Did you mean: reform
Showing 1-8 of 8 results
-
A Brexit lesson from the cradle of democracy
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 16/01/2019
» The Macedonian parliament's vote to rename the country and thus remove the biggest obstacle to its integration into Western institutions is evidence that intractable political issues are best resolved through the traditional backroom dealings of representative democracy rather than through the direct expression of popular will.
-
How to stick it to Europe: scrap Brexit
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 06/12/2018
» The top European court now is highly likely to rule that the UK can cancel Brexit unilaterally. For all the domestic political hurdles such a move would face, it's intriguing to ponder how Europe would take it if the UK did cancel Brexit, and what the consequences would be for the European Union.
-
Until it gets hacked, e-government sounds just great
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 23/11/2017
» A group of Czech security researchers earlier this year discovered a way to steal identities from electronic ID cards used in a number of countries, known in the cryptography industry as a ROCA vulnerability. So far, the vulnerability has caused problems in Estonia -- the country with perhaps the most comprehensive e-identification and e-government system in the world -- and in Spain. Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, a tireless promoter of his country's e-democracy, has said that other countries and institutions have the same problem, too; they're just not talking openly about it. He's very likely right.
-
No, separatism isn't the continent's next major crisis
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 03/11/2017
» Those who are always on the lookout for the next European crisis -- Brexiters not least among them -- have latched on to Catalonia's symbolic "secession" as another sign that Europe isn't working well. The Catalan events, however, merely confirm that today, Western European countries are secession-proof -- too fat to fail. Belgium, the country where ousted Catalan First Minister Carles Puigdemont is hiding out from prosecution (or, to Catalan secessionists, leading a government in exile) is another example.
-
Brexit reversal? The EU should simply say 'no way'
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 03/08/2017
» Though most UK politicians would have us believe that "Brexit is Brexit", European leaders have recently spoken of a reversal of the UK's decision to leave the European Union as a real possibility. That should be alarming to anyone who cares about continuing the EU's resurgence since the 2016 vote.
-
Some democracies resist populism
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 03/04/2017
» Recent and upcoming political upheavals in a number of countries provide some evidence that the institutional design of democracies can be critically important. A clear advantage is emerging for countries that don't directly elect a president: They are more likely to resist the wave of populism sweeping the West.
-
Crimean conflict simmers on with Jamala's victory
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 18/05/2016
» Ukraine may not be able to win its wars against Russian-backed rebels and against domestic corruption, but it has just beaten Russia in spectacular fashion at the Eurovision Song Contest. The political message has been amplified by the pundits, but the Russians and Ukrainian voters themselves seemed unwilling to be dragged into the propaganda war.
-
If you expect it, it's not a 'Black Swan'
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 11/05/2016
» It's the bread and butter of pundits to speculate what the world might look like after a relatively improbable but potentially disruptive event, like the UK's exit from the European Union or a Donald Trump victory in the US presidential election. The perceived probability of these "black swan" events is pretty high, after all, and contingency plans may be in order. It's useful, however, to remember how the author of The Black Swan, Nassim Taleb, framed it in his 2007 book:
Your recent history
-
Recently searched
-
Recently viewed links
Did you find what you were looking for? Have you got some comments for us?
