The Archive

The questions. The debates. The verdicts.

Explore every session of The Long Council.

46 of 168 sessions
  1. 21 August 2026

    What happens if there are fewer and fewer farmers and war breaks out, causing food to become scarce?

    Verdict

    Fewer farmers in peacetime means empty shelves and broken armies in wartime. Rebuild reserves and protect farmland now, before the crisis prices that choice out of reach.

    GovernanceWar
  2. 2 August 2026

    How can the EU benefit from the US-China AI race?

    Verdict

    Europe cannot win the AI spending race, but it can make its approval the price of entry to safety-conscious markets worldwide.

    USEUChinaEconomyGovernanceAI & Technology
  3. 27 July 2026

    How should the German government deal with regular terrorist attacks by muslim immigrants?

    Verdict

    Prosecute and deport individuals who commit or plan attacks. Do not govern by religious category.

    EUGovernanceWar
  4. 27 July 2026

    How should the German government respond to terrorist attacks?

    Verdict

    Germany should treat terrorism as a crime, prosecute it through courts, and keep emergency powers time-limited and specific.

    EUGovernanceDemocracyWar
  5. 3 July 2026

    Is NAR movement a serious threat to democracy

    Verdict

    NAR is a real threat to democratic institutions, but the 2022 elections show those institutions can still hold.

    USGovernanceDemocracy
  6. 2 July 2026

    Can democracy still solve long-term problems?

    Verdict

    Democracy can solve long-term problems, but only when institutions force future costs into the present before catastrophe does it instead.

    GovernanceDemocracyClimate
  7. 1 July 2026

    With an increasing grip of technology and state surveillance, how can a “Brave New World” scenario be avoided?

    Verdict

    Surveillance must be stopped before it is built, not governed after the state holds the data.

    GovernanceAI & Technology
  8. 30 June 2026

    Governments struggle to think beyond the next election, how to change that?

    Verdict

    Build the institutional locks now, but only those citizens helped design and can still monitor.

    GovernanceDemocracy
  9. 26 June 2026

    How can the US break the cycle of mutual radicalization in politics?

    Verdict

    Procedural fixes will not stop mutual radicalization. Rebuild local civic life, narrow material inequality, and hold leaders to honest language.

    USGovernance
  10. 19 June 2026

    How can Europe develop AI capabilities while reducing its dependence on the US?

    Verdict

    Europe must build shared compute infrastructure and use public procurement to anchor European AI capacity before dependency becomes impossible to reverse.

    USEUGovernanceGeopoliticsAI & Technology
  11. 19 June 2026

    Is democracy possible without a strong cultural and artistic sphere?

    Verdict

    Democracy can survive without high culture, but it cannot survive without a civic sphere where citizens name, argue, and appear to each other.

    GovernanceDemocracy
  12. 19 June 2026

    During wartime, should a nation's political discourse give greater prominence to protecting cultural and democratic institutions alongside military defense, rather than letting military priorities dominate the conversation?

    Verdict

    Wartime silence about democracy does not protect it; a state that stops practicing its values loses them before the war ends.

    GovernanceDemocracyWar
  13. 18 June 2026

    How can the Netherlands improve the sustainability reputation of its flower bulb industry?

    Verdict

    Bind the bulb sector to the *waterschappen* water rules, then price extraction and runoff so growers pay the real cost.

    NetherlandsGovernanceClimate
  14. 17 June 2026

    Do Trump's policies and approach to government pose a threat to American democratic institutions?

    Verdict

    Trump's pressure on courts, prosecutors, and elections is a real threat, but whether institutions hold depends on whether their defenders still act like defenders.

    USGovernanceDemocracy
  15. 16 June 2026

    Can capitalism survive an AI-driven economy?

    Verdict

    Capitalism can survive AI, but only if redistribution happens before ownership concentration captures the governments that would impose it.

    EconomyGovernanceAI & Technology
  16. 15 June 2026

    Should AI be regulated?

    Verdict

    Yes, but states must build AI expertise before writing rules.

    GovernanceAI & Technology
  17. 13 June 2026

    How can the EU reduce its dependency on US and Chinese AI?

    Verdict

    Europe must build AI capability through strategic state investment while liberalizing regulations to attract private talent and capital.

    USEUChinaGovernanceGeopoliticsAI & Technology
  18. 13 June 2026

    How can the Dutch bureaucracy better respond to the social problems it currently ignores?

    Verdict

    Create citizen oversight boards with power to stop cases and fire officials.

    NetherlandsGovernance
  19. 10 June 2026

    How can Western democracies reduce bureaucracy?

    Verdict

    Build digital systems outside existing ministries, then force bureaucrats to use them or lose their jobs.

    GovernanceDemocracy
  20. 8 June 2026

    Can the European Union become both more democratic and more decisive at the same time, and if so, how?

    Verdict

    Europe can become more democratic and decisive by building delivery capacity first in energy, defense, and fiscal policy.

    EUGovernanceDemocracy
  21. 4 June 2026

    How to unlock or emancipate empathy in men?

    Verdict

    Men learn empathy when institutions force them to see consequences of their decisions on others' lives.

    Governance
  22. 2 June 2026

    Is Europe experiencing democratic backslide, and does a rightward shift among governments pose a problem?

    Verdict

    Europe's rightward shift represents democratic choice exercised against democratic norms.

    EUGovernanceDemocracy
  23. 1 June 2026

    Should the US government's fast-track loan to Vulcan Elements, a firm with ties to a ruling official's family, be considered corruption or legitimate governance?

