlanticist institutions. In the long debate between Atlanticism and its critics in the 20th century, the main argument was whether deep and formal Atlantic integration would serve to attract those still outside to seek to join, as Atlanticists argued, or alienate the rest of the world and drive them into opposite alliances. The Atlanticist perspective that informed the scheme of relations between the United States and the Western European countries after the end of World War Two was informed by political expedience and a strong civilizational bond. Realists, neutralists, and pacifists, nationalists and internationalists tended to believe it would do the latter, citing the Warsaw Pact as the proof of their views and treating it as the inevitable realpolitik counterpart of NATO.


title: Atlanticism

text: Broadly speaking, Atlanticism is particularly strong in the United Kingdom (linked to the Special Relationship) and eastern and central Europe (i.e. the area between Germany and Russia). There are numerous reasons for its strength in Eastern Europe, primarily the role of the United States in bringing political freedom there after the First World War, the major role of the U.S. in defeating Nazi Germany (which occupied the region) during the Second World War, its leading role during the Cold War, its relative enthusiasm for bringing the countries of the region into Atlanticist institutions such as NATO, and a suspicion of the intentions of the major Western European powers. Some commentators see countries such as Poland, Hungary and the United Kingdom among those who generally hold strong Atlanticist views, while seeing countries such as Germany and France tending to promote continental views and a strong European Union.


title: Atlanticism

text: In the early 21st century, Atlanticism has tended to be slightly stronger on the political right in Europe (although many variations do exist from country to country), but on the political center-left in the United States. The partisan division should not be overstated, but it exists and has grown since the end of the Cold War.


title: Atlanticism

text: While trans-Atlantic trade and political ties have remained mostly strong throughout the Cold War and beyond, the larger trend has been continentalist economic integration with the European Economic Area and the North American Free Trade Agreement notably dividing the Atlantic region into two rival trade blocs. However, many political actors and commentators do not see the two processes as being necessarily opposed to one another, in fact some commentators believe regional integration can reinforce Atlanticism. Article 2 of the North Atlantic Treaty, added by Canada, also attempted to bind the nations together on economic and political fronts.


title: Atlanticism

text: The North Atlantic Council is the premier, governmental forum for discussion and decision-making in an Atlanticist context. Other organizations that can be considered Atlanticist in origin:


title: Atlanticism

text: The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are also considered Atlanticist. Under a tacit agreement, the former is led by an American and the latter European.


title: Atlanticism

text: Well-known Atlanticists include former U.S. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Ronald Reagan; U.K. Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown; former U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson; former Assistant Secretary of War and perennial presidential advisor John J. McCloy; former U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski; former NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana; and Council on Foreign Relations co-founder Paul D. Cravath.


title: Adventism

text: Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher William Miller first publicly shared his belief that the Second Coming would occur at some point between 1843 and 1844. His followers became known as Millerites. After Miller's prophecies failed, the Millerite movement split up and was continued by a number of groups that held different doctrines from one another. These groups, stemming from a common Millerite ancestor, became known collectively as the Adventist movement.


title: Adventism

text: Although the Adventist churches hold much in common with mainline Christianity, their theologies differ on whether the intermediate state of the dead is unconscious sleep or consciousness, whether the ultimate punishment of the wicked is annihilation or eternal torment, the nature of immortality, whether the wicked are resurrected after the millennium, and whether the sanctuary of Daniel 8 refers to the one in heaven or one on earth. The movement has encouraged the examination of the whole Bible, leading Seventh-day Adventists and some smaller Adventist groups to observe the seventh day Sabbath. The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has compiled that church's core beliefs in the 28 Fundamental Beliefs (1980 and 2005), which use biblical references as justification.


title: Adventism

text: In 2010, Adventism claimed some 22 million believers scattered in various independent churches. The largest church within the movement—the Seventh-day Adventist Church—had more than 21 million members in 2020.


title: Adventism

text: Adventism began as an inter-denominational movement. Its most vocal leader was William Miller. Between 50,000 and 100,000 people in the United States supported Miller's predictions of Christ's return. After the "Great Disappointment" of October 22, 1844, many people in the movement gave up on Adventism. Of those remaining Adventist, the majority gave up believing in any prophetic (biblical) significance for the October 22 date, yet they remained expectant of the near Advent (second coming of Jesus).


title: Adventism

text: Of those who retained the October 22 date, many maintained that Jesus had come not literally but "spiritually", and consequently were known as "spiritualizers". A small minority held that something concrete had indeed happened on October 22, but that this event had been misinterpreted. This belief later emerged and crystallized with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the largest remaining body today.


title: Adventism

text: The Albany Conference in 1845, attended by 61 delegates, was called to attempt to determine the future course and meaning of the Millerite movement. Following this meeting, the "Millerites" then became known as "Adventists" or "Second Adventists". However, the delegates disagreed on several theological points. Four groups emerged from the conference: The Evangelical Adventists, The Life and Advent Union, the Advent Christian Church, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.


