Fortress Liberalism

Mainstream European liberal parties are shifting from expansionary, rights‑based agendas to defensive governance: tightening asylum and immigration rules, increasing defense spending, and using legal and administrative tools (surveillance, prosecutions, judicial purges) to contain populist and illiberal rivals. This is framed as a deliberate strategy to preserve liberal institutions by erecting political, legal, and policy 'firewalls' rather than enlarging the liberal project. — If liberal parties accept defensive, quasi‑authoritarian tactics as normal, it changes the baseline of acceptable democratic politics and reshapes debates over migration, civil liberties, and European defense for years.