The European Union veered into another crisis on Monday, as the governments of Hungary and Poland announced they would veto the bloc’s next seven-year budget. This comes after the European Parliament and Council tried to introduce “rule of law” measures for punishing member states that breach democratic standards — measures that Budapest and Warsaw, the … Continue reading Poland and Hungary are exposing the EU’s flaws

This essay was originally published by Unherd on November 10th 2020 Throughout the autumn, the European Union has been engaged in a standoff with its two most antagonistic members, Hungary and Poland. At stake was whether the EU would finally take meaningful action against these pioneers of “illiberal democracy”, to use the infamous phrase of … Continue reading Europe’s deplorables have outwitted Brussels

This essay was originally published by Areo magazine on 4th November 2020. When it comes to intellectual history, Central Europe in the decade of the 1920s presents a paradox. It was an era when revolutionary thought – original and iconoclastic ideas and modes of thinking – was not in fact revolutionary, but almost the norm. … Continue reading The Philosophy of Rupture: How the 1920s Gave Rise to Intellectual Magicians

This article was originally published by Arc magazine on 30th October 2020.  Elections always seem to demand that candidates show a slightly different face to different sections of the public. Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is no exception. In his case, this dynamic has been most interesting in the realm of foreign policy, where we find … Continue reading Biden versus Beijing