Europe Absorbs Orbán’s Playbook Even as Hungary May Reject It
As Hungary nears a pivotal vote, Russian operatives and an entrenched power network cloud the path to democratic change.
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.
Behind the Benchmarks: How EU Social Policy Fails Its Own Beneficiaries
EU social policy measures outputs efficiently — but the lived experience of its supposed beneficiaries tells a very different story.
Abandoning International Law Means Choosing the Road to Great Barbarism
The normalisation of war demands not the burial of international law, but its urgent reinvention — and Europe must lead the charge.
The Male Norm in Occupational Health Costs Women Their Wellbeing
Workplace health and safety policies built around a male default leave millions of women exposed to risks that better regulation could prevent.
Growth Without Resilience: Europe’s Hidden Social Fracture
A recent EU survey exposes the chasm between headline economic data and the financial reality confronting households across Europe.
The Vulnerability of Trump’s Personality Cult
Trump's personality cult follows a well-worn historical playbook — but his pathological narcissism ensures he cannot deploy it effectively.
Social Rights: The Idea Whose Time Has Come?
A remarkable consensus on social rights is emerging as Europe's answer to inequality, democratic backsliding and geopolitical upheaval.
Proportional Representation Is Breaking Dutch Democracy
As coalition formation grows ever more tortuous, the Netherlands must confront whether proportional representation itself is the problem.
Europe’s Duty-Free Access Bankrolls Myanmar’s Military Repression
Five years after the coup, foreign brands and the EU's trade preferences continue to generate hard currency for a military regime waging war on its own people.
Armed Conflict or Mutual Survival?
Militarism and ecological collapse are not separate emergencies — they are the same emergency, feeding each other in a spiral humanity cannot afford to ignore.
Washington’s Russia U-Turn Exposes the Real Logic of Sanctions
The easing of Russian oil restrictions amid the Iran crisis reveals sanctions as tools of power, not justice.
Jürgen Habermas Shaped the Postwar Order — His Death Must Not Mark Its End
The greatest democratic theorist of the postwar era leaves behind a world dismantling everything he defended.
Let’s Admit It. Americans Are Not Like Us
The Atlantic alliance is over. The best to hope for is an entente recognising Europe and the US still have shared interests.
Liberal Democracy Depends on Social Rights
Democratic backsliding and rising social insecurity have gone hand in hand.
Iran May Become the Next Failed State — and Europe Will Pay the Price
The US-Israeli assault on Iran was launched mid-negotiation, without UN backing, making it more dangerous to international law than Iraq.