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The sudden assertion of human criteria within a dehumanising framework of political manipulation can be like a flash of lightning illuminating a dark landscape

Vaclav Havel

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Mats Engström

Mats Engström is editorial writer at the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. He was special advisor and deputy state secretary to Anna Lindh from 1994-2001, and is author of Rebooting Europe: Digital Deliberation and European Democracy (Foreign Policy Centre, 2002). His website is here.

Recent articles


Europe and terrorism: the wrong path

A strategy to counter terrorism that reinforces the exclusion of and discrimination against young Muslims won't work. An approach based on the establishment of trust and legitimacy is needed, says Mats Engström.

Europe's green power

The addition of a serious environmental dimension to the European Union's internal reform and soft-power diplomacy could yet make 2007 a year of vision, says Mats Engström.

We still love the Swedish model

Sweden's election turnaround is less of a shift to the right than it appears, says Mats Engström in Stockholm.

The fear haunting Europe

The secret meetings of Europe's political authorities are sanctioning public policies that feed racist sentiment, argues Mats Engström.

The European Union's anti-terror plans: lift the secrecy

European justice ministers plan to adopt stringent new anti-terror measures on 1 December without public debate. This is very far from European Union democracy, says Mats Engström.