Annual Letter 2020 – We say thank you!

Since Fidesz's electoral victory in 2010, the Hungarian political and social landscape has been subject to numerous undemocratic reforms, transforming the state into a "hybrid regime". Restricted media freedom, the backlash against NGOs and civil society, courts that lack impartiality and meddling with electoral districts (gerrymandering) are, amongst many others, signs of the illiberal state that Orbán tries to create. Meanwhile, the EU remains inactive, as it lacks the necessary means and/or political willpower to enforce basic democratic standards in its own member state.

Arabia was a significant part of the Late Antiquity from which Islam emerged. Contrary to traditional sources, writer Muhammad Ali Sohail article argues that what eventually became the Islamic civilisation was a continuation of Late Antiquity's most salient features, with late antique empires establishing the foundations for the initial development of Islam. Moreover, it highlights the role played by traditional sources in instigating academic curiosity and mistrust from revisionist scholars who challenged the traditionalist premise entirely.

Despite the threatening likelihood of a global climate crisis, little action has so far been taken by governments. Apart from recurring summits, which only bring forward further protocols, agreements and promises that rarely have any serious enforcement mechanism or consequences if not followed through, radical measures and reforms remain absent. From October 31 until November 14, 2021, world leaders convened in Glasgow for the COP26 summit, aiming to find measures to reduce emissions and prevent the approaching climate crisis in the coming decades.

The extension of the New START has finally come to a happy ending, where the expectations of many have fallen short after failing to reach broad consensuses on START II and III. However, while it is often presented as a positive development that the world’s nuclear armament has been reduced considerably, it is often simultaneously ignored that the ones that remain are more sophisticated and potentially more destructive.