SLOVAKS VS OLIGARCHS

How does a society fight the downward spiral into oligarchy and repression? The small European country of Slovakia provides some answers.

In December I made a memorable trip to Slovakia to give talks on China’s role in the world, part of a series of lectures held once a year by Pulitzer Prize winners. While there, I wanted to find out more about the murdered journalist Jan Kuciak and made a point of meeting his colleagues and people active in civil society there. I was especially fortunate to spend time with two excellent journalists, Beata Balogova and Jan Pallo, whose stories helped me understand the country better.

At the end of my stay, I found it so fascinating that I wrote this essay for the New York Review Daily, the NYRB’s blog.