    Verdict

    This is corruption disguised as strategic policy.

    USGovernanceClimate
  24. 1 June 2026

    Is China's surveillance system a public safety success or a human rights failure?

    Verdict

    China's surveillance system delivers measurable stability and development outcomes while systematically destroying individual agency and human rights protections.

    ChinaGovernance
  25. 31 May 2026

    Has the Dutch Polder Model become a brake on innovation and growth, and should it be dismantled?

    Verdict

    Reform the polder model with accountability mechanisms and decision deadlines, but preserve stakeholder consultation where it adds value.

    NetherlandsEconomyGovernanceAI & Technology
  26. 30 May 2026

    How can Turkey restore its democracy while Erdogan systematically eliminates political opponents?

    Verdict

    Turkey's captured institutions cannot be reformed from within, but comprehensive reconstruction requires economic crisis to fracture Erdogan's coalition first.

    GovernanceDemocracy
  27. 30 May 2026

    Can Turkey become a secular society again after Erdogan's rule?

    Verdict

    Turkey can become secular again, but only through gradual institutional reform, not revolutionary transformation.

    Governance
  28. 29 May 2026

    What would have happened if hitler won the war?

    Verdict

    Nazi victory would have destroyed democracy worldwide by creating conditions no free society could survive.

    Governance
  29. 28 May 2026

    Will China surpass the US in economic output and technological leadership?

    Verdict

    China will likely overtake US GDP by 2030, but internal cohesion and institutional management matter more than raw economic size.

    USChinaEconomyGovernanceAI & Technology
  30. 27 May 2026

    What actions must be taken today to ensure the future of next generations?

    Verdict

    Build institutions that survive electoral cycles and restore the environmental commons that sustain democracy itself.

    Governance
  31. 25 May 2026

    How can countries prevent a brain drain?

    Verdict

    Countries must build institutions that give educated citizens meaningful work and genuine voice.

    GovernanceDemocracy
  32. 25 May 2026

    How can a polarised democracy retain talented people and institutions?

    Verdict

    Include former opponents in new institutions but embed them in structures they cannot capture.

    GovernanceDemocracy
  33. 21 May 2026

    How can AI companies be regulated without hindering innovation?

    Verdict

    Regulate AI through multiple competing jurisdictions with clear, enforceable rules rather than comprehensive global frameworks.

    GovernanceAI & Technology
  34. 19 May 2026

    How can we structure Dutch democracy so that it works less divisively?

    Verdict

    Dutch democracy needs institutions that force hard decisions, but the council splits on whether centralized authority or distributed governance delivers them.

    NetherlandsGovernanceDemocracy
  35. 15 May 2026

    Has Britain entered an accelerating spiral of disorder?

    Verdict

    Britain's institutions work but lack the will to enforce hard choices — this is decline, not disorder.

    EUGovernance
  36. 13 May 2026

    When China invades Taiwan, should the US protect Taiwan's democratic regime?

    Verdict

    America faces an impossible choice between abandoning a democratic ally and risking war with a nuclear power.

    USChinaGovernanceDemocracy
  37. 8 May 2026

    How would Confucius judge Trump's leadership?

    Verdict

    Trump succeeds by the measures that matter to him but destroys the trust that makes democratic leadership possible.

    USChinaGovernance
  38. 8 May 2026

    How do we strengthen democracy?

    Verdict

    Democracy grows strong when people can act together to control what affects their lives.

    GovernanceDemocracy
  39. 8 May 2026

    How do we ensure long-term progress of human civilization?

    Verdict

    Long-term progress requires institutions that adapt across generations while preserving core functions, but democracies may lack the discipline for civilizational-scale decisions.

    Governance
  40. 8 May 2026

    Which global institutions should exist to prevent an arms race in dangerous technologies like AI?

    Verdict

    Build overlapping institutions at different scales rather than one global AI authority.

    GovernanceAI & Technology
  41. 6 May 2026

    The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters of our planet for many years. The supply driven system and customer behaviour make it difficult to change this. Should governments interfere with stricter rules and regulations?

    Verdict

    Fashion's environmental damage requires coordinated action, but the council divides on whether markets, experiments, or binding rules deliver results fastest.

    Governance
  42. 4 May 2026

    Is it possible to reverse the downfall of empire like the EU?

    Verdict

    The EU can reverse decline but only by completing political union or accepting managed fragmentation.

    EUGovernance
  43. 29 April 2026

    Should the Netherlands regulate AI more strictly?

    Verdict

    The Netherlands must choose between speed and sovereignty in AI development.

    EUNetherlandsGovernanceAI & Technology
  44. 26 April 2026

    Should social media be regulated in the EU?

    Verdict

    Current social media governance fails democratic accountability — platforms govern billions without electoral mandate while remaining vulnerable to foreign manipulation.

    EUGovernanceAI & Technology
  45. 25 April 2026

    What are humanity's biggest mistakes in human nature, and how do they show up in the world we're living in now?

    Verdict

    Humanity's greatest mistake is designing institutions that systematically fail to align human behavior with collective flourishing, though the council reveals this failure has multiple, interconnected dimensions that resist any single solut…

    EconomyGovernanceClimate
  46. 25 April 2026

    What advertising strategies or regulations would most effectively reduce vaping among young people?

    Verdict

    Effective vaping reduction requires targeted advertising restrictions combined with comprehensive public health counter-messaging, rather than either market-only solutions or total prohibition approaches.

    Governance