Concrete Achievements

Tag: authoritarianism

  • Where is the anti-Authoritarian Stack?

    This dynamic website shows the different connections in what Francesca Bria calls the “Authoritarian Stack” – the connected network of ultra-rich, corporations and politicians that is driving the international

    I am less concerned about the existence of this than I am about the absence of something on the anti-authoritarian/democratic side of the debate.

    There are a few funders and ultra-rich individuals who are funding organisations, there are organisations like Philea who are trying to connect up the different European foundations, and of course there are also European and national government funds for research.

    However, the picture on our side of the divide seems far more disconnected, far more hesitant, and reluctant to put private egos and interests aside to defend the very foundations of our democratic system.

    It looks, in fact, a lot like the division of mainstream parties trying to face up to the populist right.

    The lessons of success against the populists in politics are to keep the focus on living standards and not on culture wars; to reinforce norms around anti-racism and split the pro-business right from the far right; and to ensure that the foundations of the rule of law and fair elections are preserved.

    To this might be added the work on epistemic security that my own organisation is starting to do with the support of one of those pro-democracy funders, looking at policy and at hyperlocal levels.

    But much of this is done on tiny budgets, without the ability to invest in research, in network building, and in design. Unless we can start to build collective and collaborative work on anti-authoritarianism, and create the network of people at local level that can make the difference in one-to-one interactions.

    It’s unlikely that we can compete toe-to-toe with authoritarian billionaires. But we can recruit real people and work in real communities to stand up to their influence.

  • I’m getting a bit weary of this sort of thing.

    I’m getting a bit weary of this sort of thing. Are there people in the FR, DE etc political systems who think this? Probably. Is that the official position of any of those countries? No. Are they objectively behaving in pro-Putin ways? No. twitter.com/anders_aslund/…

    A few misquotes out of context (as is pointed out in the replies) don’t mean France is pressuring Ukraine to surrender. Slow action from Germany is not great but not a sign that they want Russia to win (listen to scholz’s speech last night).

    And the country that is actually blocking things – Hungary – never gets a mention. It’s all the bad old Western Europeans. (Or, for Brexiteers, the evil EU undermining heroic British leadership).

    Maybe I’m wrong, maybe stuff is happening behind the scenes that we don’t know about. But I would expect that to be sourced better than a few viral misquotes, unsupported by countries’ actual actions.

  • The Brexiteer wager is that no matter how outrageously they screw up, a combination of…

    The Brexiteer wager is that no matter how outrageously they screw up, a combination of right wing press, TV both-sidesing and basic nationalism will mean British people will just blame the bad EU. So far, it’s working for them.

    The logic of this is that they should be as outrageous as possible, because then the both-sidesing will be dragged even more towards “breaking our own agreements is good, actually”. This is also working for them.

    So, for all the Brexit project has failed and will continue to fail in terms of making anyone’s lives better, it is unfortunately delivering for the nationalist right (prop. V. Putin).

  • C’est fini pour le PS alors.

    C’est fini pour le PS alors. Ces arguments sont exactement les mêmes que les Britanniques en Irlande du nord, Orban ou Kaczynski. Céder le respect des lois pour quelques conscriptions. Vraiment, c’est honteux. twitter.com/PierreLepel/st…

    « Désobéir la loi internationale dans un rayon spécifique et limité » – ces sont les mots du ministère Britannique en essayant d’éviter les conséquences du TCA en Irlande. Et que dirait un MAÉ socialiste en réponse? « Ah ouais c’est pas mal comme idée ça »?

    J’en ai marre avec les politicos français qui prétendent que l’Europe est un grand méchant ogre que la France ne peut jamais influencer. Qu’ils aillent voter pour Le Pen et son Frexit!

  • If Hungary result stays as it is, chances of meaningful reform of EU are strongly down.

    If Hungary result stays as it is, chances of meaningful reform of EU are strongly down. Several more years of Orban and PiS blocking action against each other will use up the Scholz-Macron window of opportunity. After it, Macron can’t run again.

