Consuelo Thiers
Understanding political leaders' psychology is crucial to making sense of foreign policy decision-making processes. Consuelo Thiers highlights Putin's change of beliefs as a key factor in explaining his decision to wage war against Ukraine Read more
Grant Dawson
Grant Dawson and Nicholas Ross Smith argue that the West’s sweeping sanctions, isolation of Russia and passive-aggressive military support for Ukraine is fundamentally misguided. The problem with the US-led response is that it ignores – in fact, exacerbates – the deep-rooted ontological security concerns behind Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion Read more
Ana Tereza Duarte Lima de Barros
Political terms such as communist, fascist, and populist have become so elastic that they end up losing their analytical precision and meaning, write Ana Tereza Duarte Lima de Barros and Jorge Henrique Oliveira Gomes. It is our responsibility to use them with accuracy Read more
Andrew Richard Ryder
Since 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has carried through measures that have undermined the rule of law, with no prospect for changing this trajectory. However, argues Andrew Richard Ryder, current events present opportunities for a return to democratic values in Hungary Read more
Simone Chambers
This is not the time for collecting butterflies, writes Simone Chambers in response to Jean-Paul Gagnon. The threats to democracy we face today call for innovation and engagement, not typologies and definitions Read more
João AlÃpio Correa
The concept of 'illiberal democracy' is well-founded, but João AlÃpio Correa argues that it fails to convey what is happening in regimes described as such. To gain a more incisive understanding of the current deterioration in democratic regimes, he proposes the umbrella definition 'autocratisation' Read more
Görkem Altınörs
Görkem Altınörs and Ümit Akçay analyse the political economy of regime change in Turkey. The AKP's 'authoritarian fix' strategy was a response to multiple crises in the 2010s. Now, it has led to an attempt at authoritarian consolidation Read more
Damir Kapidžić
Illiberal politics are a way to understand the process by which ruling elites (mis)use democratic institutions of the state to create an electoral advantage for themselves with the aim to remain in power indefinitely. With a focus on Southeast Europe, Damir Kapidžić explains the concept's roots in institutional legacies of past regimes Read more
