Uncertain Times: The Future of Trans-Atlantic Relations from the Perspective of NGOs and Think Tanks in Central Europe and Hungary

Uncertain Times: The Future of Trans-Atlantic Relations from the Perspective of NGOs and Think Tanks in Central Europe and Hungary

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The publication by HES entitled "Uncertain Times: The Future of Trans-Atlantic Relations from the Perspective of NGOs and Think Tanks in Central Europe and Hungary" has been issued in December 2021. 

Responsible for the publication: István Hegedűs, Chairman
Editors: István Hegedűs, Erik Uszkiewicz
Graphics: Réka Elekes
Manuscript completed on 15 November 2021

All rights reserved. ©Authors. ©Editors.

Published by
Magyarországi Európa Társaság - Hungarian Europe Society H-1052 Budapest, Gerlóczy utca 11.

The "Uncertain Times: The Future of Trans-Atlantic Relations from the Perspective of NGOs and Think Tanks in Central Europe and Hungary" project was supported by the Embassy of the United States of America in Budapest
and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.

 

CONTENT

ISTVÁN HEGEDŰS – INTRODUCTION - 6

THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER - 11

VERONICA ANGHEL – THE FUTURE OF THE TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS: A REBOOT OF DEMOCRACY PROMOTION? - 12
Introduction: - 13
Acting in Concert: Why? - 14
Common standards and regulation: what to do? - 17
Climate change and Tech Regulation - 18
Policy goals: How to do it? - 19
Conclusion - 21

ROLAND FREUDENSTEIN – TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS, VALUES AND GREAT POWER POLITICS IN CENTRAL EUROPE - 23
1. What politics? What power? From the End of History to permanent crisis mode - 24
2. The new battleground for Russia and China - 25
3. Small power - 27
4. Power, values and a strategy - 29
5. The Transatlantic Component - 30

THIBAULT MUZERGUES – THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER, AND EUROPE’S PLACE IN IT - 32
The “Rise of the Rest” - 33
Towards a US-China rivalry - 35
Imperfect polarity - 37
Europe’s challenge: learning to live in a dangerous world - 39

HAJNALKA VINCZE – TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS: THE BIDEN OPPORTUNITY AND ITS LIMITS - 43
A frozen (més)alliance - 44
The Biden moment: hit or miss - 45
The ‘a’-word curse - 48
Conclusion: the virtues of clarification - 49
Quo vadis Central Europe? - 51

CHARLES A. KUPCHAN – TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS: GRASPING THE BIDEN OPPORTUNITY - 53
Update - 56

JULIE SMITH – GLOBAL BRITAIN, GLOBAL EUROPE - 60
Global aspirations in context - 61
Brexit - 62
No seat at the table, no side conversations either - 65
Looking Beyond Europe - 67

JACEK KUCHARCZYK – THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL EUROPE INSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION AND GLOBALLY - 69

CHARLES GATI – WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE VISEGRAD4? - 73

THE FUTURE OF POLITICS AND HUMAN RIGHTS - 76

JAN-WERNER MÜLLER – REPAIRING DEMOCRACY’S CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE - 77
Core Functions I: Staging the Political Battle - 78
Core Function II: External and Internal Pluralism - 82
Three criteria for judging the Critical Infrastructure of Democracy: Access, Autonomy, Assessability - 88

ÁKOS RÓNA-TAS – GLOBALIZATION, DEMOCRACY AND THE NATION STATES - 91
Introduction - 91
The Nation state and the problem of scale - 92
The Cold War - 92
The devolution of state power - 93
The three-way squeeze - 93
The paradox of democracy - 94
Populism as a regressive solution - 94
EU as a progressive solution - 95
How to recast the nation state - 96
Nation state as a source of security - 96
Nation state as a source of identity - 98
The problem of politics - 99
The problem of time - 100
Conclusion - 100

DÁNIEL HEGEDŰS – WHY DO AUTHORITARIAN PLAYERS LEARN FASTER? - 102
Policy learning among democrats and authoritarians - 103
Best Practices of Combating Autocratization in CEE - 105

PETRA BÁRD – THE RULE OF LAW, DEMOCRACY AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS – STATE OF THE ART - 108
Ruling by cheating - 109
The semblance of the rule of law - 110
The semblance of human rights protection - 111
Rule of law decline in a Member State is an EU matter - 113
EU tools to enforce Article 2 TEU values in the Member States - 114
Article 7(2)-(3) TEU - 114
Infringement - 115
Conditionality - 116
Conclusions - 117

ZSOLT BODA – POLARIZATION AND THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE POLITY. REFLECTIONS ON POPULISM AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES - 120
Pluralism and liberal democracy - 121
What is the relationship between populism and liberal democracy? - 121
Polarization and the erosion of democratic norms - 123
On the Roots of Populism: Inequality - 125
Conclusion - 127

EDIT ZGUT – MULTIPLE RISKS POPULISM POSES TO DEMOCRACY IN CEE - 129
Zero sum game - 129
“Illiberal” impatience in populist context - 130
Cultural wars in CEE - 132
Blaming the “imperial West” - a regional drive of populism - 134
Crisis factor - accelerating polarization and democratic erosion - 135
Conclusion - 138

ROGER CASALE – THE FUTURE OF CIVIC PARTICIPATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF THE TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS AND BREXIT - 140
America is back but democracy is fragile - 140
Historic ties - 141
Old and new - 141
Community of values - 142
Europe 1, 2 and 3 - 142
Brexit and Trump - 144
Civic space - 146
Where next for the transatlantic relationship? - 147
Conference on the Future of Europe - 148

THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND DIGITAL COHESION - 151

DANIEL C. HALLIN – THE FUTURE OF MEDIA FREEDOM - 152
Threats to Media Freedom and their Diverse Contexts - 153
Crisis of Democracy - 155
The Crisis of Truth - 156

KÁLMÁN DEZSÉRI – THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITALISATION AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS - 162
1. Economy - 163
Production - 163
Employment, wages - 165
Digital services - 166
2. Global competition for digital technological leadership - 167
3. Digital media and access to content - 170
4. Social inclusion and exclusion the treat of an increasing gap - 173
5. Education and digital skills, ethics and trust - 175

šÁRKA PRÁT – THE UNCERTAIN TIMES OF DIGITALIZATION - 178
Challenges or Opportunities for Employment? - 179
Digitalization in Education - 181
Digitalization in Freedom of Expression - 181

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