George Schöpflin

György Schöpflin is a member of the European parliament for Fidesz (Hungarian Civic Union). He was previously Jean Monnet professor of politics at University College London. His website is here

How to understand Hungary

The portrayal of Hungary and its current government by the international media and external actors is one-sided and lacks context, says the academic and Fidesz member of the European parliament, György Schöpflin. The effects are felt within the country, and raise deeper questions about the Europea

By George Schöpflin

/ 6 Feb 2012

The dangerous politics of market radicalism

Most of the comment and analysis of the slow collapse of the financial industry in 2007-08 have been about economics, focusing how the crisis came about and what to do

By George Schöpflin

/ 16 Dec 2008

Democracy and referenda: a rejoinder to Gisela Stuart

I am grateful to Gisela Stuart for giving me the opportunity to clear up some misconceptions about my piece on referenda and democracy. The third edition of the openDemocracy Quarterly

By George Schöpflin

/ 23 Jun 2008

The referendum: populism vs democracy

The result of the Republic of Ireland's referendum on 12 June 2008, a rejection of the European Union's "reform treaty" agreed at the Lisbon

By George Schöpflin

/ 16 Jun 2008

The new Russia: a model state

The new Russia is changing in a number of unpredictable ways, but it is beginning to challenge the west in an area hitherto thought sacrosanct - respect for democracy. Even

By George Schöpflin

/ 27 Feb 2008

Turkey’s crisis and the European Union

Turkey's general election on 22 July 2007 has resulted in a decisive victory for the ruling Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (Justice & Development Party / AKP) of prime minister

By George Schöpflin

/ 23 Jul 2007

European Union: after the reform treaty

The "reform treaty" on which the European Union agreed in Brussels in the early hours of 23 June 2007 is both a compromise and an improvement on the

By George Schöpflin

/ 10 Jul 2007

Russias reinvented empire

There has been much discussion of whether the United States is a new kind of empire, "an empire lite", an empire without colonies or a "hyperpower"

By George Schöpflin

/ 2 May 2007

The European Union's troubled birthday

We need considerable distance to see the European Union as it really is, simply because it has become a standard part of the political landscape and - in the eyes

By George Schöpflin

/ 23 Mar 2007

Hungary's cold civil war

From the outside, Hungary looks like a fairly conventional democracy with a left wing (currently in power) and a right wing (in opposition), each having its turn at governing the

By George Schöpflin

/ 14 Nov 2006

Hungary: country without consequences

The crisis in Hungary over the recorded comments of the prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány to a party meeting and the explosion of protest they provoked is far from resolved. Moreover,

By George Schöpflin

/ 21 Sep 2006

Israel-Lebanon: a battle over modernity

What began as an Israeli reprisal against Hizbollah has become something else - a war on the Arab modernity that was beginning to emerge in Lebanon. This modernity is not

By George Schöpflin

/ 7 Aug 2006