“The Left is Back!” reports new Aspen Review

Left-wing politics has made a huge comeback in Europe this year. The new issue of the Aspen Review (1/2015) brings insightful analyses by acknowledged experts on the recent political developments on the Old Continent. 

Seven years since the outset of the economic crisis, for the first time, a radical left political party won parliamentary elections in an EU member state. Ivan Krastev puts Syriza’s victory in Greece into historical perspective and explains that, quite surprisingly, its political program “stands for what was a European consensus just 40 years ago”.

Another Cover Story article, In search of meaning by Frank Furedi, reveals a dramatic shift between ideas traditionally associated with leftist political thought and content of today’s leftist politics. Furedi outlines a number of observations to support his claim that in fact, “many of the ideas usually associated with the right are today closely linked with the outlook of left-wing thinkers”. Martin Šimečka takes this argument further in The Incomprehensible Left, where he discusses the paradox of sympathy of the current Czech and Slovak political leaderships for Russia under Putin’s right-wing regime. 

The new issue also brings an exclusive interview with Shirin Ebadi, Iranian lawyer and the first Muslim Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She argues that the strong position of civil society predicts a democratic switch in Iran. Ebadi also lists four recommendations for the West when dealing with Iran.

In the Economy section, Péter Krekó, Bulcsú Hunyadi, and Krisztián Szabados give accounts of the strategy of Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán. They argue that he is maneuvering in a narrow space between Russia and Germany and that very soon, Orbán will have to take side.

All Aspen Review issues, past and present, are available on-line. You can either read a particular text on-line or browse the whole issue in pdf format here.