Milada Anna Vachudova
Milada Anna Vachudova argues that defending liberal democracy is essential to Europe's geopolitical power. EU enlargement and military investment must fill the security and values vacuum left by the United States in 2025 Read more
Ilker Kalin
Gender and sexual minorities are not just increasingly targeted by the state in Turkey – they are isolated by opposition groups that purport to champion democratic values. Ilker Kalin argues that the isolation of LGBTQ+ activists weakens democracy, and plays into the hands of repression Read more
Meray Maddah
World leaders' first foreign trips reveal more than diplomatic protocol. They are carefully crafted political stories. Meray Maddah and Max Heermann analyse inaugural diplomatic journeys to uncover stability and change in global networks from Europe’s deep political integration to Trump’s break from traditional allies and Netanyahu’s pivot to Jordan Read more
Mateusz Łabuz
For years, the European Union has played the role of global regulator, setting standards and norms that often apply beyond its borders. Scholars have called this phenomenon the 'Brussels effect'. Today, however, argues Mateusz Łabuz, these norm-setting activities risk demonising the EU, and undermining its values Read more
Renata Mieńkowska-Norkiene
Poland's presidential election resulted in surprise defeat for centrist Civic Coalition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski. Renata Mieńkowska-Norkiene describes how Donald Tusk's governing coalition misjudged the public mood – and how the right-wing Karol Nawrocki convinced the Polish electorate that he is a 'man of the people' Read more
Elif Davutoğlu
Artificial intelligence is transforming our cities, but at what cost? As public spaces become increasingly digitised, we risk losing the human connections that bind us. Elif Davutoğlu explores how AI is reshaping public life — and suggests measures we can take to preserve our shared spaces Read more
Evelien Willems
Does civil society mobilisation reduce socioeconomic bias in EU policy debate? A study by Evelien Willems, Iskander De Bruycker, and Marcel Hanegraaff reveals that active engagement by civil society organisations narrows the representation gap for people of low socioeconomic status. This offers a promising path toward more inclusive EU policy-making Read more
Jean-Paul Gagnon
To kickstart another round of essays, Jean-Paul Gagnon recaps four years’ worth of discussions in The Loop's Science of Democracy series. He explains where this ever-growing community of scholars has got to so far – and where it aims to go next Read more
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