Democracy Embattled: Towards ‘competitive decadence’?
America used to try to design the world, Russia used to try to sabotage those plans. Now things almost look the other way around, analyst Asli Aydintasbas observes. The decline… Read more »
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A case for liberal democratic nationalism?
Viewed from today’s perspective, it seems clear that liberalism and nationalism are enemies. But that was not always the case. As recently as 1989, liberalism and nationalism were allies in… Read more »
What went wrong in Central and Eastern Europe? A case for ‘pessoptimism’
There’s has been extensive and ongoing debate about “what went wrong in Central and Eastern Europe” and what explains its various forms of illiberalism and democratic decline. A variety of,… Read more »
Communism’s Shadow: How post-1989 liberal dream became illiberal nightmare
Central and Eastern Europe’s transition to democracy has not been smooth. But there are grounds for hope, notes Alison Smale. What would Vaclav Havel have made of post-1989 developments? she asked… Read more »
Europe’s East and West again divided – by values, not walls
Thirty years after the Berlin Wall fell, ending the Cold War in Europe, new political divisions are rising between East and West. Despite the economic success of German reunification and… Read more »
Post Wall, Post Square: 1989 – The Light that Failed?
Like 1776, 1789 and 1917, the year 1989 was one of those rare moments that mark a decisive turning point in human history. So, at least, it seemed at the… Read more »
Targeted: How social media is breaking democracy
Russian government-backed cyber aggression is heightening concerns from the west following a spate of high-profile incidents, prompting threats of countermeasures from the likes of Nato, the EU and UK, the… Read more »
The ‘authoritarian dynamic’ behind the rise of populism
Trust in democratic institutions to resolve conflicts fairly is at odds with the populist notion of democracy as the expression of the unified will of the one true people. Populist… Read more »
Fresh options for democratic renewal?
The recent European parliamentary elections offered some optimistic liberals a chance to gloat, Ishaan Tharoor writes for The Washington Post: “The so-called populist wave, I think it was contained,” declared… Read more »
Anti-hypocrisy rhetoric weaponized to attack postwar liberal order
The only way for the European Union to survive as a liberal actor in an increasingly illiberal environment is by transforming itself from a missionary who wants to shape the… Read more »