Nationalisation in Hungary in the Post-Crisis Years: A Specific Twist on a European Trend?

Abstract

The expansion of public ownership after 2008 occurred in many European countries as a crisis-management tool. Is the new wave of Hungarian nationalisation a part of this general trend or a component of a unique, ‘unorthodox’ economic policy? The article sums up the main features of recent European nationalisation and reveals similarities and differences in this context. It argues that although current ownership changes in Hungary are outwardly consistent with those that have occurred in other European countries (and in the United States), they in fact reflect the particular agenda of the post-2010 Orbán government. The key peculiarity of the recent Hungarian nationalisations is their embeddedness in a complex system of political and economic changes rather than being aimed at short-term crisis management.     

Behind the Scenes of France's Lead on Libya

The Great Arab Revolt of 2011 has moved swiftly from the peaceful overthrow of autocrats in the nation‐states of Tunisia and Egypt to brutal repression in the tribal societies of Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen. Meanwhile, the wired youth bulge of the Middle East that brought change is dissipating into an impotent diaspora while the organized interests of the old regimes and the once‐suppressed Islamists charge ahead to power. This section examines the revolt, the reaction and the power struggles in its aftermath.