trust

There are mornings when you wake up to a war zone before you have even had your coffee. Not a front line in the physical sense, but on the screen in the palm of your hand: war, climate catastrophe, another scandal, another \"ultimate truth\" about who the enemy is, who to hate today. The news feed tells us that the world is burning, and at the same time, we should not even think about what to do about it.

In this episode, we talk about EU foreign policy, the European response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, why the EU Council should turn to majority voting on foreign policy, and how to adapt EU institutions to the tasks ahead in light of the prospective enlargement.

There are undoubtedly many factors that determine how individual governments dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one of the main aspects that has determined the success of mitigating the health impacts of the pandemic is the level of public trust in government institutions, as noted in numerous scientific publications.

‘To serve or to rule?’ – this is a dilemma we face as we reflect on the fundamental principles of “the scope of powers [of the state] shall be limited by the Constitution” and “state institutions shall serve the people” on the occasion of the Constitution Day.

I wanted to expand on the idea that relatively novel platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, are changing the way we see things. Everyone with a camera phone can make videos without any regards to aesthetic rules about composition, lighting, narrative structure and so forth. Those videos that are much more composed are regarded as too artificial, and are trying too hard, whereas realism gained in importance.

While Western democracy is showing increasing signs of uncertainty, people look, with quiet admiration, to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The power in those countries is in hand, stable and effective at affecting people\'s behavior and actions.

What sets liberals apart from representatives of other ideological options is a strong trust in the capabilities of an individual and the key role of protecting the rights of an individual. Building a liberal community is currently of utmost importance, both in Poland and Europe in general.