Tag Archives: Czech

Václav Klaus live and unplugged

Posted on 27 April 2013 by

A few years ago I honestly told myself that I would spend less time academically on Czech right-wing politics and more time on other things. The world really did, after all, need some decent research about Central European interest groups … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, EU politics, Václav Klaus | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Václav Klaus: A political phenomenon without political power

Posted on 7 March 2013 by

In many ways a medium-sized Central European country like the Czech Republic could hardly have wished for a better president: an experienced, energetic and erudite politician of international standing able to engage both with the big European issues and handle … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, Václav Havel, Václav Klaus | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Czech Republic: Four things you didn’t know about Miloš Zeman

Posted on 18 February 2013 by

 Ever since Miloš Zeman won the Czech presidential elections on 26 January, analysts have been scrambling to say just what his political views actually are – especially his views on foreign policy and the EU.  Never quite as prolific a … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech Republic | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Czech presidential elections: Schwarzenberg comeback sets up close run-off

Posted on 17 January 2013 by

Few observers, even a matter of weeks beforehand, would have predicted the success of the two candidates who will be contesting the second round run-off to choose the Czech Republic’s first directly elected president, which takes place on 25-26 January. … Continue reading →

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Why Miloš Zeman is the Czech comeback kid

Posted on 10 January 2013 by

 The political return of former Social Democrat leader and leading presidential hopeful Miloš Zeman has been one of the more surprising emerging-from-under-the -radar phenomena in Czech politics over the past couple of years.  For most observers of Czech politics Zeman … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What will Klaus do next?

Posted on 2 January 2013 by

What will Václav Klaus do next? This has been a pertinent question in Czech politics pretty much any time over the last twenty years and, of course, no more so than now: VK steps down from his second and final … Continue reading →

Posted in centre-right, Czech politics, Czech Republic, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A spectre of … something is haunting Europe

Posted on 18 October 2012 by

Photo: Tom Morris, via Wikicommons  At 8.30am I am sitting in a thinktank seminar on ‘subterranean politics’ in Europe.  At 8pm I am sitting in launch event for a book about populism in Europe and the America. It is a … Continue reading →

Posted in populism, protest, Uncategorized, W European politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pussy Riot: Russia’s Plastic People?

Posted on 12 August 2012 by

The widely criticised detention and trial of the three members of the Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot, now awaiting verdicts in Moscow on charges of ‘hooliganism’ for an anti-Putin protest happening at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour has … Continue reading →

Posted in communism and post-communism, Czech politics, Russia, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is there a Czech Berlusconi in the wings?

Posted on 21 January 2012 by

A recent report I read suggested that the travails of Public Affairs (VV) party had put voters in the Czech Republic off new political parties: VV, which burst from nowhere onto the political scene in the 2010 elections as an … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech Republic, populism | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Lion sleeps tonight? Former Czech PM’s new party launches

Posted on 28 October 2011 by

I share a  bias with many political scientists working on political parties: I tend to over-rate new parties with political organisation and some real grassroots  presence and under-rate those which are top-down vehicles created for individual politicians. So I am … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, euroscepticism, left-wing politics, populism, TOP09, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment