Adam Ramsay An investigation by openDemocracy into the financing of the Brexit campaign in 2016 has raised far-reaching questions about connections between neoliberal elites, the tech industry and the private …
The New PRESENCE
A betrayal by the intellectuals
Hopes of a smooth transition from ‘goulash communism’ to market economies have long since been dashed by the ‘post-Soviet mafia-state’ in Hungary. But to what extent are liberal intellectuals themselves …
A crazy and tasteless idea
The Czech Republic’s leading theologian, dissident and philosopher speaks out on the debate as to whether to have the funeral of the recently deceased singer Karel Gott in the national …
FROM REUTERS: China’s Czech advance hampered by Huawei jitters, Tibetan flags
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Fizzled investments, cyber security warnings and a Prague mayor defying Beijing by forging his own diplomatic path are muddying inroads China has made into the Czech Republic …
Sources of uncertain hope
Czech Republic, Spain, Norway and Belgium after the EP elections After May’s elections, Prague saw the largest public demonstration since the Velvet Revolution. The country now hosts the strongest Pirate …
Not Without My Gun – The American Death Spiral
29 dead and 53 wounded. That’s the tally from last weekend’s mass shootings in the US. World leaders were quick to send condolences, usually in the form of “we are …
Putinism after Putin
Many Russians were happy to exchange the freedoms of the 1990s for a stream of oil money and a concept of ‘order’ guaranteed by a paternalistic leader. Putin’s popularity may …
Why liberal elites can be dangerous to democracy
Interviewed by Ludger Hagedorn, Czech political scientist Pavel Barša makes the case for a balance between the ideals of liberalism and collective sovereignty. Barša argues that individual freedom and civil …
Interference everywhere?
Disinformation in the EP election Although the Kremlin did try to interfere in European politics, focusing on Russia is misleading. Since some governments in the European Union are more interested …
The end of the liberal world as we know it?
Two Walls in 1989 While the rest of the world concentrated on the fall of the Berlin Wall, another wall in China brought about a different type of change. …
Who (today, 105 years ago) Killed the Habsburg Empire?
The article argues that the Habsburg empire declined and ultimately collapsed—with disastrous consequences for the global geopolitical system—not because of its critics, such as, Frantisek Palacky or Thomas Masaryk, or …
An ominous sign
UK, Estonia and Latvia after the EP election What next for Britain and the EU? Though the Brexit Party will now be one of the largest national parties in the …
Today’s Russia: State-controlled Lies, All Lies
The Russian Federation has been using different ways to influence the domestic affairs of European countries and manipulate Russian public opinion. Russian state channels are flagship tools for both of …
Unaccountable Europe
How (un)democratic is the EU? Democracy is being denied by the EU’s leaders. At fault are not ‘Brussels bureaucrats’ but the member states and their representatives. Lack of transparency makes …
Zelenskiy, the Washington swamp and the Party of Regions
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s links to the Party of Regions lead to a trail of breadcrumbs that ends in the American capital. Volodymyr Zelenskiy was inaugurated as Ukraine’s sixth president on …
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