Liberalism’s Last Stand

Radio Atlantic

The Atlantic

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4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2019

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

Franklin Foer joins Isaac Dovere to discuss his story in the June issue of The Atlantic about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán described his vision of Hungary as an "alternative to liberal democracy," and, in recent years, cemented his power by undermining civil society. When Orbán’s party won a majority last year, it rewrote parts of the constitution, redrew parliamentary districts, and stacked courts. Foer details how one of the last independent institutions—a university in Budapest founded by George Soros—has fought back on Orbán’s efforts to expel it from Hungary. These efforts have not been met with condemnation from the Trump administration. To the contrary, when he spoke with Foer, the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary said: "I can tell you, knowing the president for a good 25 or 30 years, that he would love to have the situation that Viktor Orbán has." Next week, President Trump will welcome Orbán to the White House. How has Hungary found itself losing its democracy? What does it mean for the future of Europe? And what role does the U.S. have in all of this? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You! Hi Radio Atlantic listeners, this is Isaac Dober, staff writer here at the Atlantic. So in the last few Rider here at the Atlantic.
0:23.4	So in the last few years here at the Atlantic, we've spent a lot of time covering the rise
0:26.9	of right-wing populism, and not just Donald Trump.
0:30.1	Nationalist-nativist movements are booming all around the world.
0:33.2	Well, Staff Writer Frank IV has a new piece in our latest edition of the print magazine about
0:37.4	Hungary, the small country in Eastern Europe that has seen perhaps the most dramatic and fastest
0:42.2	changes.
0:43.3	A year ago, national elections gave the right-wing party a majority that it's used to cement
0:47.9	power.
0:48.9	They've stacked courts, redrawn districts, and even rewritten the Constitution.
0:53.6	Many of the changes would come through more passive pressure, though.
0:56.7	Frank's piece zeros in on how the country's most prestigious university, which not coincidentally
1:01.7	was founded and funded by George Soros has been run out of the
1:04.7	country. Presiding over all this is a man named Victor Orban who next week will be welcomed
1:09.8	into the White House by Donald Trump. President Trump has tended to have a sympathetic approach to
1:14.8	authoritarians around the world.
1:16.7	A few months ago, Frank had the ambassador to Hungary, an old friend of the
1:19.9	president, said to him, I can tell you, knowing the President for a good 25 or 30 years, that he
1:25.8	would love to have the situation that Victor Orban has.
1:29.6	Well, now Frank's back from Budapest and here with me today to discuss what's happening in Hungary and what role the U.S. has in all of it going forward.
1:38.0	Frank 4, thanks for being here on Radio Atlantic.
1:40.0	Great to be here. So let's talk about Victor Orban.
	...

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