title: Adventism

text: The largest group was organized as the American Millennial Association, a portion of which was later known as the Evangelical Adventist Church. Unique among the Adventists, they believed in an eternal hell and consciousness in death. They declined in numbers, and by 1916 their name did not appear in the United States Census of Religious Bodies. It has diminished to almost non-existence today. Their main publication was the "Advent Herald", of which Sylvester Bliss was the editor until his death in 1863. It was later called the "Messiah's Herald".


title: Adventism

text: The Life and Advent Union was founded by George Storrs in 1863. He had established "The Bible Examiner" in 1842. It merged with the Adventist Christian Church in 1964.


title: Adventism

text: The Advent Christian Church officially formed in 1861 and grew rapidly at first. It declined a little during the 20th century. The Advent Christians publish the four magazines "The Advent Christian Witness", "Advent Christian News", "Advent Christian Missions" and "Maranatha". They also operate a liberal arts college at Aurora, Illinois; and a one-year Bible College in Lenox, Massachusetts, called Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies. The Primitive Advent Christian Church later separated from a few congregations in West Virginia.


title: Adventism

text: The Seventh-day Adventist Church officially formed in 1863. It believes in the sanctity of the seventh-day Sabbath as a holy day for worship. It publishes the "Adventist Review", which evolved from several early church publications. Youth publications include "KidsView", "Guide" and "Insight". It has grown to a large worldwide denomination and has a significant network of medical and educational institutions.


title: Adventism

text: Miller did not join any of the movements, and he spent the last few years of his life working for unity, before dying in 1849.


title: Adventism

text: The "Handbook of Denominations in the United States", 12th ed., describes the following churches as "Adventist and Sabbatarian (Hebraic) Churches":


title: Adventism

text: The Christadelphians were founded in 1844 by John Thomas and had an estimated 25,000 members in 170 ecclesias, or churches, in 2000 in America.


title: Adventism

text: The Advent Christian Church was founded in 1860 and had 25,277 members in 302 churches in 2002 in America. It is a "first-day" body of Adventist Christians founded on the teachings of William Miller. It adopted the "conditional immortality" doctrine of Charles F. Hudson and George Storrs, who formed the "Advent Christian Association" in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1860.


title: Adventism

text: The Primitive Advent Christian Church is a small group which separated from the Advent Christian Church. It differs from the parent body mainly on two points. Its members observe foot washing as a rite of the church, and they teach that reclaimed backsliders should be baptized (even though they had formerly been baptized). This is sometimes referred to as rebaptism.


title: Adventism

text: The Seventh-day Adventist Church, founded in 1863, had over 19,500,000 baptized members (not counting children of members) worldwide as of June 2016. It is best known for its teaching that Saturday, the seventh day of the week, is the Sabbath and is the appropriate day for worship. However, the second coming of Jesus Christ along with the Judgement day based on the three angels message in Revelation 14:6–13 remain core beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists.


title: Adventism

text: The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement is a small offshoot with an unknown number of members from the Seventh-day Adventist Church caused by disagreement over military service on the Sabbath day during World War I.


title: Adventism

text: The Davidians (originally named Shepherd's Rod) is a small offshoot with an unknown number of members made up primarily of voluntarily disfellowshipped members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They were originally known as the Shepherd's Rod and are still sometimes referred to as such. The group derives its name from two books on Bible doctrine written by its founder, Victor Houteff, in 1929.


title: Adventism

text: A group that gathered around David Koresh (the so-called "Koreshians") abandoned Davidian teachings and turned into a religious cult. Many of them were killed during the infamous Waco Siege of April 1993.


title: Adventism

text: The Church of God (Seventh-Day) was founded in 1863 and it had an estimated 11,000 members in 185 churches in 1999 in America. Its founding members separated in 1858 from those Adventists associated with Ellen G. White who later organized themselves as Seventh-day Adventists in 1863. The Church of God (Seventh Day) split in 1933, creating two bodies: one headquartered in Salem, West Virginia, and known as the Church of God (7th day) – Salem Conference and the other one headquartered in Denver, Colorado and known as the General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh-Day). The Worldwide Church of God splintered from this.


title: Adventism

text: The Church of God General Conference was founded in 1921 and had 7,634 members in 162 churches in 2004 in America. It is a first-day Adventist Christian body which is also known as the "Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith" and the "Church of God General Conference (Morrow, GA)".


title: Adventism

text: The Creation Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a small group that broke off from the Seventh-Day Adventists in 1988, and organized itself as a church in 1991.


title: Adventism

text: In 1947, several individuals and two independent congregations within the Church of God Adventist movement formed the "United Seventh-Day Brethren", seeking to increase fellowship and to combine their efforts in evangelism, publications, and other .


title: Adventism

text: Early in its development, the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell had close connections with the Millerite movement and stalwarts of the Adventist faith, including George Storrs and Joseph Seiss. Although both Jehovah's Witnesses and the Bible Students do not identify as part of the Millerite Adventist movement (or other denominations, in general), some theologians categorize these groups and related sects as Millerite Adventist because of their teachings regarding an imminent Second Coming and their use of specific dates. The various independent Bible Student groups currently have a cumulative membership of about 20,000 worldwide. As of 2021 there were nearly 8.7 million Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide.


