Publication

This briefing paper argues that Western democracies are currently characterized by a vulnerability to both domestic and external illiberal influences that aim to undermine their core values. The text’s author contends that while this vulnerability partially results from democratic restraint, it also flows from other factors, which include how the West has lost the ability to determine what constitutes an enemy, volatility created by the information age’s nature, and a failure by public authorities and intellectuals to take these threats seriously. In response, the author outlines what action should be taken at the national, European and international level to address this challenge.