Sheri Berman warns that while the threats may seem incremental they pose a real danger—which Europeans should note.
Most popular
It’s time to rewrite the macroeconomic rulebook for the euro area
Peter Bofinger contends that the economic impact of the pandemic has rendered obsolete the old eurozone fiscal rules.
Double standards on Palestine will come back to haunt the EU
The EU needs to engage in a paradigm shift on the Israel-Palestine conflict if it is not to be left behind by events.
The marginalisation of Africa
Branko Milanovic argues African countries are not powerless to influence the global economic debates that marginalise them.
The debt hawks are flapping their wings
Post-pandemic Europe, Adam Tooze writes, can’t entertain a return to pre-crisis fiscal rules.
Work harder: the Porto Social Summit’s call to Europe’s welfare states
Welfare states are having to run harder to stand still. They need to act in mutual support to win the race against inequality and poverty.
Politics
The G7’s role in the world
Jayati Ghosh unpicks the G7 summit in England and finds an anachronistic coalition failing to meet global responsibilities.
As Polish women flock towards volunteer defence, the left remains inept
Weronika Grzebalska begins a new Social Europe column by exploring how the liberal left in Poland has abdicated to the populists the resonant theme of women and defence.
EU migration and asylum pact abandons compassion and human rights
Faced with escalating deaths in the Mediterranean, official Europe needs to relocate its moral conscience.
What is NATO for?
Since the end of the cold war, NATO has struggled to find a role. It can find it in a focus on human security.
Defending democratic values
The cement for a new transatlantic relationship should be a common commitment to democracy in a world of rising authoritarian challenges.
Economy
Trading on hope: why projections of the EU-Mercosur agreement are unreliable
The EU-Mercosur agreement, on which negotiations ended a year ago, awaits signing and ratification. They should be in no rush.
Are social clauses really just hidden protectionism?
Social clauses in trade deals are sometimes represented as a premise for denial of market access to developing countries. The evidence suggests otherwise.
Inflation in the strongest recovery since 1945
Governments should ignore siren warnings that only hyperinflation can come from pandemic-induced investments.
Robots, jobs and the future of work
Apocalyptic visions of robots stealing workers’ jobs are not only misguided but have diverted attention from more significant trends.
From California capitalism to Bidenomics
The Biden administration’s ambitious spending and investment programmes have already proven highly successful in the country’s most dynamic state.
Society
Child Guarantee—for most, but not all
The adoption of the European Child Guarantee is a big step forward. It will take another, however, to end institutional care.
A Europe free of elder abuse
The European Commission’s Green Paper on Ageing has a blindspot—elder abuse.
‘Danger money’ bungs will not quell labour unrest in health and social care
The concerns of health and care workers go well beyond the pandemic and pay, touching on their human dignity.
Workplace, public space: workers organising in the age of facial recognition
‘Surveillance capitalism’ is increasingly threatening workers’ collective action and the human right to public protest.
Ecology
Pollution: no acceptable levels
‘Zero pollution’ is a very good goal for the European Union to adopt—but only if zero means zero.
A first tango in Glasgow?
A new transatlantic relationship is critical to any hope of global realisation of the goals of the Paris agreement.
People v Shell: from ‘corporate social responsibility’ to legal accountability
The successful action by citizens and NGOs in a Dutch court against Shell has sent a frisson through corporate boardrooms—with reason.
The climate X factor
The climate and biodiversity crises we face demand not only carbon-neutral energy sources but also a circular economy.