title: Jharrel Jerome

text: Jharrel Jerome (born October 9, 1997) is an American actor and rapper who is best known for appearing in Barry Jenkins's acclaimed drama film "Moonlight" (2016), and for portraying Korey Wise in Ava DuVernay's Netflix miniseries "When They See Us" (2019). He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries.


title: Jharrel Jerome

text: Jerome was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He is of Dominican descent and identifies as Afro-Latino. He grew up in a close-knit family with parents who he described as "loving". His mother suggested he pursue acting when he was in eighth grade, after which he joined the Riverdale Children's Theatre, a local youth theatre organization. He attended and graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and commuted to Manhattan each day by train.


title: Jharrel Jerome

text: Shortly after Jerome enrolled as an undergraduate at Ithaca College, he was cast in his first professional acting role in the 2016 independent film "Moonlight", as young Kevin. A.O. Scott wrote in "The New York Times" that he was "excellent" in the role. Director Barry Jenkins said about Jerome, in an interview with the "Los Angeles Times," "When you watch Jharrel in that movie, he's not a guy who's been over-rehearsing. That's a dude learning by doing. It's amazing."


title: Jharrel Jerome

text: Since 2017, Jerome has appeared in the Audience series "Mr. Mercedes". He auditioned for the role of young Korey Wise in the 2019 Netflix miniseries "When They See Us," based on the Central Park jogger case. After his audition the series' director, Ava DuVernay, asked him to read the lines for adult Korey Wise, and he was subsequently cast in both roles. Jerome grew close to Wise throughout filming, and said in a "Los Angeles Times" interview, "He's my brother now. I look up to him. I look up to his courage. He's taught me so much on how to be strong."


title: Jharrel Jerome

text: Jharrel released "For Real" ft. Kemba on September 23, 2020. The song was produced by songwriting duo Take a Daytrip and marked Jharrel's first single as a hip hop artist. Upon release, Jharrel posted a message on his social media accounts that included: "Before my life changed, I had no idea I’d want to turn rap from a hobby to a career. But given my acting platform and these unbelievable blessings through the past few years, I decided to hone in on my music. Since 2016, I’ve been putting all the bank I’ve made from my films into studio sessions and recording equipment; trying to find my sound, my voice, my cadence, and my style. 4 years, 600 sessions and 80 songs later, I think I’ve found it."


title: Jharrel Jerome

text: Jerome won the 2019 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie category for his role in "When They See Us". He is the first Afro-Latino actor to win an Emmy for acting and the youngest winner in the category. He also won in 2020 at the 10th Critics' Choice Television Awards for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries for "When They See Us".


title: Jharrel Jerome

text: Jerome was placed on BET's "Future 40" list, which is a list of "40 of the most inspiring and innovative vanguards who are redefining what it means to be unapologetically young, gifted & black". "Time" listed Jerome on their first annual TIME 100 Next list, which is a list of 100 rising stars.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman (; born 19 June 1953) is a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist politician who is the president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F). He is also the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of political parties which ousted then prime minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion in 2022. He was a member of the National Assembly between 1988 and 2018, and the Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007. He is a supporter of the Taliban government in Afghanistan and has demanded for its international recognition. In the 1980s, he was part of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), which was formed to end the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Rehman is a pro-Taliban politician, known for his close ties to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He has attempted to re-brand himself as a moderate without connections to religious extremists and hardliners. In the past, he has called for imposition of Sharia in Pakistan. Being a follower of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi who campaigned for liberation against the British Raj but later restricted his members from armed struggle after establishing Political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Rehman opposed armed struggle to impose shariah laws as it leads to extremism in society. When in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2004 to 2007, his party passed the 'Hasba Bill' which was later declared illegal and unconstitutional. Through this bill, he believed that he would be following in his father Mufti Mahmud's footsteps, as he tried to implement 'Nizam-e-Mustafa', which his father struggled for throughout his political life. However, it was declared unconstitutional by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: After defeat in the 2018 Pakistani general election, Rehman was ejected from the National Assembly and failed to win major political support in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bagging only 10 of the 99 seats in his home turf. Alleging election fraud, 11 opposition political parties formed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) appointing Rehman as the president of this movement.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Rehman was born on 19 June 1953 (1 September according to another report) to a religious and political family in village Abul Kheel, D.I. Khan. His early education was from Millat High School, Multan and was a student of Mussarat Baig and Syed Iqbal Shah. He attained a Bachelor's degree (B.A) in 1983 from University of Peshawar and completed his Master's degree at Al-Azhar University Cairo.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: During his early religious training and education ("Ilm Us Saraf, Ilm Un Nahv", Logic) he remained the disciple of Mufti Muhammad Essa Gurmani and Molana Abdul Ghaffor Gurmani of Shadan Lund before studying "Sharah-e-Mata-e-Aamil" and "Hidayat-un-Nahv" with Muhammad Ameer of Chudwan in a Madrassa at Jhok wains Multan . He was a student of Abdul Haq Akorwi, Hasan Jan, and Syed Sher Ali Shah during his Shahadat-ul Alamia at Darul Uloom Haqqania.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: His father, Mufti Mahmud was an Islamic scholar and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 1972 to 1973.<ref name="bbc/6nov2002"></ref> He and his family are part of the Deobandi movement.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Rehman began his political career as the secretary general of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in 1980 at the age of 27. This was after the death of his father Mufti Mahmud who was the leader of the party before his death.<ref name="dawn/5april2013"></ref>


