Michael O'Shea

Budapest, Pittsburgh

Writer at Freelance

Visiting Fellow at Danube Institute

American-Polish Writer & Visiting Fellow at Danube Institute https://t.co/SdLLZGkUUa 🇺🇸 🇵🇱 🇭🇺

Articles

Time to Ditch the Media and NGO’s Freedom and Democracy Rankings

1 month ago | spectator.org | Michael O'Shea

The first months of the new Trump Administration have laid bare the web of government technocrats and NGO activists and their public funding. It has never been easier to disregard the narratives these actors have concocted. Hungarians, then, largely rolled their eyes when Transparency International released its 2024 “Corruption Perceptions Index” earlier this year, and they found themselves tied with Burkina Faso, South Africa, and communist Cuba in the 82nd spot.
Poland Continues to Arrest Political Opponents

1 month ago | spectator.org | Michael O'Shea

During his speech at the Munich Security Conference, Vice President JD Vance summarized a European totalitarian impulse that has been festering for years but has only recently become prominent in American political discourse. The United Kingdom now arrests citizens for speech and even silent prayer.
The Lies Are No Longer Uttered with Impunity: Vance’s Speech and Poland’s Crucial Election

2 months ago | spectator.org | Michael O'Shea

It is springtime in the West. This moment recalls the words of Poland’s Cold War-era philosopher Leszek Kołakowski, who asserted, “Obvious lies uttered aloud with impunity are excellent proofs of the health of the system.” The lies are no longer uttered with impunity, and that’s an indication the liberal order is crumbling. Vance’s Hard Truths ResonateVice President JD Vance magnified this new reality in his veritable Zeitenwende speech in Munich last week.
Are the Protests in Slovakia Due to NGO and USAID Interference?

2 months ago | spectator.org | Michael O'Shea

Newly minted Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been saying all the right things. His immediate maneuvers on DEI and deportations have set a promising tone. However, his department warrants more tempered optimism than most. For one, his 99-0 Senate confirmation indicates U.S. foreign policy might not have major shakeups in store. More importantly, Rubio’s hawkish track record suggests regime-change adventurism is firmly on the table.
Lessons for Trump from Orbán, Hungary’s ‘Comeback’ Prime Minister

Dec 23, 2024 | spectator.org | Michael O'Shea

“Orbán should have been born in a big country like Germany,” a Hungarian acquaintance once told me, in typical East European fashion. “His genius is wasted in Hungary.”An optimistic observer might retort that everyone has an opinion on Hungary by now — remarkable for a small, landlocked country of under 10 million. It was no surprise, then, to see Prime Minister Viktor Orbán grab headlines with his most recent round of state visits.
Gains for Irish Conservatives May Be Too Little, Too Late

Dec 6, 2024 | spectator.org | Michael O'Shea

Euro Watch Rejection of incumbent parties has been a global theme in a year in which more voters than ever have cast ballots.
Trump’s Victory Couldn’t Come Soon Enough for the Polish Right

Nov 26, 2024 | theamericanconservative.com | Michael O'Shea |Mason Letteau Stallings

Foreign Affairs Trump’s Victory Couldn’t Come Soon Enough for the Polish Right The American election provides a morale boost for Poland’s badly outgunned conservatives. In Ashes and Diamonds, Jerzy Andrzejewski’s 1948 novel of postwar power-jockeying in Poland, the aristocratic, anti-communist Col. Staniewicz asserts, “In today’s set-up we Poles are divided into two categories: those who have betrayed the freedom of Poland and those who do not wish to do so.
A Hackneyed Narrative

Oct 13, 2024 | europeanconservative.com | Michael O'Shea

Something about the Central and Eastern Europe region captures imaginations. Bookstores in the Anglosphere carry a disproportionate number of works on the topic, which is precisely why this reviewer stumbled upon Jacob Mikanowski’s Goodbye, Eastern Europe at a nearby chain store. With its handsome binding and cover design, and its plaudits from the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, Mikanowski’s book is a natural fit in such retailers.
An Antidote to Europe’s Summertime Blues

Oct 6, 2024 | theamericanconservative.com | Michael O'Shea

Foreign Affairs An Antidote to Europe’s Summertime Blues Complaints about Central Europe’s “democratic backsliding” don’t hold up under scrutiny. Boarding my U.S.-bound plane once in Dublin, a stewardess cheerfully reminded the line of long faces that it’s never too early to plan next year’s vacation. The sentiment resonated more than the charitable stewardess knew. A cubicle beckoned.
Trump and the GOP Sidestep Government Staffing at Their Own Peril

Aug 30, 2024 | spectator.org | Michael O'Shea

The fortunes of Mexico and Donald J. Trump are inextricably linked. When I visited Mexico City in the summer of 2017, locals seemed to have warmed to that reality. Several told a yarn about investing in 11-foot ladders to scale Trump’s 10-foot wall, a joke that always landed if told with levity and confidence.