Why political centrists must rediscover their passion
They need to be clear about what opposing populism does and doesn’t mean, argues Yair Zivan
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS’S “The Second Coming” was written as a warning about the state of the world. Although “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” has perhaps become the most famous line of his poem, it is two other lines that should concern us all. As an estimated 2bn people across the world head to the polls in 2024, Yeats’s warning that “the best lack all conviction” while “the worst are full of passionate intensity” resonates loudly.
From the June 15th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from By Invitation
Bangladesh has achieved its second liberation, says Muhammad Yunus
The interim government’s new leader argues for releasing political prisoners and holding a free election
Margaret Hodge’s lessons from east London on countering the far right
Mainstream parties must win back white working-class voters by focusing on local issues, says the former Labour MP
The real winner of Venezuela’s election urges the regime to face facts
A peaceful transfer of power is still possible, says Edmundo González
Thailand’s thwarted election winner on the move to ban his party
Weaponising the courts to muzzle dissent will fail in the long run, says Pita Limjaroenrat
Keep the code behind AI open, say two entrepreneurs
Martin Casado and Ion Stoica argue that open-source models will power innovation without compromising security
Not all AI models should be freely available, argues a legal scholar
The more capable they are, the greater the risk of catastrophe, reckons Lawrence Lessig