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam later split into two factions in the mid-1980s with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) led by Fazal.<ref name="dawn/herald2008"></ref> Rehman was elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1988 Pakistani general elections for the first time on from D.I. Khan seat. He then made connections with Afghan Taliban. Rehman ran for the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1990 Pakistani general elections for the second time on from D.I. Khan seat but did not win the election. Rehman was elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1993 Pakistani general elections for the second time on Islamic Jamhoori Mahaz ticket from D.I. Khan seat. Fazal was appointed as the chairman of the Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs in National Assembly of Pakistan. Rehman ran for the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1997 Pakistani general elections for the fourth time but did not win the election.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Rehman led several anti-American protests and pro-Taliban rallies in the major cities of Pakistan following the war in Afghanistan in 2001. He criticised President of United States George W. Bush, and threatened to launch jihad against the United States if the bombings continued. He also criticised and warned President of the Pakistan Pervez Musharraf that he would be overthrown if he continued to support the “War on Terror”. In October 2001, Pervez Musharraf placed Fazal under house arrest in his native village Abdul Khel for inciting the citizens of Pakistan against the armed forces of Pakistan and for trying to overthrow the government of Pakistan. Later in March 2002, Fazal was set free and the cases against him were withdrawn.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Rehman was elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 2002 Pakistani general elections for the third time on Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal ticket. He won on two seats, NA-24 and NA-25, the later was vacated. Upon winning the election, Fazal became a potential candidate for the post of prime minister of Pakistan but was not appointed. He served as the leader of the opposition from 2004 to 2007.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Rehman ran for the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 2008 Pakistani general elections for the sixth time on Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal ticket from two constituencies, NA-24, D.I. Khan which is his traditional constituency and NA-26, Bannu In September 2008, he was elected chairman of the Kashmir committee of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Rehman was elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the fourth time on Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal ticket from Bannu constituency, but he lost the election in D.I. Khan constituency. By 2008, Fazal distanced himself from Taliban and called himself a moderate.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: In May 2014, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave him the status of a federal minister for being the chairman of special committee of the National Assembly on Kashmir.<ref name="dawn/27aug2017"></ref> In August 2017, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi gave him the same status again. Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, he ceased to hold the status of a federal minister. In March 2018, he became head of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal which was revived in December 2017. Rehman ran for the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 2018 Pakistani general elections from Dera Ismail Khan's constituencies, NA38 and NA 39 but did not win.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: On 27 August 2018, several opposition parties including Pakistan Muslim League (N), nominated him as a candidate in the 2018 presidential election. On 4 September 2018, he clinched 184 electoral votes behind Arif Alvi (352) and ahead of Aitzaz Ahsan (124) in the election.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: According to WikiLeaks, in 2007 Rehman invited then US Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, to a dinner in which he sought her support in becoming Prime Minister of Pakistan and expressed a desire to visit America. The ambassador wrote in her notes that Fazl sees himself as a Kingmaker. Fazl also reportedly told the ambassador that his votes were up for sale. <ref name="theguardian/30nov2010"></ref>


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Rehman opposed the Huqooq-e-Niswan bill in 2016 claiming that it was un-Islamic. Rehman also rejected the Women's Protection Bill in 2016, which protects domestic violence victims, claiming that the judicial execution of Mumtaz Qadri was wrong and declared that he was a martyr, rallying other right-wing religious parties to do the same.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: On numerous occasions, Rehman has displayed severe opposition to Imran Khan and his political party, the "Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf" (PTI). In 2013 Rehman declared voting for the PTI as "haram" (religiously prohibited), asserting Khan to be supported by the West and the Jewish lobby and explicitly calling him an agent of "Americans, Jews, Ahmadis and a person of ill character".


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: Former JUI-F leader Muhammad Khan Sherani took to Twitter and said that when he asked Fazl ur-Rehman does he have proof that Imran Khan is a Jewish and Indian agent, Fazal responded with "it's just a political statement".


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: In late 2019 Rehman led a march towards Islamabad with the intent to sit-in, until PM Imran Khan resigned from office. rs The Azadi March which translates as "Freedom March" started from Sukkur on October 27, 2019, and travelled Sindh and Punjab; other political parties also joined the march which reached Islamabad on October 31, 2019. Rehman also addressed the participants at different points on the journey. However, he could not reach his aims and ended the march on 16 November 2019.


title: Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)

text: In 2020, Rehman was unanimously elected as the leader of the coalition of political parties against the PTI government, the Pakistan Democratic Movement. Nawaz Sharif even favoured this appointment to be on a permanent basis but was opposed by others.


title: Omurice

text: Omurice or is a Japanese dish consisting of an omelette made with fried rice and thin, fried scrambled eggs, usually topped with ketchup. It is a popular dish also commonly cooked at home. Children in particular enjoy "omurice". It is often featured in Japan's version of a children's meal, .


title: Omurice

text: With "omu" and "raisu" being derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the English words "omelette" and "rice", the name is an example of "wasei-eigo".


title: Omurice

text: "Omurice" is said to have originated around the turn of the 20th century at a western-style restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza district called "Renga-tei", inspired by "chakin-zushi".


title: Omurice

text: The dish typically consists of "chikin raisu"() (chicken rice: rice pan-fried with ketchup and chicken) wrapped in a thin sheet of fried scrambled eggs. The ingredients flavoring the rice vary. Often, the rice is fried with various meats (but typically chicken) or vegetables, and can be flavored with beef stock, ketchup, demi-glace, white sauce or simply salt and pepper. Sometimes, rice is replaced with fried noodles (yakisoba) to make "omusoba." A variant in Okinawa is "omutako", consisting of an omelet over taco rice. Fried hot dog and Spam are also two popular meats to include in the dish.


title: Omurice

text: A similar dish exists in Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, and is called "nasi goreng pattaya". It is a fried rice dish, covering chicken fried rice in thin fried egg or omelet.


title: Omurice

text: A new kind of omurice was developed for the 1985 comedy film "Tampopo" in collaboration with Taimeiken, a famous restaurant in Nihonbashi. This version has the rice covered with a half-cooked omelet which is cut open to spread and cover the rice. This version has become so popular that it is the restaurant standard now. Home cooks typically cook a thin omelet completely and then place it over the seasoned rice and decorate it with ketchup.


title: Omurice

text: Homestyle omurice is a frequent item on maid cafe menus since the addition of ketchup allows a maid to decorate the meal easily at the table as a form of "service."


title: Julian Huxley

text: Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. He was secretary of the Zoological Society of London (1935–1942), the first Director of UNESCO, a founding member of the World Wildlife Fund, the president of the British Eugenics Society (1959-1962), and the first President of the British Humanist Association.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley was well known for his presentation of science in books and articles, and on radio and television. He directed an Oscar-winning wildlife film. He was awarded UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for the popularisation of science in 1953, the Darwin Medal of the Royal Society in 1956, and the Darwin–Wallace Medal of the Linnaean Society in 1958. He was also knighted in that same year, 1958, a hundred years after Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace announced the theory of evolution by natural selection. In 1959 he received a Special Award from the Lasker Foundation in the category Planned Parenthood – World Population.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley came from the Huxley family on his father's side and the Arnold family on his mother's. His great-grandfather was Thomas Arnold of Rugby School, his great-uncle Matthew Arnold, and his aunt Mrs Humphry Ward. His grandfather Thomas Henry Huxley was raised Anglican but eventually became an advocate of Agnosticism, a word he coined. Thomas was also a friend and supporter of Charles Darwin and proponent of evolution.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley's father was a writer and an editor Leonard Huxley and his mother was Julia Arnold Huxley, a graduate of Somerville College, Oxford, who had gained a First in English Literature there in 1882. Julia and Leonard married in 1885 and they had four children: Margaret (1899–1981), the novelist Aldous, Trevenen and Julian.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley was born on 22 June 1887, at the London house of his aunt. His mother died in 1908, when he was 21. In 1912, his father married Rosalind Bruce, who was the same age as Julian, and he later acquired half-brothers Andrew Huxley and David Huxley.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In 1911, Huxley became informally engaged to Kathleen Fordham, whom he had met some years earlier when she was a pupil at Prior's Field, the school his mother had run. During 1913 the relationship broke down and Huxley had a nervous breakdown which a biographer described as caused by 'conflict between desire and guilt'. In the first months of 1914 Huxley had severe depression and lived for some weeks at The Hermitage, a small private nursing home. In August 1914 while Huxley was in Scotland, his brother Trevenen also had a nervous breakdown and stayed in the same nursing home. Trevenen was worried about how he had treated one of his women friends and committed suicide whilst there.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In 1919 Huxley married Juliette Baillot (1896–1994) a French Swiss woman whom he had met while she was employed as a governess at Garsington Manor, the country house of Lady Ottoline Morrell. Huxley was later unfaithful to Baillot and told her that he wanted an open marriage. One of his affairs was with the poet May Sarton who in turn fell in love with Baillot and had a brief affair with her as well.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley described himself in print as suffering from manic depression, and his wife's autobiography suggests that Julian Huxley suffered from a bipolar disorder. He relied on his wife to provide moral and practical support throughout his life.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Julian and Juliette Huxley had two sons, Anthony Huxley (1920–1992) and Francis Huxley (1923–2016), who both became scientists.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley grew up at the family home in Surrey, England, where he showed an early interest in nature, as he was given lessons by his grandfather, Thomas Henry Huxley. When he heard his grandfather talking at dinner about the lack of parental care in fish, Julian piped up with "What about the stickleback, Gran'pater?". His grandfather also took him to visit Joseph Dalton Hooker at Kew. At the age of thirteen Huxley attended Eton College as a King's Scholar, and continued to develop scientific interests; his grandfather had influenced the school to build science laboratories much earlier. At Eton he developed an interest in ornithology, guided by science master W. D. "Piggy" Hill. "Piggy was a genius as a teacher ... I have always been grateful to him." In 1905 Huxley won a scholarship in Zoology to Balliol College, Oxford and took up the place in 1906 after spending the summer in Germany. He developed a particular interest in embryology and protozoa and developed a friendship with the ornithologist William Warde Fowler. In the autumn term of his final year, 1908, his mother died from cancer at the age of 46. In his final year he won the Newdigate Prize for his poem "Holyrood". In 1909 he graduated with first class honours, and spent that July at the international gathering for the centenary of Darwin's birth, held at the University of Cambridge.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley was awarded a scholarship to spend a year at the Naples Marine Biological Station, where he developed his interest in developmental biology by investigating sea squirts and sea urchins. In 1910 he was appointed as Demonstrator in the Department of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at the University of Oxford, and started on the systematic observation of the courtship habits of water birds, such as the common redshank (a wader) and grebes (which are divers). Bird watching in childhood had given Huxley his interest in ornithology, and he helped devise systems for the surveying and conservation of birds. His particular interest was bird behaviour, especially the courtship of water birds. His 1914 paper on the great crested grebe, later published as a book, was a landmark in avian ethology; his invention of vivid labels for the rituals (such as 'penguin dance', 'plesiosaurus race' etc.) made the ideas memorable and interesting to the general reader.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In 1912 Huxley was asked by Edgar Odell Lovett to set up the Department of Biology at the newly created Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston, Texas, which he accepted, planning to start the following year. Huxley made an exploratory trip to the United States in September 1912, visiting a number of leading universities as well as the Rice Institute. At T. H. Morgan's fly lab (Columbia University) he invited H. J. Muller to join him at Rice. Muller agreed to be his deputy, hurried to complete his PhD and moved to Houston for the beginning of the 1915–1916 academic year. At Rice, Muller taught biology and continued "Drosophila" lab work.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Before taking up the post of Assistant Professor at the Rice Institute, Huxley spent a year in Germany preparing for his demanding new job. Working in a laboratory just months before the outbreak of World War I, Huxley overheard fellow academics comment on a passing aircraft "it will not be long before those planes are flying over England".


