democracy

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni\'s government has introduced the Decreto Scuola 2026. The law entered into effect on October 1, 2026, and the Italian Parliament must convert it into a permanent statute within 60 days. The law includes several measures affecting the education system and minorities across Italy.

Are women’s rights compatible with religion? How have women\'s rights evolved in the Islamic Republic? Has the recent conflict involving Israel, the United States, and Iran brought Iran any closer to freedom? And what is the endgame? Leszek Jazdzewski (Fundacja Liberte!) talks with Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and human rights activist.

What should be a proper European response to the hybrid attacks by Russia on European territory? How should we view the post-American Middle East and its relationship with Europe? What role is Italy playing today within the EU and what are (and what should be) the country’s ambitions? And what is the current EU policy on migration?

The central paradox of the Hungarian situation is that the very same direct, platform-based communication that helped Péter Magyar circumvent a politically captive media system also enables him, as Prime Minister, to bypass the critical press. The democratic risk arises when citizens come to regard the authorities’ own communications as sufficient for assessing a decision, and independent scrutiny, further questioning or the consideration of alternative interpretations are pushed into the background.

How is a waning liberal order shifting the ground beneath Europe\'s feet?What does Russia’s aggressive revisionism mean for the future of European security?How is Turkey leveraging cooptation to play global powers against each other?Can Europe successfully navigate an increasingly intense strategic and economic rivalry with China?

What is modern Türkiye\'s relationship with its republican, secularist origins of Kemal Atatürk\'s republic from 1923? How is the relationship between Türkiye, the United States, and the West evolving? How is Türkiye positioning itself in the region in the aftermath of the Arab Spring? And is Europe\'s stance toward Türkiye hypocritical?

What are the most common misconceptions about liberalism? Why has the history of liberalism as an inspirational ideal been lost? How did liberalism come to mean so many different and conflicting things? And what is the historical relationship between \'liberalism\' and \'democracy\'?

What makes a civilization thrive and why do civilizations collapse? Is human nature inherently good and it is actually institutions that are simply oppressive? What did Thomas Hobbes get wrong in his reasoning? And what are \'Goliaths\'? Leszek Jazdzewski (Fundacja Liberte!) talks with Luke Kemp, who researches the end of the world.

What structural strategies must the political center implement to effectively reclaim the future for liberal democracy? How can governance bodies connect abstract concepts to the everyday lived experiences of citizens? What distinct emotional promises allow the populist right wing to capture public dissatisfaction so effectively across Europe? And how does the algorithmic, endless design of modern news feeds erode public trust and dismantle our capacity for reasoned political debate?

It is safe to conclude that Fidesz’s dominance was not sustained through policy persuasion alone, but through a political environment in which potential alternatives were systematically delegitimized before they could gain sufficient traction.