Authoritarian states deliberately use a number of tools to manage their image internationally, writes Alexander Dukalskis. Creating positive news, distracting and silencing critique, and shaping elite opinion help make the world safer for dictatorships
Following the end of the Cold War, the Visegrád 4 of Hungary, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia embarked on a 'return to the West'. These countries, writes Aliaksei Kazharski, are hardly beacons of democracy. But could they anchor Europeanisation and democratic change in East-Central Europe?
Ruth Dassonneville, Stephen Quinlan and Ian McAllister go beyond the conventional wisdoms about women in politics to explore how the public views women leaders. Their findings suggest that women are more popular leaders than men, but are less successful in translating that popularity into votes
The pandemic still dominates headlines, yet political attention must soon refocus on a crisis even more fundamental: climate change. Franziskus von Lucke argues that to deal with the climate crisis, actors such as the EU must recognise different understandings of global climate justice
When states are criticised, they normally recognise, reject or counter the critique. Yet they could listen to and contain criticism without directly rejecting or recognising it. Using criticism of Norway’s Child Welfare Services as an example, Kristin Haugevik and Cecilie Basberg Neumann show that diplomatic containment can prevent conflict accelerating and then damaging bilateral relations […]
To understand the storming of the US Capitol, we must consider its possible roots in economic inequality. This, along with economic elites' ability to transform material wealth into political clout, have contributed to record political polarisation in the US today, writes Alberto Parmigiani
It is a common assumption that autocrats have no incentive to redistribute income and wealth. Not so, says Lars Pelke. Uncertainty about the outcomes of autocratic elections can incentivise dictators to redistribute wealth, especially when the incumbents’ ruling coalition is inclusive
The Biden administration’s plans to introduce a global minimum corporate tax rate, while bringing benefits to the world economy, will have a crushing effect on economies such as Ireland, which has used low corporate tax rates as an engine of economic growth, writes Anna Guildea
There is no European electorate. When voters elect the European Parliament, they vote for their own parties in their own countries. Many want this to change, but existing reform proposals are not sufficient. Matthijs Bogaards proposes twinning. It works to connect local communities across Europe and it may provide a new way to elect the European Parliament
Over the past couple of years, the EU and the European Commission have stepped up security and defence policy cooperation. Calle Håkansson argues that the European Commission's new role blurs the traditional dichotomy between intergovernmental and supranational decision-making
