Tom Hunter
Tom Hunter, Natasha Wunsch and Marie-Eve Bélanger argue that Russia’s war has exposed the double-edged nature of European discourse. The EU has long sustained itself through words; now language has become strategy, shaping what is politically possible. For the EU to endure, this rhetorical power must become institutional commitment Read more
Ilana Hartikainen
Why did Viktor Orbán bring pickles to Parliament? What made Kamala Harris lean into 'brat summer'? And why do politicians flood social media with pets, food, and everyday objects? Ilana Hartikainen and Zea Szebeni argue these aren't random quirks: they're examples of 'banana populism', where politicians build powerful emotional connections with voters through whimsical, mundane imagery Read more
Leonardo Fiorespino
Who should decide what counts as democratic, and how? This series argues that such a challenge raises an ethical, a practical, and a philosophical difficulty. Leonardo Fiorespino questions the ethical issue and suggests that the practical and philosophical problems require ad hoc solutions Read more
Mariam Mumladze
China and Russia march in unison on the global stage. Behind the choreography, however, lies a partnership of limits and unequal leverage. United in criticising Washington and trading weapons, the two countries diverge sharply on nuclear doctrine. Mariam Mumladze shows how shared opposition to the West conceals deeper strategic differences, exposing the limits of their so-called 'no-limits' partnership Read more
Mimi Mihăilescu
The Dead Internet Theory, once dismissed as 'paranoid fantasy', now offers a disturbingly useful framework for understanding digital politics. Mimi Mihăilescu argues that the theory's growing credibility masks deeper questions about whether we're overestimating AI's political power while underestimating our willingness to accept technological determinism Read more
John Karlsrud
How do small and medium-sized states safeguard their sovereignty and national interests amid intensifying great-power rivalry and a fragmented international order? To answer this question, John Karlsrud, Maryna Rabinovych, and Marianne Riddervold introduce the concept of diplomatic resilience Read more
Sebastian Jäckle
Few moments captured the volatility of transatlantic relations better than the explosive Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 28 February 2025. Sebastian Jäckle, Ronald Schleehauf, Judith Reinbold and Marius Fröhle studied its impact on German public opinion using a natural experiment based on an online survey Read more
Alexander Dukalskis
Many PR firms work for brutal regimes — polishing their image, attacking critics, and helping dictators cling to power. Alexander Dukalskis, Christian Gläßel, and Adam Scharpf ask: why does this happen, and what can democratic societies do to stop it? Read more
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