title: Julian Huxley

text: One pleasure of Huxley's life in Texas was the sight of his first hummingbird, though his visit to Edward Avery McIlhenny's estate on Avery Island in Louisiana was more significant. The McIlhennys and their Avery cousins owned the entire island, and the McIlhenny branch used it to produce their famous Tabasco sauce. Birds were one of McIlhenny's passions, however, and around 1895 he had set up a private sanctuary on the Island, called Bird City. There Huxley found egrets, herons and bitterns. These water birds, like the grebes, exhibit mutual courtship, with the pairs displaying to each other, and with the secondary sexual characteristics equally developed in both sexes.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In September 1916 Huxley returned to England from Texas to assist in the war effort. He was commissioned a temporary second lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps on 25 May 1917, and was transferred to the General List, working in the British Army Intelligence Corps from 26 January 1918, first in Sussex, and then in northern Italy. He was advanced in grade within the Intelligence Corps on 3 May 1918, relinquished his intelligence appointment on 10 January 1919 and was demobilised five days later, retaining his rank. After the war he became a Fellow at New College, Oxford, and was made Senior Demonstrator in the University Department of Zoology. In fact, Huxley took the place of his old tutor Geoffrey Smith, who had been killed in the battle of the Somme on the Western Front. The ecological geneticist E. B. Ford always remembered his openness and encouragement at the start of his career.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In 1925 Huxley moved to King's College London as Professor of Zoology, but in 1927, to the amazement of his colleagues and on the prodding of H. G. Wells whom he had promised 1,000 words a day, he resigned his chair to work full-time with Wells and his son G. P. Wells on "The Science of Life" (see below). For some time Huxley retained his room at King's College, continuing as Honorary Lecturer in the Zoology Department, and from 1927 to 1931 he was also Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution, where he gave an annual lectures series, but this marked the end of his life as a university academic.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In 1929, after finishing work on "The Science of Life", Huxley visited East Africa to advise the Colonial Office on education in British East Africa (for the most part Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika). He discovered that the wildlife on the Serengeti plain was almost undisturbed because the tsetse fly (the vector for the trypanosome parasite which causes sleeping sickness in humans) prevented human settlement there. He tells about these experiences in "Africa view" (1931), and so does his wife. She reveals that he fell in love with an 18-year-old American girl on board ship (when Juliette was not present), and then presented Juliette with his ideas for an open marriage: "What Julian really wanted was… a definite freedom from the conventional bonds of marriage." The couple separated for a while; Julian travelled to the US, hoping to land a suitable appointment and, in due course, to marry Miss Weldmeier. He left no account of what transpired, but he was evidently not successful, and returned to England to resume his marriage in 1931. For the next couple of years Huxley still angled for an appointment in the US, without success.


