Mark Brolin

Mark Brolin is a genuinely independent British-Swedish political analyst, economist, commentator and author operating both in the public and private sectors. He finds the everyday political drama as fascinating as any masterpiece novel. He is also a popular keynote speaker on topics such as democracy, populism, trend-analysis, political forecasting and macroeconomic forecasting.

Mark has worked for several well-known organisations, including the Swedish Foreign Ministry, Nasdaq (OMX) and Cantor Fitzgerald. He was employed by Cantor during the September 11 disaster (Cantor was the company most severely affected; 650 of his colleagues lost their lives). This was a career turning point for Mark as it resulted in a greater urge to contribute to society by aiding in safeguarding the cornerstones of peaceful and civilised nations.

For over 20 years and on three continents, he has provided outside-the-box analysis – political and economic – to research institutes, think tanks, corporations and media. He is not afraid to challenge mainstream thoughts and trends that are based on hype - and offer an alternative outlook. He is a regular contributor to public debate and has featured in several publications in the UK (The Telegraph, The Times, CapX), in Sweden (Expressen, Expressen TV, Göteborgsposten) and elsewhere (Quartz, Indus News).

Mark has no links to any political party as he believes in the power of political balance rather than in the superiority of any individual ideology. One of his key analytical findings is that every dominant political camp will, eventually, move into the terrain of utopian (idealist) excess. Including, as experienced for the first time over recent decades, the Centrist camp. Mark has pointed out, in many articles and books, that he sees the EU as a textbook example of an initially sound realist project that has descended into, yes, the terrain of idealist (utopian) excess. However, he also thinks that that the tough love he offers to Centrists, through his latest book Healing Broken Democracies, is key to revitalising not only society at large but also Centrism. Unlike many others who talk about unbridgeable polarisation, Mark maintains that, for several reasons, the doors of reconciliation are wide open. The research phase of this book project involves six world famous thought leaders: David Goodhart, Matthew Goodwin, Eric Kaufmann, Luigi Zingales, Daron Acemoglu and Jonathan Haidt.