Full Circle, a Brussels-based organisation connecting ideas with policymakers, organised a great Ideas to Action Day in which over 80 people came together to discuss the state of the world and how to find ways to make it better. Issues were raised, problems were discussed, and true angst was revealed — often about digital space, social media, isolation, alienation, and the failures of both politicians and national institutions. So far, so good for an opportunity to sound off, but then came the surprise: a real, live politician came to answer all the questions raised, in front of the audience, and we hosted the exchange for this episode of Women Leaders.
Viviane Teitelbaum, Member of the Belgian Senate, is the politician in question, and she gave a remarkably candid account of political life in democracies in the modern age. And let us be clear: she is a Belgian, but her audience, as well as her answers, were true to all modern working politicians. From violence in life reflected in cyberspace to identity politics, from the complexity of reality to the complexity of explaining it, and from citizens’ assemblies to ways of voting, this is a conversation that really challenges a politician while also revealing modern political life as it really happens.
This episode was recorded on 5 April 2025
Mentions
Follow
- Viviane Teitelbaum X/Twitter, Instagram, Senate profile page, Women Political Leaders website
- Full Circle website, LinkedIn, Instagram, X/Twitter
- Ilana Bet-El
- Instagram @women_leaders_podcast
Credits
- Production: Florence Ferrando
- Music: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-roll License code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJT
The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the authors rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.
Image credit: Florence Ferrando
