Year: 2017

Confronting Europe’s Illiberals

European politicians have mastered the art of wagging their finger, most recently at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and US President

Politics Returns: Global Clash Between Nationalism And Federalism

There is a striking analogy between the current global economic and political crisis and the world crisis that occurred between two world wars. Then the

Democracy Under Stress

Freedom House recently demoted the United States from top rank among the world´s democracies. The reasons given include ‘the cumulative impact of flaws in the

Has Populism Peaked?

After last year, when the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union and the United States elected Donald Trump as president, xenophobic nationalism was

Progress Revisited

Nowadays, in times of the decline of modernity, progress no longer enjoys a good reputation. It has fallen short of expectations, is accused of producing

The Immigration Policy Turn: The Danish Social Democratic Case

The Danish Social Democratic Party (SD) has recently changed course on immigration policy in a more restrictive direction. This change of policy is marked and

Can Macron Succeed Where Obama Failed?

For the first time in years, France is being looked at with interest and admiration. The country is having its ‘Obama moment’: the feeling that

Building A Europe For The People

‘For the people, not just for the elites!’: this is the rallying cry of all brands of populism. The triumph of populism is a calamity,

Ireland’s Brexit Borders: A Possible Solution

In the Brexit negotiations the European Council says it will ‘protect’ Ireland’s cross-border Peace Process; given ‘the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland, flexible

Populism, Austerity And Democratic Deficit

Critiques of the European Union target a political problem – the so-called democratic deficit – and an economic (and social) one: austerity, sometimes subsumed under

Macron And The Nordic Model

Emmanuel Macron’s political success has surprised many political commentators. The fact that in a large country like France with long-standing political traditions and within a

The Varieties Of Populist Experience

Emmanuel Macron’s decisive defeat of Marine Le Pen in the French presidential runoff was a major victory for liberal Europe. But it was a battle,

Can Macron Move Europe Forward?

Can Emmanuel Macron succeed in reforming the European Union and the Eurozone? The European question was already central to the French Presidential campaign itself: the