title: Julian Huxley

text: As the 1930s started, Huxley travelled widely and took part in a variety of activities which were partly scientific and partly political. In 1931 Huxley visited the USSR at the invitation of Intourist, where initially he admired the results of social and economic planning on a large scale. Later, back in the United Kingdom, he became a founding member of the think tank Political and Economic Planning.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In the 1930s Huxley visited Kenya and other East African countries to see the conservation work, including the creation of national parks.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In 1933, he was one of eleven people involved in the appeal that led to the foundation of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), an organisation for the study of birds in the British Isles. From 1933 to 1938 he was a member of the committee for Lord Hailey's African Survey.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In 1935 Huxley was appointed secretary to the Zoological Society of London, and spent much of the next seven years running the society and its zoological gardens, the London Zoo and Whipsnade Park, alongside his writing and research. The previous Director, Peter Chalmers Mitchell, had been in post for many years, and had skillfully avoided conflict with the Fellows and Council. Things were rather different when Huxley arrived. Huxley was not a skilled administrator; his wife said "He was impatient… and lacked tact". He instituted a number of changes and innovations, more than some approved of. For example, Huxley introduced a whole range of ideas designed to make the Zoo child-friendly. Today, this would pass without comment; but then it was more controversial. He fenced off the Fellows' Lawn to establish Pets Corner; he appointed new assistant curators, encouraging them to talk to children; he initiated the Zoo Magazine. Fellows and their guests had the privilege of free entry on Sundays, a closed day to the general public. Today, that would be unthinkable, and Sundays are now open to the public. Huxley's mild suggestion (that the guests should pay) encroached on territory the Fellows thought was theirs by right.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In 1941 Huxley was invited to the United States on a lecturing tour, and generated some controversy by saying that he thought the United States should join World War II: a few weeks later came the attack on Pearl Harbor. When the US joined the war, he found it difficult to get a passage back to the UK, and his lecture tour was extended. The Council of the Zoological Society—"a curious assemblage… of wealthy amateurs, self-perpetuating and autocratic"—uneasy with their secretary, used this as an opportunity to remove him. This they did by abolishing his post "to save expenses". Since Huxley had taken a half-salary cut at the start of the war, and no salary at all whilst he was in America, the council's action was widely read as a personal attack on Huxley. A public controversy ensued, but eventually the Council got its way.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In 1943 he was asked by the British government to join the Colonial Commission on Higher Education. The commission's remit was to survey the West African Commonwealth countries for suitable locations for the creation of universities. There he acquired a disease, went down with hepatitis, and had a serious mental breakdown. He was completely disabled, treated with ECT, and took a full year to recover. He was 55.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley, a lifelong internationalist with a concern for education, got involved in the creation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and became the organization's first director-general in 1946. His term of office, six years in the Charter, was cut down to two years at the behest of the American delegation. The reasons are not known for sure, but his left-wing tendencies and humanism were likely factors. In a fortnight he dashed off a 60-page booklet on the purpose and philosophy of UNESCO, eventually printed and issued as an official document. There were, however, many conservative opponents of his scientific humanism. His idea of restraining population growth with birth control was anathema to both the Catholic Church and the Comintern/Cominform. In its first few years UNESCO was dynamic and broke new ground; since Huxley it has become larger, more bureaucratic and stable. The personal and social side of the years in Paris are well described by his wife.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley's internationalist and conservation interests also led him, with Victor Stolan, Sir Peter Scott, Max Nicholson and Guy Mountfort, to set up the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature under its former name of the World Wildlife Fund).


title: Julian Huxley

text: Another post-war activity was Huxley's attack on the Soviet politico-scientist Trofim Lysenko, who had espoused a Lamarckian heredity, made unscientific pronouncements on agriculture, used his influence to destroy classical genetics in Russia and to move genuine scientists from their posts. In 1940, the leading botanical geneticist Nikolai Vavilov was arrested, and Lysenko replaced him as director of the Institute of Genetics. In 1941, Vavilov was tried, found guilty of 'sabotage' and sentenced to death. Reprieved, he died in jail of malnutrition in 1943. Lysenko's machinations were the cause of his arrest. Worse still, Lysenkoism not only denied proven genetic facts, it stopped the artificial selection of crops on Darwinian principles. This may have contributed to the regular shortage of food from the Soviet agricultural system (Soviet famines). Huxley, who had twice visited the Soviet Union, was originally not anti-communist, but the ruthless adoption of Lysenkoism by Joseph Stalin ended his tolerant attitude. Lysenko ended his days in a Soviet mental hospital, and Vavilov's reputation was posthumously restored in 1955.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In the 1950s Huxley played a role in bringing to the English-speaking public the work of the French Jesuit-palaeontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who he believed had been unfairly treated by the Catholic and Jesuit hierarchy. Both men believed in evolution, but differed in its interpretation as Teilhard de Chardin was a Christian, whilst Huxley was an atheist. Huxley wrote the foreword to "The Phenomenon of Man" (1959) and was bitterly attacked by his rationalist friends for doing so.


