‘The fact that the Ukrainians are both stretched out and exhausted, foreseeing their eventual defeat on the battlefield to the Russians, the use of ATACMS will extend the war into next year, at least until when Donald Trump takes over the reins in Washington. The new president would thus be historically blamed for losing Ukraine to our old Soviet adversary.’
‘Trump 2.0 is a huge opportunity. Of course there are risks. Of course there will be things the administration does which I will disagree with. But the big picture is what matters. His victory is a victory for conservative forces across the world, a victory for foreign policy realism and for getting our means in line with resources.’
Balázs Orbán, the political director to the Hungarian prime minister, has penned a detailed opinion piece on the achievements of the Hungarian EU presidency thus far. And there have been plenty: the successful hosting of two Budapest summits, the adoption of the Budapest Declaration, and the expansion of the pro-peace camp—all of which Hungary has influenced directly or indirectly.
‘The EU can draw inspiration from global leaders like the United States and China. Both nations are integrating economic growth with environmental sustainability—whether through the American Inflation Reduction Act or the latest iteration of China’s Five-Year Plan. These strategies emphasize harmony between development and sustainability. The EU should adopt a similar approach.’
Rejecting Balázs Orbán’s PhD thesis based on his political affiliation is akin to barring a qualified athlete from competing in the Olympics solely because of their worldview.
Energy markets, trade dynamics, and technological innovation are at the forefront of global economic concerns. The second panel of the Trump 2.0 event organized by the Danube Institute brought together experts to discuss expectations on how Trump’s second term might impact economy and trade policies.
‘One of the reasons Americans re-elected Donald Trump, aside the crisis at the southern U.S.–Mexican border and the economy, was a sense of a degradation of our patriotism with identity politics vis-à-vis LGTBQ+ and Black Lives Matter agendas, to name just a couple. Any private or public disagreement instantaneously labeled one as a fascist “anti-American”. This was a failed political tactic, which the Democratic Party and most media thought would win over, by patronizing them, those they referred to as “discriminated” and “marginalized”’.
From NATO dynamics to the conflict in Ukraine and the volatile Middle East, the re-election of Donald Trump raises pivotal questions about the trajectory of international relations. In a thought-provoking event organized by the Danube Institute, experts discussed what we can expect in the future of the US foreign policy.
An in-depth interview with German teacher Gergely Tóth, who went to the University of Berkeley, California 26 years ago for a doctoral program, then soon became immersed in local Hungarian community life. Since then, his voluntary work has extended from making oral history interviews to photographing objects and markers on four continents and collecting archival material of the Hungarian diaspora.
‘Ultimately, COP29 will likely reaffirm what we’ve long known about global climate diplomacy: nations, despite their collective rhetoric, will prioritize their own interests. For wealthier countries in the Global North, the climate agenda offers an opportunity to entrench their geopolitical and economic dominance under the guise of green leadership.’