On Monday morning, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hosted French historian and author Emmanuel Todd at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest. Todd, an influential researcher known for his studies on the impact of social structures on political systems, is currently in Hungary ahead of a lecture scheduled for Tuesday.
Todd will deliver a talk titled “Europe at the Crossroads” at a conference organized by the 21st Century Institute and the Civic Hungary Foundation. The presentation will focus on what Todd describes as a deep socio-moral crisis behind the West’s loss of direction, exploring the broader implications for European society.
Orbán shared his thoughts on the meeting via a post on X (formerly Twitter), expressing his admiration for Todd’s work. The Prime Minister noted that their discussion centered on the “moral and societal decline of the West,” a trend Todd believes will have profound consequences. Orbán highlighted Todd’s view that Hungary stands out by maintaining its sovereignty and resisting external pressures.
Emmanuel Todd, born in 1951 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, has been a prominent intellectual figure for decades. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including The Final Fall: An Essay on the Decomposition of the Soviet Sphere, published when he was just 25 years old. His early research on Hungary during a visit in 1975 had a significant influence on his academic path. Todd’s work has consistently examined the relationship between social structures—particularly family dynamics—and ideologies.
In his 2001 book, After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order, Todd argued that the United States had lost its position as the world’s sole superpower, predicting a shift in global power dynamics based on various economic, demographic, and ideological factors.
Todd’s most recent work, The Defeat of the West (2024), critically analyzes the Russo-Ukrainian war and offers a sharp critique of the current state of Western society, particularly focusing on the decline of Protestantism and its impact on Western values.
Todd, who is the father of four children and grandfather to nine, also has Hungarian heritage through his paternal grandfather. He completed his studies at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and Trinity College, University of Cambridge. His father, Olivier Todd, was a renowned writer and biographer of Albert Camus.
This meeting between Orbán and Todd highlights a shared concern over the socio-political challenges facing the West and the role Hungary is playing in resisting these trends.
