Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Until a few years ago, freedom was taken for granted in all Western countries. Overall, after the end of the Cold war, Francis Fukuyama said that history was over: freedom had won on communism, the West had won against any other alternative political and economic model. Unfortunately, he was wrong: freedom is under threat again. The first threat comes from Islamic radicalism and terrorism. The second threat arrives from Russia and China, trying to impose their power over small free countries (Ukraine and Taiwan, overall). But two more threats arrive directly from inside the West: political correctness is the biggest threat to freedom of expression, and Covid restrictions have been the largest limitation of civil rights in western countries since the end of World War 2. I will try to analyse shortly these four critical situations.
DOI: 10.21697/lr.12430
Author: Niccolo Fraschini
Institution: University of Bologna
Language: English
Topic: Law, Rights, and Freedoms
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7083621464