Category: Europe

Reversing CEE democratic backsliding a Sisyphean task

     

Countries in Central and Eastern Europe that made significant gains in building their new democracies following the Cold War are now experiencing a crisis of illiberalism that is weakening the… Read more »

States of Change: Eastern Europeans ‘fearful for democracy’

     

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, central and eastern Europeans believe that democracy, freedom of speech and the rule of law are under threat, according to a… Read more »

Liberal democracy’s 1989 promise ‘a squandered opportunity’

     

Two great earthquakes shaped the present global order. The first, in 1989, seemed to promise an irresistible march towards liberal democracy and open markets. The opportunity was squandered by those… Read more »

Democracy under threat in post-Wall Europe: Spirit of 1989 fighting back

     

The west’s mistake after 1989 was not that we celebrated what happened in central Europe – and subsequently in the Baltic republics and the former Soviet Union – as a… Read more »

‘Reasons for Hope’? Illiberal wave vs. democratic resilience

     

The illiberal wave in Poland and Hungary, in addition to the corruption in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Slovakia can be easily used as excuses against further EU enlargement, notes Carnegie’s Judy Dempsey…. Read more »

The other ‘God That Failed’? The triumph and tragedy of 1989

     

“Always prepared!” For decades, it was a catchphrase of the Pioneers, an outdoorsy youth group that was a hallmark of communist indoctrination efforts targeting schoolchildren throughout the U.S.S.R. and its… Read more »

Liberal democracy ‘alien to human nature’? Intense battle for political minds and souls

     

A dramatic debate between US strategist Stephen Bannon and French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy* at the Athens Democracy Forum, illustrated the intensity of the battle for political minds and souls, The… Read more »

Poland’s populist win calls into question liberal democrats’ received wisdom

     

  Last Sunday’s Polish parliamentary elections provide political lessons that go well beyond Poland’s borders. The elections disprove important received wisdom about far-right and populist politics, and the results should… Read more »

Democracy in a post-Western order: decline or renaissance?

     

The U.S.-led liberal order, built by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his successors, is being  dismantled, according to a leading strategist. The U.S. emerged from the horror of the 1940s as… Read more »

Renewing democracy in the age of populism

     

Participation without populism is one of three practical solutions to the core challenges facing democracies in the West, according to Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels, co-authors of “Renovating Democracy:  Governing… Read more »