Europe has been built on the liberal values of democracy, rule of law, liberty, tolerance, and free markets. Yet it seems Europeans are forgetting what these values mean. “Know thyself” is a famous ancient Greek maxim, which Europeans do not seem to take to heart. A series of aggressive actions from Russia over the past decade were not enough for the EU to properly distance itself from Russian energy, until it invaded Ukraine.
Liberalism is a political philosophy based on the principles of peace. However, this fact has been very often generously interpreted by detaching liberalism from events beyond the borders of liberal states, no matter how anti-liberal, and thus threatening to freedom they might be.
Liberals are notoriously skeptical about the state’s ability to generate innovation. A new study on the potential of national innovation agencies puts these concerns into perspective – and makes the case for limited state activity. Liberalism’s success is not simply based on its philosophical persuasiveness but on its economic power. By inextricably interlinking political with economic freedom, liberalism paves the ground for a dynamic market economy that generates wealth and innovation.
Hungarians are eager to eradicate mosquitoes, but it seems that the government is reluctant to collaborate with its citizens in doing so. Mosquitoes are a big problem everywhere. Not only do they annoy people with their hums and the itchiness of their bites, but also spread a lot of diseases. Therefore, when I visited rural Hungary, I inadvertently served as an open buffet for a cloud of these pests while conversing with someone from a small Hungarian village.
In early August 2022, Viktor Orbán flew to the United States to attend C-PAC. The main star of the event was Donald Trump, the former president, but Orbán was easily amongst the main attractions. Trump is not the only admirer of Orbán in America: his potentially greatest challenger for 2024, Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida is also a devotee.
In this episode we talk about contemporary liberalism and discuss what can each and every one of us do to promote it and make it stronger in the current geopolitical situation.
Libertarians have never been a mass movement, and therefore have often had to work with their own competitors, both conservatives and liberals, to advance their ideas.
The war in Ukraine disrupted the illusory peace in Europe. Illusory, because Russia has always been a looming threat to the integrity of the continent, albeit in a less tangible way than a full-on war.
The Netherlands is rightly famous for its signature liberal attitude. As often mentioned, the country was one of the first which legalized active euthanasia and marijuana. On top of that, the use of soft drugs is not against the law.
In this episode, Leszek Jażdżewski welcomes Alicja Bachulska, a MapInfluenCE China analyst in Poland and a member of China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe (CHOICE). They talk about the impact of the Russian aggression in Ukraine in a more global context – with the focus on China.
