Political philosophy

Pandemic: Is China perhaps not the problem?

It took a pandemic and an American president with no respect for the rules and no understanding of the fragility of international relations for all hell to break loose, with China at the epicenter. One had to be historically ignorant or in complete denial to fail to see that China's growing strength economically as well as strategically would bring about geopolitical change.

Democracy will be tested, warns Francis Fukuyama

Here's how "The End of History and the Last Man," the 1992 best seller of political philosopher and Stanford University professor Francis Fukuyama, ends: "Perhaps this very prospect of centuries of boredom at the end of history will serve to get history started once again." Clearly, the engines of history restarted and have been working at warp speed in the past three decades.

ELAS records 95 violations of Covid restrictions

Continuing efforts to enforce restrictions that remain in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Hellenic Police (ELAS) on Tuesday recorded 23 violations in which citizens had not been wearing a mask in an enclosed public space, a police statement said on Wednesday.
Of those violations, 10 were in Attica, seven on islands in the northern Aegean and four in Western Greece.

Europe needs to be a superpower, not a superstate

As a European leader once remarked, Europe should be a superpower, not a superstate. Faced with an increasingly powerful and authoritarian China, global warming, the potentially existential challenge of AI, not to mention an aggressive Russia, chaotic Middle East and Trumpian United States, this argument is more compelling than ever. In a world of giants, you need to be a giant yourself.

Pandemic Boosts Support for Europe’s Autocrats

Live: Coronavirus Updates

Greek Govt Accused of Dodging Democratic Oversight

Czechs Fear Autocratic Contagion

Hungary 'No Longer a Democracy'

The reason, experts say, is that people prioritise security in times of terror — an instinct easily exploited by illiberal governments keen to tighten their grip on power.

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