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Fighting for equality rather than copying far-right populist positions on immigration

Far right populist parties have mobilised economically insecure voters by scapegoating immigration. Social Democrats should re-set the agenda by mobilising around equality, rather than copying far-right populist strategies. The far right is no longer confined to the political margins. Under the more palatable guise of ‘populism’, and a language that centres on national and popular […]

Christian Democracy’s crisis is bad for everyone – including the left

Europe’s leading Christian Democratic parties are currently facing a major crisis as they lack principled leadership and programmatic vision. A major risk is that they respond to this crisis by emulating authoritarian political projects. Christian Democratic parties have historically been among the most important political forces in western Europe. Parties such as the German CDU, […]

How Fidesz undermines Hungarian support for the EU

Despite high support for EU membership in Hungary, over a decade of Eurosceptic rhetoric by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party has had a lasting impact on voters’ attitudes. In the coming years, negative campaigns against the EU may become even more prevalent in Hungarian politics. Various aspects of the relationship between the Hungarian government […]

Europe’s socio-ecological transformation requires a very different industrial plan

Today’s reality can increasingly be described as a polycrisis: the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent disruption of global supply chains; the war in Ukraine and the resulting fossil fuel price crisis; rising inequalities between and within countries, exacerbated by inflation; and, of course, climate change. We need to transform our economy to make it resilient […]

The Estonian parliamentary elections: a boost for e-voting and elected women

The Estonian parliamentary elections on 5 March have broken voter participation records, but also records in the number of mandates achieved by the winning party and the number of women elected to parliament. Progressive parties have won convincingly. The Estonian parliamentary elections have been held on 5 March. In the week before the ballot, it […]

Estonia: an unprecedented win for the liberal Reform Party in times of war

The Estonian elections were won by fear of another extreme right coalition government, as it had happened in the past, especially in times of war. The only party able to take advantage of this fear was the ruling Reform Party of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who had proven to be a strong leader since Russia’s […]

Why we need a feminist foreign policy

Under a Social Democratic-led government Sweden was the first country to pursue a feminist foreign policy. Between 2014-2022 we systematically analysed what decisions would mean for women and girls, using the three Rs – rights, representation and resources. Although the Swedish right-wing government decided to abolish this policy, several countries with different political colours have […]

A feminist foreign policy? Redefining its meaning

Traditionally, foreign policy has belonged to the realm of high politics and has long been conducted in accordance with the doctrine of the raison d’état (reason of State) and in the arcana imperii (State secrets), where only men have been present. Foreign policy, more than other policies, has therefore been particularly masculinised. When, in 2014, […]

A feminist foreign policy in an era of global crisis: from policy to impact

With Sweden, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Mexico, Spain, Libya, Germany and Chile adopting various forms of feminist foreign policies over the past decade, and with the growing interest of other countries in adopting similar policies, it is imperative to assess the importance of feminist foreign policy and its potentially transformative impact on women’s rights and human […]