In many ways, social democratic sweden is also liberal, because it fundamentally protects individual rights and operates under a rule of law. What are the origins of modern liberalism? Well, it begins in the middle of the seventeenth century, after the european wars of religion that were triggered by the protestant reformation. I think it got challenged by nationalism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. After some pretty bloody struggles in the early twentieth century, i think there was a return, after 19 forty five, to a set of liberal principles which tried to moderate nationalism. And so maybe we should just emphasize a, you know, peace and learn to live with people whose concept of the good life
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine images of war in Europe dominate the news, and questions rage about the political failure to both prevent and end the atrocities. Amol Rajan discusses the political forces that have allowed the West to flourish and the cracks that are beginning to widen.
Developed in the wake of European wars of religion and nationalism, Liberalism was designed as a system to govern diverse societies, with a strong emphasis on the rights of individuals, equality and the rule of law. In Liberalism and Its Discontents Francis Fukuyama argues for a return to its classical form but shows how attacks from both the left and right have left it in a state of crisis.
Europe’s dependence on Russian oil is central to Helen Thompson’s book, Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century. She looks back at the historical origins of today’s overlapping geopolitical, economic and political failures.
Shifts in the global balance of power in the 19th century between Old Europe and the New World of American Imperialism are at the heart of Edward Shawcross’s extraordinary tale. He describes the ignoble end of a Habsburg Archduke, aided by Napoleon III, who crossed the world to become The Last Emperor of Mexico.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Image credit: Francis Fukuyama – © Djurdja Padejski