Spanish Social Democrat Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is on his way to becoming a 'role model' in world politics.
It would not be an exaggeration to call him the 'New Olof Palme'. He has never taken the wrong position on any global issue to date.
40 years on from his assassination, we are commemorating Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme.
His social democratic ideas and actions still guide us in today's authoritarian populist world, where the need for progressive values and policies has never been greater.
Viktor Orban's defeat in the upcoming elections will be a positive sign for the democratic world's recovery after hitting rock bottom.
Is the world condemned to autocracy? In @foreignpolicy.com I argue that claims about the end of the international order are overstated and that autocracies are unable to construct alternatives.
Read the essay on FP.com or on my Substack @ rightsstuff.substack.com
foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/13/d...
Apparently, many Hollywood horror and thriller films are based on real events.
The world really is a terrifying place! Humans are truly terrifying creatures.
Democratic institutions built over more than a century can be destroyed by a single person with malicious intent coming to power. The world is facing this reality with unprecedented seriousness for the first time.
The question is: How will democracy protect itself from now on?
My study examining the political life & intellectual perspective of Olof Palme, an icon of Swedish social democracy, has been published:
"Olof Palme's Political Leadership Style and Legacy of Social Democracy in Swedish Political History"
@palmecenter.bsky.social
dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/etuse...
Happy Birthday Simone de Beauvoir
History will demonstrate to humanity the vital importance of international law and norms through dramatic experiences.
The year 2025 will always be remembered as a dark chapter in world political history. Rising populist authoritarianism is humanity's greatest challenge. In a world governed by populist authoritarian leaders, problematic areas (human rights, freedoms, the environment, etc.) will remain unsolved.
In the eighteenth century this was just known as reading.
Cambridge Word of the Year 2025
parasocial
"involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc., or an artificial intelligence."
Oxford Word of the Year 2025
rage bait
“Online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account.”
In today's world, characterised by populist authoritarianism, the ability to maintain independence and autonomy as an individual without reliance on an authority has emerged as the paramount value.
«Chaque fois qu'une voix libre s'essayera à dire, sans prétention, ce qu'elle pense, une armée de chiens de garde de tout poil et de toute couleur aboiera furieusement pour couvrir son écho.»
Albert Camus
The failure to initiate legal proceedings against Netanyahu under international law will be regarded as a significant legal and moral failure in the history of humanity.
Not "probably". It's "definitely".
We are familiar with the concept of FOMO (Fear of missing out).
However, we also need a similar concept for the 'fear of encountering bad news'. We have become afraid to open social media when we wake up in the morning because of the possibility of starting the day with new bad news.
Therefore, it is not entirely accurate to judge artificial intelligence solely on the basis of its benefits and harms.
How will humans overcome the crisis of meaning in their lives?
How will they actualise themselves?
Humans actualise themselves through their minds. So what will happen when there is nothing left for humans to 'achieve' or 'make a difference'?
A world in which human intelligence is not required in any field would be unliveable for humans. Humans cannot stand to be in a secondary position.
Some people draw parallels between the Industrial Revolution, when human labour was replaced by machines in many areas, and the current situation, where human intelligence is being replaced by AI. However, not requiring human intelligence is very different from not requiring human physical strength.
Organised evil is much worse than individual evil. Because the courage that organised evildoers take from each other elevates evil to a whole new level.
I follow people from many different countries here, and they all have one concern in common: populist authoritarian leaders/politicians in their own country. It seems that the sane people of the world are united by this trouble.
Proud to be a member of the University of Sheffield family.
We hope that the dispute between Donald Trump and Elon Musk will result in a global decline in authoritarian, populist, far-right movements.
Every rise has a fall. The rise of the populist far right will also eventually come to an end. As people who prioritise the values of freedom, equality and democracy, we must prepare for this decline. The responsibility for the restoration of the world will be shouldered by us.
"The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude."
Aldous Huxley
"We believed that social change was only a matter of challenging modes of production and distribution in society. We did not understand the immense role of culture. Capitalism is a culture, and we must respond to and resist capitalism with a different culture."
José Mujica
My paper for the 3rd International Congress on Behavioral and Social Science Research:
"Tracking Inglehart’s Theory of Value Change in the Debates on the Next Generation Economics"
The distance between reality and propaganda is an important indicator of the quality of democracy in a country.
