Politics

The political processes of the past decades in Hungary have raised several questions about the role of populism, enemy formation, and political identity construction. Fidesz\'s political strategy under Viktor Orbán is a prominent example of how populism, used as a power tool, can change democratic norms while stabilizing political power.

Donald Trump, the illegitimate President of the United States of America, declared that all imports from Canada, Mexico, and China will be subject to a 25% tariff, from February 4, 2025, onwards. There is no plausible reading of the trade among Mexico, the United States, and Canada that would even begin to justify these measures. Indeed, Trump’s previous administration renegotiated the free trade agreement among these countries.

Trump has shocked Europe with his bold and unrelenting desire to seize Greenland as a US territory. Still, it should come as an even greater shock how little Europe had paid attention to this crucial landmass in the stage of newly emerging global conflicts. The Arctic has not weighed heavily in international relationships. However, with the ice melting, new trade routes are opening, and rich resources are becoming more easily accessible.

The gap between real life and the world of film is narrowing. The James Bond franchise guided viewers through the Cold War with its over-the-top villains, and through the relatively peaceful time thereafter with more lukewarm enemies. Now, when a new soft reboot is in order, it is time to bring back tried and tested baddies: the Russians.

The Visegrad Cooperation within the European Union is a regional organization of four Central European member states: the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. The cooperation aims to jointly represent the economic, diplomatic, and political interests of these countries and coordinate their possible actions. All four member states joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. 

Russian attempts at interference can be observed all over the world. They are part of the Kremlin\'s foreign policy to gain more influence worldwide and to make as many countries Russian-friendly as possible. The ultimate goal of this foreign policy is probably to upset the unipolar US-dominated world order. We are now at the point where Russian President Vladimir Putin declared at the 2024 Valdai Forum that the old world order is over.

Georgia held a voting for the parliament on October 26, which was an interesting event by any means. Here are some facts and analysis. The Georgian Dream party (Ivanishvili) claimed a 54% victory in the voting, getting 89 mandates out of 150 (that is not enough for constitutional changes.). The four major pro-western opposition coalitions also claimed they won the elections in total, though the official count was 40+% of their total votes.

The Economic Freedom Foundation has supported the Freedom Games for several years. At this year\'s edition, at the EFF stand, participants were able to share their reflections on capitalism. We contrasted them with the content of Capitalist Manifesto by Johan Norberg. Among those who took part in our survey, positive associations predominated: capitalism means poverty reduction, efficient accumulation of resources, and freedom.

December marks the first anniversary of Javier Milei\'s swearing-in as president of Argentina. This is the perfect time to summarize his most important achievements to date. When he began his term, He was an eccentric. During the election campaign, he promised the abolition of the central bank, the unilateral adoption in Argentina of the U.S. dollar as a circulating currency, and drastic cuts in spending and bureaucracy.

Who will be the next president of Poland, one of the largest European nations? The presidential election in Poland has not yet been scheduled but is expected to take place in May 2025. However, it is already making headlines across the country. The Polish president, who serves a 5-year term, has a largely representative role but is also responsible for signing and vetoing legislation and exercising legislative initiative.