Philippe Legrain

Boris Johnson won the December 2019 UK general election on the promise that he had an “oven-ready deal” to “get Brexit done.” But while the UK did leave the EU in January 2020, Johnson’s deal included a deeply contentious protocol governing the special trade status of Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s successful negotiation […]

Far-right populism is not dead, but it can be defeated. Are Europeans up to the task? Read my latest for Project Syndicate

It’s economically significant and politically beneficial, but it leaves the eurozone’s deeper problems unresolved. Read my latest for Project Syndicate

Eurozone finance ministers have finally agreed a package of measures to respond to the coronavirus crisis. But in the face of an unprecedented medical and economic emergency, it is inadequate. What the eurozone needs is a large, temporary coronavirus Marshall Plan, funded by common debt that the ECB would buy and hold for the foreseeable […]

British democracy was once widely seen as a model for others to follow. But it has now sunk into its deepest crisis in living memory. At stake is not only whether the UK crashes out of the EU without an exit deal, but also how far a country once famed for stability and moderation descends […]

My latest for Project Syndicate

The European Union is increasingly caught between the United States and China. Until it finds a common strategic purpose, the bloc will struggle to advance its interests and is increasingly likely to fall victim to great-power plays. Read my latest column for Project Syndicate. Quoted in the FT Quoted in Belgium’s L’Echo Quoted by Voice […]

Angela Merkel’s announcement of her political departure has prompted a predictable response from many quarters: that she was the “steady hand” that held Europe together, and that her “strong and stabilising leadership” will be sorely missed. Nonsense. Merkel’s 13 years in office have involved domestic drift and European decay. She has complacently coasted along, failing to […]

A big reason why Western politics is in such disarray is voters’ pessimism about the future. 60% of Westerners believe today’s children will be “worse off financially than their parents”. Europeans are particularly gloomy. To paraphrase Hobbes, they expect youngsters’ lives to be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish – and long. When people doubt that progress […]

My latest column for Project Syndicate.

I was interviewed by Project Syndicate for their podcast series

My wrap-up piece for Project Syndicate

Far-right populists pose a grave threat to Europe’s open liberal societies. Here’s how to defeat them. My column for Project Syndicate

Theresa May has finally set out her Brexit negotiating objectives. While she belatedly recognised that curtailing free movement requires leaving the single market, she wasn’t honest about the implications of leaving the customs union and her two-year timetable for striking an exit and a trade deal is unrealistic. The chances of Britain leaving without a […]

My column for Project Syndicate

So much for the end of history. Twenty-seven years to the day after the fall of the Berlin Wall heralded the collapse of communism in Europe, Donald Trump’s election as US president endangers the liberal international order that his wiser, broader-minded predecessors crafted. Trump’s “America First,” anti-“globalist” agenda threatens protectionist trade wars, a worldwide “clash […]

Conservative Brexiteers – who campaigned for the United Kingdom to vote to leave the European Union – continue to blather about building an open, outward-looking, free-trading Britain. But the UK is in fact turning inward. Prime Minister Theresa May, who styles herself as the UK’s answer to Angela Merkel, is turning out to have more […]

My latest column for Project Syndicate

My On Point wrap-up piece for Project Syndicate.

I synthesise the views of Project Syndicate writers on the various aspects of the Brexit debate. Read the “On Point” here.