    Might even lead to revival of the small-core Rutte model, either within or outside the current Treaty framework, particularly if HU continues down path of being the Russian asset in Council.

    All in all, it’s extremely depressing. I would say “ah well, that’s democracy”, but given what Fidesz have done to electoral system and media, it’s not that.

  • Links from the week of 28 February 2022

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Links from the week of 21 February 2022

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • I think this is a good doorstep line but a dangerous direction.

    I think this is a good doorstep line but a dangerous direction. First, Hungary is not the Hungarian government. Millions of Hungarians are neutral or hostile to Orban, and creating a situation in which “the liberals” are threatening them with loss of their EU rights twitter.com/vonderburchard…

    and finances will not help anyone. Second, don’t threaten what you can’t do. No-one can force Hungary out of the EU, and they won’t leave voluntarily, so this just looks futile. Third, liberal values are also contended within the Benelux (hello FvD, VB etc) and other liberal

    countries. It is better to fight for them across Europe rather than othering one or two “backward” countries for their most extreme positions and telling them they have to conform or leave the club. Fourth, human rights are personal rights, not the rights of states.

    The battle for them can only be won if we base the argument on the solidarity of *people* across Europe. So, in summary, this is an Orban problem, and a problem of right wing nationalism, not a Hungarian problem or an Eastern problem.

  • Also: people expect more of the EU that it can do; don’t remember that Hungary *still*…

    Also: people expect more of the EU that it can do; don’t remember that Hungary *still* has a veto on all foreign policy action; don’t like that you have to start by expressing concern before you can do anything else. twitter.com/melissakchan/s…

    It’s entirely possible that EU will be too weak on Belarus. But it doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing look the same at this point – expressing serious concern, demanding explanations etc.

    It’s also entirely possible that antidemocratic governments like Hungary’s will veto a strong position it’s further evidence of Orban’s unfitness for office, and the burning need to abolish foreign policy vetoes.

  • Today’s #euco discussions on the #eubudget and #NextGenerationEU fund show that Europe…

    Today’s #euco discussions on the #eubudget and #NextGenerationEU fund show that Europe needs a Madisonian moment to go with its (not-quite) Hamiltonian one.

    Case number 1: @MinPres Mark Rutte saying that the Dutch government wants guarantees about the effectiveness of reforms in “southern” countries.

    Case number 2: Victor Orban’s parliament insisting that there should be no conditionality on rule of law, and that the Article 7 procedure against Hungary should be dropped in return for a budget deal.

    There are obviously lots of competing demands in the #eubudget process – but these are the two that clarify the problem. In both cases a member state is trying to push its own view of the world on others, with the budget process as a tool.

    Why does this matter? Because the #NextGenerationEU COVID recovery fund means the EU will be borrowing as a Union, and the proposals on how the money gets paid back may mean more EU-level taxes. That’s what’s been called the “Hamiltonian moment” for EU finances.

    (It isn’t quite, because Hamilton took on the existing debts of the states, this is just creating new common debt, but you can see how one might gradually lead to another).

    However, Rutte and Orban show that common financing won’t work if the politics of EU finance stay stuck in “what I pay and what I get” mode. Rutte is quite right that the Dutch public deserve democratic oversight of the money they are spending

    but quite wrong that this oversight should pass through him. It should go through the Parliament and the executive at EU level – particularly if they are also raising the money to pay for it.

    This isn’t just a EU issue, it’s about accountability and efficiency. If the EU institutions have power to raise funds, but national governments get the blame, it’s an invitation to wasteful spending on boondoggles and pet projects.

    Similarly, if Orban or other autocratic governments can hold budgetary processes hostage for their antidemocratic crusades, illiberal cronyism will run rampant.

    “Treaty Change” is the longest four letter word in Brussels, but it’s time for a serious conversation about how democracy and accountability need to go alongside new debt raising and tax raising powers. (end)