Serena Fiorletta
What do battles over gender equality reveal about the state of multilateral democracy? Drawing on her participation at the UN's Commission on the Status of Women in New York, Serena Fiorletta shows how contested rights and shifting rules in negotiations around gender equality point to a deeper political crisis Read more
Marta Kołczyńska
Political trust can shape the trajectory of democracy writes Marta Kołczyńska, but its effects are conditional, uneven, and increases in trust may sometimes even be conducive to democratic decline rather than renewal Read more
İbrahim Hatipoğlu
Algorithms can help governments manage complexity. But they cannot settle disputes over fairness, dignity and responsibility. İbrahim Hatipoğlu argues that so-called 'wicked' policy problems require political judgement before technical optimisation Read more
Osman Bahadir Dinçer
Osman Bahadir Dinçer and Zeynep Sahin-Mencütek argue that Syria is not ready for large-scale refugee return. Drawing on interviews with returnees, they show how economic collapse, weak institutions, and social fragmentation undermine reintegration. Policy debates, they say, must move beyond rhetoric to reflect realities on the ground Read more
Milen Lyubenov
Milen Lyubenov and Dragomir Stoyanov argue that the Bulgarian parliamentary elections of April 2026 may well have resolved a five-year political crisis through a landslide victory for ex-President Rumen Radev’s new political formation, ‘Progressive Bulgaria’ Read more
Sonia Sarkar
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has called for sanctions on India’s Hindutva Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, for its flagrant violations of religious freedom. Sonia Sarkar warns that Donald Trump may pay no heed to it, because of own ties with the far-right network Read more
Koen Slootmaeckers
On 21 April 2026 the European Court of Justice delivered a landmark ruling, arguing that Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law, in dehumanising LGBTIQ+ people, is incompatible with EU values. Koen Slootmaeckers analyses the Court’s ruling and its wider implications beyond Hungary Read more
Jeremy Ko
Populist governance poses a profound threat to universities, undermining the autonomy essential to knowledge production. Jeremy Ko and James F. Downes reveal how populist leaders invoking 'the people' against elites consistently reduce academic freedom – and right-wing variants accelerate the decline most sharply Read more
We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use the site. These will be set only if you accept.
▼
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.
▼
Analytics Cookies
Google Analytics
We'd like to set Google Analytics cookies to help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone. For more information on how these cookies work please see our Privacy Notice.
