Putin, pugilism and pusillanimity
Paul Mason finds the democratic world in the very disarray the authoritarian in the Kremlin has sought.
Politics
Social Europe is an award-winning digital media publisher driven by the core values of freedom, sustainability, and equality. These principles guide our exploration of society’s most pressing challenges. This archive page curates Social Europe articles focused on political issues, offering a rich resource for innovative thinking and informed debate.
Matteo Salvini’s League and the price of unbridled populism
The strength of populism is its simple message that ‘the people’ are traduced by an ‘elite’ linked to ‘foreign’ interlopers. That’s also its weakness.
The lure of progressive authoritarianism
The left needs to rediscover the virtue of liberty.
Stopping democratic backsliding
Sheri Berman argues that democracy today faces a more insidious threat than coups d’état—slow strangulation by elected autocrats.
The G20, the private sector and the vaccine, debt and climate crises
G20 leaders meeting in Rome must recognise that only public purpose, not private profit, can tackle interconnected global crises.
Gender equality in Europe—everywhere relevant, everyone implicated
Gender Equality Week saw European Parliament committees host many events, highlighting real threats but also strong commitments.
Is Hungary returning to Europe?
The Hungarian opposition have united behind a conservative opponent of Viktor Orbán, ahead of parliamentary elections in the spring.
Germany’s traffic-light coalition: green light or stuck on amber?
Peter Bofinger recognises the compromises necessary for a three-party government but regrets the lack of vision to face a decade of huge challenges.
Refugees fleeing Lebanon look to Europe—but Europe looks away
In a case study of human desperation, state failure drives refugees to Cyprus, only to meet pushbacks and a numbed European conscience.
What did the German federal election mean for equality and diversity in the Bundestag?
Despite the share of women and of representatives with a minority background increasing by a small margin, there is still a long way to go.
Biden’s trap
Joe Biden’s administration must deliver on sweeping new federal programmes while placating moderates who oppose radical policy measures.
Can Xi Jinping defeat three stubborn modern inequalities?
Branko Milanovic argues that ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’ is replicating United States inequalities.
Brexit: why does Northern Ireland matter so much?
So little appears at stake in the Northern Ireland protocol yet it’s at the heart of the Brexit deadlock. But then it’s a proxy for something else.
The improbable victory: lessons of the SPD’s election win
In his first Social Europe column, Robert Misik explains how the SPD prevailed in the Bundestag elections—and what follows.
The new way of doing politics in times of elections
As Czechs go to the polls, a new politics is emerging across Europe, variously populist and technocratic.
Hungary’s path puts everyone’s rights in danger
The ostensible assault on LGBT+ rights in Hungary, Poland and Russia has a very big target—anyone who signs up to universal norms.
Intellectual monopoly capitalism—challenge of our times
Unregulated capitalism has always tended to monopoly. But Big Tech represents a challenge antitrust tools can’t tame.