Democracy Impacts

Volkswagen to Fund Exploration of “Roots of Populism”

December 23, 2019

With rising populism often portrayed as one of the most pressing challenges for the future of national and EU democracies, Volkswagen Foundation is funding research at five European universities that will "explore the roots of populism by examining political, economic and sociological factors."
EU Countries Failing to Meet Military Spending Targets

December 16, 2019

According to a new report from the European Defence Agency, EU countries are failing to meet their own targets for coordinated military spending on everything from procurement to research.
Muzergues: Four Social Classes Redefining Europe’s Political Fault Lines

December 12, 2019

In an Emerging Europe article, Thibault Muzergues, author of The Great Class Shift, describes the four “dominant” social classes that are now redefining Europe's political fault lines: Urban and Liberal Creatives, Suburban Middle Class, White Working Class and the Millennials, each of which can be identified with specific political movements.
Berman: NATO Needs to Address Shortcomings

December 12, 2019

In an op-ed in The Hill, Ilan Berman, Senior Vice-President of the American Foreign Policy Council, opines that NATO "is suffering from deep systemic dysfunctions," which may be exacerbated by the fact that the communique produced by the recent NATO London summit "spent precious little time discussing the real systemic problems now facing the world’s most important military bloc."
COE Secretary General Links "Populism and Radicalisation" as a Global Challenge to be Addressed by North-South Centre Membership

December 12, 2019

In a recent speech, Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić called on states from Europe and its neighboring regions to join the Council of Europe’s Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (the "North-South Centre") to better tackle global challenges such as populism and radicalization, climate change, conflict and instability and resulting migrant flows.
Italy to Make Climate Change Study Compulsory in Schools

November 06, 2019

According to Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti, next year, Italy will become the world's first country to make it compulsory for schoolchildren to study climate change and sustainable development, with traditional subjects, such as geography, mathematics, and physics, to also be studied from the perspective of sustainable development.
University of Sheffield Mandates Climate Change Curriculum

September 26, 2019

Under a new initiative at the UK's University of Sheffield, every student will be forced to attend compulsory lectures on climate change, with classes on sustainable development being placed in the curriculum of every degree.
ECJ Rejects EU Request to Expand "Right to be Forgotten" Protections

September 24, 2019

In a major victory for Google, the Court of Justice for the European Union has ruled that "right to be forgotten" online does not extend beyond the borders of the European Union, meaning that Internet search engines face no obligation to honor requests from outside the 28-country zone to delete embarrassing or outdated information.
Reno: "Transnational Utopianism" Threatens Transatlantic Alliance

September 11, 2019

R. R. Reno, editor of First Things, explains how "transnational utopianism encourages the illusion that a global system is emerging that will make national sovereignty obsolete," as it "detaches elites from the life of their nations" and seeks to produce "citizens of the world rather than national leaders."
Macron Promotes “European Renaissance” Agenda in Central and Eastern Europe

August 21, 2019

Politico.eu reports that French President Emmanuel Macron is promoting his European Renaissance agenda among liberal leaders in Central and Eastern Europe, which “consists of greater EU integration, a beef-up common defense and security policy and stronger EU presence on the international stage” and embraces “young, educated, urban, socially liberal EU enthusiasts.”