Illiberal Europe

In our time, the political scene and the moral and cultural climate of the post-communist world are changing dramatically. These changes will have long-term global political and economic consequences. Leon Marc's deep and well-researched analysis of these countries' ancient and recent history offers a reliable key to understanding these processes -- Tomas Halik, Professor of Sociology at Charles University, Prague, and winner of the Templeton Prize Marc's analysis is particularly valuable on the growing mutual incomprehension of 'West' and 'East' over what constitute European values. For the most radical voices in Western - or perhaps Northern - Europe, to be a European is chiefly a matter of defending and enhancing certain 'liberties', notably but not exclusively in the spheres of sexuality, gender, and control over reproduction. The roots of these now dominant ideas, he suggests, are not to be found in the humanist heritage, let alone the Greek, Roman, Judaic or Christian traditions. Rather they derive from a form of hyper-individualism, which can be largely indifferent to other important, more social, imperatives, for example the welfare of the poorest classes in society or the need for national cohesion. As a result of this hypertrophy of individualist liberalism and the sidelining of social and spiritual values, the 'illiberal democrats' of Central Europe, the likes of Orban and Kaczy?ski, have been able to present to their electorates a simplistic picture of a decadent West which poses a threat to national values while at the same time working to entrench their own and their parties' dominance in the long term * Enda O'Doherty, Dublin Review of Books * There is a rich tradition of diplomats being great historians and writers as well: people who combine their rich experience of political reality with a profound historical and philosophical knowledge. Among the many famous names: Machiavelli, Chateaubriand, Talleyrand, Metternich, Thomas Jefferson, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, Isaiah Berlin, Henry Kissinger... With his book Illberal Europe Leon Marc makes himself part of this tradition. His book is a profound reflection of the contemporary history of Eastern Europe and the urgent lessons of that history to be learned for the whole of Europe * Rob Riemen, Nexus Instituut * This is a very timely book, adding an additional, well-informed and persuasively argued integral perspective on the contemporary tragedy of the Central Europe * Prof Matej Avbelj, Nova University Ljubljana, author of 'The Impact of European Institutions on the Rule of Law and Democracy in Slovenia and Beyond' *