
In the summer of 1914 most of Europe plunged into a war so catastrophic that it unhinged the continent’s politics and beliefs in a way that took generations to recover from. The disaster terrified its survivors, shocked that a civilization that had blandly assumed itself to be a model for the rest of the world…

A small but growing movement is calling to revitalise democracy with assemblies of ordinary people, which could be springboards for campaigns and perhaps election candidates too. That might just be happening now in Serbia. Crowds in Belgrade last December Serbia is the largest of seven present-day states that were part of Yugoslavia in the 20th…