title: Julian Huxley

text: On Huxley's death at 87 on 14 February 1975, John Owen (Director of National Parks for Tanganyika) wrote "Julian Huxley was one of the world's great men… he played a seminal role in wild life conservation in [East] Africa in the early days… [and in] the far-reaching influence he exerted [on] the international community".


title: Julian Huxley

text: In addition to his international and humanist concerns, his research interests covered evolution in all its aspects, ethology, embryology, genetics, anthropology and to some extent the infant field of cell biology. Julian's eminence as an advocate for evolution, and especially his contribution to the modern evolutionary synthesis, led to his awards of the Darwin Medal of the Royal Society in 1956, and the Darwin–Wallace Medal of the Linnaean Society in 1958. 1958 was the centenary anniversary of the joint presentation "On the tendency of species to form varieties; and the perpetuation of varieties and species by natural means of selection" by Darwin and Wallace.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley was a friend and mentor of the biologists and Nobel laureates Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen, and taught and encouraged many others. In general, he was more of an all-round naturalist than his famous grandfather, and contributed much to the acceptance of natural selection. His outlook was international, and somewhat idealistic: his interest in progress and evolutionary humanism runs through much of his published work. He was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley and biologist August Weismann insisted on natural selection as the primary agent in evolution. Huxley was a major player in the mid-twentieth century modern evolutionary synthesis. He was a prominent populariser of biological science to the public, with a focus on three aspects in particular.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In the early 20th century he was one of the minority of biologists who believed that natural selection was the main driving force of evolution, and that evolution occurred by small steps and not by saltation (jumps). These opinions are now standard.Though his time as an academic was quite brief, he taught and encouraged evolutionary biologists at the University of Oxford in the 1920s. Charles Elton (ecology), Alister Hardy (marine biology) and John Baker (cytology) all became highly successful, and Baker eventually wrote Huxley's Royal Society obituary memoir. Perhaps the most significant was Edmund Brisco Ford, who founded a field of research called ecological genetics, which played a role in the evolutionary synthesis. Another important disciple was Gavin de Beer, who wrote on evolution and development, and became Director of the Natural History Museum. Both these scholars had attended Huxley's lectures on genetics, experimental zoology (including embryology) and ethology. Later, they became his collaborators, and then leaders in their own right.


title: Julian Huxley

text: In an era when scientists did not travel so frequently as today, Huxley travelled widely in Europe, Africa and the United States. He was therefore able to learn from and influence other scientists, naturalists and administrators. In the US he was able to meet other evolutionists at a critical time in the reassessment of natural selection. In Africa he was able to influence colonial administrators about education and wildlife conservation. In Europe, through UNESCO, he was at the centre of the post-World War II revival of education. In Russia, however, his experiences were mixed. His initially favourable view was changed by his growing awareness of Stalin's murderous repression, and the Lysenko affair. There seems little evidence that he had any effect on the Soviet Union, and the same could be said for some other Western scientists. "Marxist-Leninism had become a dogmatic religion… and like all dogmatic religions, it had turned from reform to persecution."


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley was one of the main architects of the modern evolutionary synthesis which took place around the time of World War II. The synthesis of genetic and population ideas produced a consensus which reigned in biology from about 1940, and which is still broadly tenable. "The most informative episode in the history of evolutionary biology was the establishment of the 'neo-Darwinian synthesis'." The synthesis was brought about "not by one side being proved right and the others wrong, but by the exchange of the most viable components of the previously competing research strategies". Ernst Mayr, 1980.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley's first 'trial run' was the treatment of evolution in the "Science of Life" (1929–30), and in 1936 he published a long and significant paper for the British Association. In 1938 came three lengthy reviews on major evolutionary topics. Two of these papers were on the subject of sexual selection, an idea of Darwin's whose standing has been revived in recent times. Huxley thought that sexual selection was "…merely an aspect of natural selection which… is concerned with characters which subserve mating, and are usually sex-limited". This rather grudging acceptance of sexual selection was influenced by his studies on the courtship of the great crested grebe (and other birds that pair for life): the courtship takes place mostly "after" mate selection, not before.


title: Julian Huxley

text: Huxley to tackled the subject of evolution at full length, in what became the defining work of his life. His role was that of a synthesiser, and it helped that he had met many of the other participants. His book "" was written whilst he was secretary to the Zoological Society, and made use of his collection of reprints covering the first part of the century. It was published in 1942. Reviews of the book in learned journals were little short of ecstatic; the American Naturalist called it "The outstanding evolutionary treatise of the decade, perhaps of the century. The approach is thoroughly scientific; the command of basic information amazing".