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Why Trump should overhaul all diplomatic posts in his first 100 days

January 23, 2025

Moldova versus Russian sharp power

January 22, 2025

🧭 EU enlargement: process first, outcome second

January 21, 2025

What Ukraine and Russia might look like after the war

January 20, 2025

🌊 There are no independent regulators under populist rule

January 16, 2025

January 23, 2025

Why Trump should overhaul all diplomatic posts in his first 100 days

The Biden administration and 118th Congress failed to adequately reform and modernise the organisation of US diplomatic posts. Michael Walsh argues that Trump should urgently reassess the US Foreign Affairs Manual's conceptual model for organising such positions

January 22, 2025

Moldova versus Russian sharp power

Winter is coming to Chișinău. On 1 January, Moscow cut off all gas exports to the former Soviet state of Moldova. John Chin and Noel Overby put this Russian energy embargo in the context of ongoing Moldovan resistance to a protracted Russian sharp power campaign

January 21, 2025

🧭 EU enlargement: process first, outcome second

The EU enlargement process successfully transformed Southern and Eastern European states into market democracies, but faltered in the Western Balkans. Jelena Džankić argues that amid today’s geopolitical challenges, prioritising the transformative mechanisms of EU enlargement is more critical than focusing solely on achieving full membership

January 20, 2025

What Ukraine and Russia might look like after the war

Once the Russia-Ukraine war ends, perceptions of victory and defeat will affect not only the stability of those states' political regimes but the capacity of the state in the long term, says Luis Schenoni. Using examples from nineteenth-century Latin America, he argues that the effects of war outcomes on security and the rule of law will endure for decades

January 16, 2025

🌊 There are no independent regulators under populist rule

Illiberal populists politicise regulatory agencies. Under populist governments, regulatory agencies engage primarily with interest groups which enjoy close connections to the ruling parties. This is bad news for democratic quality and the quality of governance, write Rafael Labanino and Michael Dobbins

January 15, 2025

System trust is key to explaining Covid-19 attitudes and behaviours

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many citizens put full faith in 'the system' to keep them safe. Others were inherently mistrustful. Louise Halberg Nielsen argues that such trust, or the lack of it, was a key source of pandemic-era political disagreement. Her research findings could help societies navigate future collective crises more effectively

January 14, 2025

The struggle for a dignified return of refugees to Syria

The sudden collapse of the Assad regime could result in Syrian refugees being pressured into returning. But Maissam Nimer and Susan Beth Rottmann say refugee returns must be voluntary, dignified, and sustainable – not driven by political agendas. Given Syria's shattered infrastructure, instability, and limited opportunities, 'safety' means more than simply the absence of violence

January 13, 2025

🧭 The EU needs enlargement, but it may not get there

EU enlargement could address collective action problems and stabilise its neighbourhood, but stalled accession processes may make full membership unlikely. Maria Giulia Amadio Viceré and Matteo Bonomi suggest that partial integration — engaging candidate countries in EU policies without membership — will remain the EU's main strategy for managing internal and regional crises

January 9, 2025

The West’s strategic mistake in disengaging from Georgia

The West is failing to invest against Russian encroachment in Georgia, choosing instead to break relations. Francesco Foti argues that Western disengagement will prove a serious obstacle to Georgia realigning with the West.

January 9, 2025

Georgia’s Second Rose Revolution

Georgia is undergoing its most significant mass uprising since the 2003 rose revolution, with the future of democracy in Georgia and Georgia’s future in Europe at stake. John Chin and Anastasia Kim put this unrest in context by reviewing Georgia’s revolutionary history and ongoing challenges posed by Russian sharp power

Latest Articles

Why Trump should overhaul all diplomatic posts in his first 100 days

Moldova versus Russian sharp power

🧭 EU enlargement: process first, outcome second

What Ukraine and Russia might look like after the war

🌊 There are no independent regulators under populist rule

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