Ideas

Writing thatexpects patience.

Public argument in Europe is conducted at speed and at volume. There is room for slower work: essays on formation, inheritance, sovereignty and self-government, addressed to a serious general reader.

PremiseJune 2026

Institutional density

Europe is not short of talent, ideas or civic energy. What it lacks is the connective tissue that turns any of them into something durable.

9 minutes

More essays

MethodMay 2026

What formation is not

Leadership programmes tend to transmit information and call it development. Formation is a different activity, and it is harder to arrange.

7 minutes

InheritanceMarch 2026

The difficult homecoming

Nostos is the oldest European account of what education does to a person. It is also the least comfortable.

6 minutes

InheritanceJanuary 2026

Inheritance as an assignment

A tradition that is merely admired has already been given up. The alternative is to treat it as unfinished work.

8 minutes

Self-governmentNovember 2025

Rule of law and rule by law

The distinction is a technical one, and it decides more about the character of a political community than most contested policies do.

10 minutes

Correspondence