Category: VOLUME III, No. 4

UPSETTING THE APPLECART

There is no question mark after the title of John O’Sullivan’s thoughtful and provocative essay “Sovereignty or Submission”, with which we lead this summer edition. With his revised version of the Preface to John Fonte’s new book Sovereignty or Surrender – again without a questionmark – we are pleased to

SOVEREIGNTY OR SUBMISSION

When Hungary achieved democracy by degrees in 1988–89, the country also regained its national independence. Comecon and the Warsaw Pact unraveled; governments were chosen by national free elections rather than by Soviet influence backed by tanks; government policies reflected national rather than bloc interests. Having regained national sovereignty – which is to

THE BIG COMEBACK: THE THIRD PRESIDENCY OF VLADIMIR PUTIN

It would be a mistake to believe that in May 2012, after two terms as president, Vladimir Putin was able to pick up where he left off four years ago – formally bowing to a constitutional provision. Both Putin and Russia itself have changed a great deal since 1 January

SERBIA AFTER THE MAY 2012 ELECTIONS

The outcome of the 6 May elections can be said to have brought about a partial political change in Serbia. Serbia has a new President – Tomislav Nikolić  –but will also most likely see a government in which the Democratic Party (still headed by outgoing Boris Tadić) will be replaced

THE NEED FOR AN UPWARD SPIRAL

Ferenc Hörcher in Conversation with Nick Thorpe The blog Mos Maiorum (http://mosmaiorum.blog.hu/) has emerged as a quiet, considered, critical supporter of the Fidesz government, edited from a centre-right perspective. It was founded by Professor of Political Philosophy Ferenc Hörcher (b. 1964) and staff, students and ex-students at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University

JOURNAL OF A JOURNEY THROUGH THE DANUBE

Drava National Park, June 2012 Batina, Baranja county, North-Eastern Croatia The Danube, it seems, has always been in the wars. The war monument on the hill here overlooking the river commemorates the death of 2,000 mostly Ukrainian soldiers and Yugoslav partisans, trying to cross the Danube in small boats under

REMEMBERING JÓZSEF ANTALL, A MAN FOR OUR TIME

Two notable anniversaries occurred in April, namely the twenty-second anniversary of the beginning of the work of the first democratic government since 1948, and the 80th anniversary of the birth of József Antall. The following story reveals much about the nature of József Antall. On 16 December 1991, the Prime Minister

THE ‘LAST TWENTY YEARS’ AS FAILURE?

Hungary’s Transition – Revised TRANSITION IS A COMPLEX PROCESS Society is a multilayered, flexible, and structured organism, closely connected with its global environment through bonds of interdependence. Defining the mechanisms of any society in simple yet meaningful terms is hence extremely difficult. Economic mechanisms on the other hand are assumed

SLOVENIA: THE ONLY SUCCESSFUL CASE OF ECONOMIC TRANSITION

It is often taken for granted that transitions from a centrally planned economy to a market economy in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have been successful. After all, privatization has been completed, often with higher ratios of non-collective ownership than in Western Europe. Economic output, which dropped radically in the nineties,

GOLD MEDAL GLORY DAYS

Hungary’s Football Team at the Olympics Between 1952 and 1972 “I really thought our name was on the winners’ medals.Everyone said we threw it all away in 1972,but I told them, it wasn’t a failure,you never know when we will go so far again.”(Rudolf Illovszky, Hungarian football coach) INTRODUCTION At