2025-01 – Neoliberalism Never Happened
Neoliberalism is a myth. The concept suggests that starting in the 1970s Western economies have been shaped by free-market principles, the state has retreated, and markets have reigned supreme. And yet, the last fifty years were not about liberalizing, but about strengthening the state. Neoliberalism never happened. Instead, what unfolded was neostatism—a strategy where governments restructured their role to protect and expand their power. From the late 1970s onward, policies branded as “neoliberal” were crafted not to relinquish state control but to reassert it. And today, as overt state intervention returns with a vengeance, it becomes clear that the “neoliberal era” was a carefully managed illusion.

2024-09 – Germany’s Border Control Restoration: A Signal of Structural Policy Failures in the Heart of Europe.
Germany’s latest move to reinstate border controls is more than just a temporary fix; it is a sign of deeper cracks within the country’s migration policy. Since the Ventimiglia crisis in 2011, internal border controls in the Schengen Zone have been an increasingly common tool to address migration pressures. Germany, as the most frequently impacted member state, has often resorted to EU safeguard clauses to manage the flow of people. However, what sets this latest decision apart is not the act itself but its magnitude in the absence of an immediate border crisis. This time, it reveals a more structural issue within Germany’s approach to integration and migration. If left unaddressed, this policy shift could put the entire European project at risk.

2024-06 – Le Rassemblement national est un parti interventionniste, voué à l’échec
Le Rassemblement national (RN) est un parti profondément interventionniste, même socialiste, condamné à l’échec. Ses politiques perpétuent des mesures inefficaces et coûteuses, loin des principes de liberté économique qui ont fondé la prospérité française. Cet article dévoile les contradictions internes du RN en particulier en matière d’immigration et appelle à un renouveau libéral pour revitaliser l’économie et la société françaises.

2024-03 – Greece’s Immigrant Regularisation Programme: A Repeat of France’s 1981 Misstep?
As Greece has launched another major regularisation programme for undocumented migrants, a comparison with France’s 1981 similar initiative provides us with insights. Drawing a parallel between the two programmes offers a crucial lens to raise questions about the effectiveness and unintended long-term consequences of such policies based on the lessons learned from the French experience. This piece delves into the similarities between the French precedent and Greece’s current approach, unpacking the complexities of simply regularising clandestine immigrants in a bid to manage perceived labour shortages and social issues.

2024-01 – Why Brexit Was at Odds with Libertarianism
Many libertarians supported Brexit, believing it would reduce governmental layers and bring power closer to the British people. They saw it as an opportunity to escape the control of Brussels’ technocracy, expecting increased autonomy and economic freedom. However, this article argues that Brexit, rather than decreasing government control, intensified it in the UK. Some libertarians supported Brexit due to a misunderstanding of the European Union’s essential nature and role.

2023-12 – Tensions sociales en France : l’étatisme à l’origine du chaos
Alors que la France est aujourd’hui confrontée à des tensions sociales et ethniques d’une ampleur inédite dans son histoire contemporaine, la principale réponse politique consiste à réclamer un renforcement du rôle de l’État. Cet automatisme étatiste est pourtant ce qui a conduit le pays dans son impasse actuelle.

2023-07 – The Lausanne legacy in a new European light: A re-examination of Greek-Turkish relations
A century on from the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, on 24 July 1923, a pivotal moment in European history, we consider its enduring impact, its changing relevancy in our age of European integration, and most crucially, its implications on Greek-Turkish relations. Conceived in the tumult of the Ottoman Empire’s disintegration in 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne was a beacon of resolution for Greek-Turkish conflicts. It accomplished this by organising population exchanges and territorial transfers, which in turn fortified the notion of homogeneous nation-states – a concept increasingly at odds with the intricacies of today’s Europe.

2023-07 – The bad government: The deep roots of France’s unrest and why more immigration restrictions will make things worse
Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s frescoes adorning the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena tell a timeless tale of governance. They portray a city flourishing under just laws and crumbling under misrule. The latter side of this allegory rings alarmingly relevant today, as the recent riots in France paint a destructive urban tableau, mirroring the narrative of government failure. The situation has deteriorated so drastically that widespread use of force is now inevitable, especially to remove the military arsenal flourishing in the suburbs. Yet, addressing the faulty policies which led to this situation is just as paramount. French decline has reached such depths because all political parties have fixated on ineffective responses and have overlooked the roots of the problem.

2023-06 – Migration reimagined: why states should think differently in the face of tragedy
On 14 June, off the coast of Pylos, Greece, a ship carrying 750 hopeful migrants met with disaster. The incident claimed at least 80 lives and left hundreds missing, thrusting the migration issue back into the global spotlight. The incident has sparked a range of political responses across Greece and Europe. Some advocate for tighter immigration controls, while others propose a broader regulatory scheme at the European level. But they are overlooking a crucial fact: increased state control over immigration is not a cure-all solution.

2022-04 – The misunderstood German policy with Russia
Before the recent reversal in German foreign policy, commentaries had presented Germany over the last weeks and months as a dangerously cowardly country, delaying a united European front against Russia. They have put forward Germany’s extensive economic ties with Russia and reluctance to supply the Ukrainian side with weapons. As a matter of fact, however, Germany has been the major power supporting Ukraine’s realignment with the West and attempting to prevent Russia from invading the country from the beginning.

2022-03 – The illusions and perils of restrictive migration policies
The recent condemnations of the number of migrants pushed back at the EU’s external borders, the generalisation of migration control within the EU, and the new inflows following the outbreak of war in Ukraine interrogate the suitability of the current restrictive migration policies in Europe.

2021-03 – Post-Brexit UK has not ‘taken back’ control of immigration
Brexit happened, and a new EU-UK agreement entered into force at the beginning of 2021. But migration is mostly absent from the text. Does it mean that the UK has ‘taken back’ control of immigration, as the ‘Leave’ campaign had promised? A careful analysis shows this is not the case. On the contrary, the lack of cooperation with the EU on migration creates a dangerous situation to manage migration flows.

2020-10 – The Greek-Turkish crisis calls for negotiation
To justify French intervention in the Greek-Turkish crisis, President Emmanuel Macron resorted to Western rhetoric that has been well-established for decades. France would react to the wrongdoings of Mr Erdogan, which would live in the fantasies of the Ottoman past. Macron presented himself as the defender of the weak against an aggressive neighbour, to restore the rule of international law, and ensure stability. However, this is an inappropriate and risky rhetoric that France should replace by a political negotiation to find an acceptable solution that keeps Turkey as a reliable member of the Western alliance.

2020-05 – L’Union européenne reste le centre de gravité des stratégies économiques et politiques de sortie de crise
Crise économique de l’Allemagne, mobilité à l’intérieur de l’Union et difficultés des pays pauvres autour du continent, tels sont les trois véritables risques qui peuvent faire plonger l’Europe dans une crise existentielle.