In Spain, academia’s ivy tower is colliding with popular Catalan unrest. The Catalan Parliament voted earlier this month to hold a referendum on independence from Spain, and though Spain has said the referendum would be unconstitutional, six leading Catalan academics are throwing their weight behind the secessionist movement.

Three new books on World War One that question a German-centric account of the blame for WWI have been selling like hotcakes in Germany— suggesting a growing consensus among Germans that their country is not the main country to blame for the war. Both Germany and Japan are becoming ‘normal countries’ again, reasserting their right to define and act on their national interest. A new generation of Germans is looking at the world and at German history and is likely to see things in different ways than their parents and grandparents.