Category: Current

“In December 2019, a series of pneumonic cases of unknown cause emerged in Wuhan, a large city of 11 million in central China, with a clinical presentation resembling viral pneumonia. The number of cases increased rapidly. The overwhelming majority of the hospitalised patients had been exposed to the Huanan seafood

“The outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe has brought numerous political lessons. The first and most important of these is clearly that the European Union’s institutions were visibly at a loss as how to handle this unprecedented challenge. The situation bears many similarities to the migration crisis of 2015. The EU

“The complex relationships between law and politics have undergone quite remarkable changes over the past few decades. Commentators and researchers have been particularly alerted to the twin phenomena of the politicisation of law and the legalisation of politics. During periods of constitutional legislative effort, the correlation between law and politics

“This is a strange world we live in. For the overwhelming majority, the coronavirus and the future of the economy constitute the central problems of the day. There will always be exceptions, though this exception does not prove any rule whatsoever. If anything, this exception erodes the rules of logic

“Political correctness and identity politics are the two sides of the same postmodern coin. They both reject the idea that there is any truth claim that can command greater allegiance than the feelings or opinions of any individual or group, especially those that are deemed to be oppressed or disadvantaged.

“Roger Scruton’s figure is dear to me personally because he had a good nature of a quiet, light-hearted, amazingly knowledgeable and well-informed man, friend and master. I met him in 1988, in Oxford, the place that is a hallmark of intellectual quality, but he had pragmatic political projects up in

“The crisis is so severe that CDU Chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced her resignation on 10 February (effective later this year). Also, she will not be the party’s candidate for Chancellor in the next elections. She had been handpicked and groomed by Chancellor Angela Merkel to become her successor. Who will

“Late last year the Hungarian Minister of Justice, Judit Varga, wrote an opinion column questioning the burgeoning empire of the Rule of Law and the use of that empire by the European Commission and Parliament to keep some of the member states in line. Ms Varga even argued that the

“What does a smallish Central European country have to teach the rest of the world about inclusive growth, fighting income inequality, and social cohesion, all while steering clear of protectionism and maintaining an open economy – in short, ‘squaring the circle’ of globalisation? In the case of Hungary quite a

“Without the UK, the EU becomes a continental affair in which Germany’s relative weight will again increase. All eyes are on Berlin: how will Germany position itself? Historically, close cooperation between Germany and France has been the EU’s centre of gravity. But that may change. Particularly, the Visegrad countries of