Global crises place extraordinary strain on international cooperation. Benjamin Faude and Kenneth W. Abbott examine how global governance performs under pressure, arguing that resilience depends on combining robust institutions with flexible arrangements, effective leadership, and the capacity to learn and adapt during crises
Steffen Hurka and Yves Steinebach reveal that EU climate legislation has become so complex that even well-resourced member states struggle to put it into practice. Longer, more detailed laws create implementation failures regardless of administrative capacity, suggesting the EU's climate ambitions may be undermined by how laws are written
Following Israel’s 12-day air campaign in Iran in June 2025, casualty figures varied across media sources, official reports, and humanitarian organisations. Narges Qadirli examines how short urban air warfare exposes structural constraints in the recording, measurement, and verification of civilian harm across conflict datasets and casualty reporting systems
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is supposed to defend democracy from extremist threats. But new statistical evidence suggests that branches of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland are most likely to be labelled extremist in regions where the party is electorally strongest. This pattern, says Henning Schäckelhoff, raises a difficult question: is militant democracy protecting the constitution – or shaping political competition?
The latest escalation of conflict in the Middle East reflects significant shifts in regional geopolitics. Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal explains how unfolding events carry serious global economic implications, as each actor pursues divergent goals
At the start of 2026, a meme dubbed the 'nihilist penguin' went viral. But populist media pages and extreme-right accounts soon began using edits of the meme to spread nationalist and exclusionary content. Federico Taddei argues that when the alt-right exploits them, even seemingly apolitical social media trends can carry serious political implications
Germany recently passed incremental liberalisations to its abortion law. Yet access to abortion remains under threat, and far-right and conservative forces blocked its partial legalisation. Lisa Brünig explains how the erosion of reproductive rights in Germany is symptomatic of broader democratic backsliding
A radical feminist politics of kinship asks us to interrogate the roots of how we live together: how we form families, share resources, and imagine belonging. At stake, says Víctor Hugo Ramírez García is not only gender equality, but the future of democracy itself
For decades, activists have worked to end gender-based violence through grassroots organising, legal challenges, and public education. But Eiman Alabdulghani’s research suggests that the digital world represents a powerful new front. Social media hashtags can spark global movements, and citizen journalists can hold power to account in ways previously unimaginable
The US has accused China of carrying out a 'yield-producing' nuclear test in 2020 – but the global test-ban monitor found no supporting evidence. Syeda Saba Batool argues that the dispute matters anyway: such allegations can be used to pressure China into talks – and to normalise a possible US return to testing
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