"When did the open society become so monotone? And what if the world doesn't want its problems solved by self-congratulatory people? The result of this gulf in understanding is written across our politics. Attitudes to higher education was one of the key factors in the vote for Donald Trump. In the Brexit referendum, whether or not someone went to university Was a stronger indicator of how they might vote than gender, age, or class. The essays in this book, which are based on a series of talks given at the Central European University in Budapest, show a clear awareness of this fault line."
- David Runciman, Times Literary Supplement
Introduction
Michael Ignatieff
PART I. The Open Society Ideal: For and Against
A Conversation Between Mark Lilla and Michael Ignatieff
Mark Lilla and Michael Ignatieff
The Open Society from a Conservative Perspective
Roger Scruton
Educating Skeptical but Passionate Citizens: The Open Society Ideal as a University Mission
Stefan Roch
PART II. Open Society in Practice: Democracy, Rule of Law, Free Speech and Secularism
Democracy Defended and Challenged
Thomas Christiano
Free Speech and the Defence of an Open Society
Timothy Garton Ash
Religion in the Open Society
Tim Crane
Constitutionalism in Closing Societies
Andras Sajo
PART III. Open Society in 21st Century Geopolitics
Open Societies at Home and Abroad
Stephen Walt
Open Society and 21st century Globalization [Network Approach]
Niall Ferguson
Eurasia, Europe, and the Question of U.S. Leadership
Robert Kaplan
Germany and the Fate of Open Society in Europe
Daniela Schwarzer
War and Open Society
Margaret MacMillan
PART IV. Open Society’s New Enemies: The Authoritarian Competitors
How Can Populism Be Defeated?
Jan-Werner Müller
Beyond Demagoguery? The Contemporary Crisis of Political Communication
Erica Benner
Populism and Democracy in Europe: History and Theory
Pierre Rosanvallon
The Enduring Appeal of the One-Party State
Anne Applebaum
PART V. From Transition to Backsliding: Did Open Societies Fail?
Capitalism and Democracy in East Central Europe: A Sequence of Crises
Dorothee Bohle
Perhapsburg: Reflections on the Fragility and Resilience of Europe
Ivan Krastev
European Divides: Crisis of Democracy, Nationhood, Multiculturalism
Jacques Rupnik
The Open Society and the Problem of Corruption: Diagnosis and Remedies
Alina Mungiu Pippidi
The Political Economy of Open Society in East-Central Europe: Recent Trends
Béla Greskovits
Conclusion
Michael Ignatieff