Ivan Krastev

Living in truth cannot be reduced to having access to full information.

— Ivan Krastev

As a rule, governments monitor people.

— Ivan Krastev

A more stable relationship between Poland and Russia based on reconciliation might revive the reunification of Europe.

— Ivan Krastev

America is militarily overstretched, politically polarized and financially indebted.

— Ivan Krastev

For the Kremlin, it is more feasible to preserve its great-power status in cooperation with the United States than in confrontation.

— Ivan Krastev

The E.U. cannot act as guardian of the post-Cold War status quo without risking a collapse of Europe's current institutional infrastructure.

— Ivan Krastev

Transparency is not about restoring trust in institutions. Transparency is the politics of managing mistrust.

— Ivan Krastev

Regimes like the one in Russia are stabilized by the fact that they have no ideology. There is really no ideological means…

— Ivan Krastev

The Church of TED is very optimistic. Bulgarians are some of the most pessimistic in the world. There are the Happy, the…

— Ivan Krastev

Bulgaria has been deindustrialized by interest groups who extracted state assets like oil states extract the oil in their ground.

— Ivan Krastev

As China is about adaptation, not transformation, it is unlikely to change the world dramatically should it ever assume the global driver's…

— Ivan Krastev

The post-Cold War order in Europe is finished, with Vladimir Putin its executioner. Russia's invasion of Georgia only marked its passing. Russia…

— Ivan Krastev

It is people's willingness to take personal risks and confront the powerful by daring to speak the truth, not the truth itself,…

— Ivan Krastev

The United States and Russia probably do not have common aims and dreams, but they have common worries: Both Washington and Moscow…

— Ivan Krastev

Germany, because of the fact and the perception of a special relationship with Russia, is the only one who can influence Russian…

— Ivan Krastev

Authoritarianism is not pretending anymore to be a real alternative to democracy, but we can see many more authoritarian practices and styles…

— Ivan Krastev

America is a nation of immigrants, but it is also a nation of people who never emigrate. Notably, Americans living outside the…

— Ivan Krastev

What makes me worry today is the alarming decline in the trust in democratic institutions - political parties, Parliaments, political leaders. Less…

— Ivan Krastev

America gave the world the notion of the melting pot - an alchemical cooking device wherein diverse ethnic and religious groups voluntarily…

— Ivan Krastev

Remember, until the 1970s, the spread of democracy has always been accompanied by the decline of inequality. The more democratic our societies…

— Ivan Krastev

Before, revolutions used to have ideological names. They could be communist, they could be liberal, they could be fascist or Islamic. Now,…

— Ivan Krastev

The crisis of democracy in the West is not the result of falling in love with another system. In Europe and America…

— Ivan Krastev

Any unveiling is also veiling. No matter how transparent our governments want to be, governments will be selectively transparent.

— Ivan Krastev

For the European Union, Russia is as important politically and economically as China is to the U.S.

— Ivan Krastev

True, Putin's Russia does not dream of joining the E.U., but Russia's stability depends on preserving the European nature of its regime.

— Ivan Krastev

Democracy is the only game in town. The problem is [when] people start to believe that it is not a game worth…

— Ivan Krastev

[It's] difficult to engage people in politics when they believe that what really matters is where they personally stand.

— Ivan Krastev

In 2008, Putin's message was, 'We aren't like a Central Asian republic, we aren't going to build a personalistic regime, we will…

— Ivan Krastev

Democracy has always been in crisis: democracy is all about practicing the art of bearable dissatisfaction. In democratic societies, people often complain…

— Ivan Krastev

Russians clearly perceive America's global influence as being in irreversible decline and American society shattered by major political, economic and ideological crises.

— Ivan Krastev