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Dirk Verhofstadt (born 1955) is a Belgian liberal (Rawlsian) theorist and brother of the Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt. He has a keen interest in political philosophy, and his philosophical outlook is influenced by Karl Popper. With his book Het menselijk liberalisme (Human Liberalism) he inspires politicians in Belgian liberal parties as well as in the Dutch party Democraten 66. He defends liberalism against attacks by anti-globalists, by stating that liberalism implies/should imply solidarity and that green politics is not contradictory to liberalism. He wrote the books Pleidooi voor het individualisme (A Plea for Individualism) and De derde feministische golf (The Third Feminist Wave). This book contains exclusive interviews with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Irshad Manji, Naima El Bezaz, Nahed Selim, Naema Tahir and Yasmine Allas.

He is a member of Liberales, an independent think tank within the liberal movement. Its members consider liberalism as a progressive movement supporting individual freedom, justice and human rights. Liberales reacts against narrow minded conservatism related to social economic, ecological and ethical issues supported by compartmentalized parties and structures.

• Liberalism is the best Cure for Poverty
  • Lecture at the Conference on Development in Brussels, 17/10/2005 (http://www.liberales.be/cgi-bin/en/show.pl?essay&verhofstadtucos)
• Liberalism lives of hope, trust and optimism
  • Lecture at Tumult Debatcentrum in Utrecht, 05/10/2005 (http://www.liberales.be/cgi-bin/en/show.pl?essay&verhofstadtbarber)
• On the Shame of Protectionism
  • Column by Dirk Verhofstadt in Free Europe, 05/08/2004 (http://www.free-europe.org/blog/?itemid=179)
• A Plea for Individualism
  • Essay by Dirk Verhofstadt 02/01/2004 (http://www.liberales.be/cgi-bin/en/show.pl?essay&plea)

• Muslims need critical thinking
  • Interview with Irshad Manji on 16/05/2004 (http://www.liberales.be/cgi-bin/en/show.pl?interview&manji)
• Gulag. A history of the Soviet Camps
  • Interview with Anne Applebaum on 20/10/2003 (http://www.liberales.be/cgi-bin/en/show.pl?interview&applebaumgulageng)
• The poor are not the problem but the solution
  • Interview with Hernando de Soto on 22/12/2003 (http://www.liberales.be/cgi-bin/en/show.pl?interview&desotointerview)

• Liberalism
• Contributions to liberal theory

• Liberales Official Webpage

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