Category Archives: Europe

Italy at the Polls between Violence and Silence

By Laura Serra  Interesting political times are anything but over. The upcoming Italian general elections seem bound to shake again both national politics, and the politics of Europe at large. As in several other countries, and especially due to the impact of the refugee crisis on its shores, the populist wind blowing throughout Europe hasContinue reading “Italy at the Polls between Violence and Silence”

European Withdrawal Bill: What Role Should Parliament Play in Brexit?

By Thomas Sherlock Currently passing through the Committee Stage is the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, which is proving, somewhat unsurprisingly, controversial. Alongside the actual contents of what will be one of the most important components of Brexit, the Bill has provoked a wider debate on what exactly Parliament’s role should be in Brexit. Should ParliamentContinue reading “European Withdrawal Bill: What Role Should Parliament Play in Brexit?”

The New Right: Fictitious Yesterdays and Fabricated Tomorrows

By Ovais Malik In contemporary political discourse, doctrine and reality tend to be radically divorced from each other. We often hear from the New Right about the alleged glories of private enterprise; the wonders of the “free market”; and the incompetence of government intervention. When it comes to reality, however, sinister hypocrisies pervade this rhetoric.

Catalonia – Why both sides are wrong.

By Malick Nythern Doucoure With waves still settling from the recent Tsunami that was the Catalan independence referendum and its aftermath, a show of unity and respect for democratic process and tradition is necessary from both sides. Catalonia is not Spain – it never has been! The region has a distinct language, culture and someContinue reading “Catalonia – Why both sides are wrong.”

Comparing ‘populist’ revolutions: Ukraine and Egypt

By Vladimir Ivlev “The ultimate difference between a truly radical emancipatory politics and populist politics is that the former is active, it imposes and enforces its vision, while populism is fundamentally re-active, the result of a reaction to a disturbing intruder.” – Slavoj Žižek, “First As Tragedy, Then As Farce” (2008) With the collapse ofContinue reading “Comparing ‘populist’ revolutions: Ukraine and Egypt”

The Fall of an Empire

By Daniel Atherton Comparing the demise of the European Union to the collapse of the Roman Empire. “A rising power on the peripheries in the North East, an overreliance on imported labour, a faltering economy, the rise of an inhumane enemy from the Levant, overexpansion, political instability, corruption within constituent members, the loss/lack of a uniting identity,Continue reading “The Fall of an Empire”

2017 Dutch Election: ‘politics for everyone’?

By Yury Polyakov The Western World followed the capitalisation and democratisation processes that created the common ground for a normative basis of the regional European interest. Despite the active role played by the anarchists and the left, European countries sustained democracy and parliamentarism as shared ideals, whereas communism secured its strategic location in the Soviet Union andContinue reading “2017 Dutch Election: ‘politics for everyone’?”