Dimitra Mareta
This new phase in the Science of Democracy series posits the idea of a 'Fourth Theorist' – a still-to-exist thinker who may in future come to life. But, asks Dimitra Mareta, will that person, or thing, deliver on their promises? Or will it the Fourth Theorist prove a false idol? Read more
Henrique Garbino
The Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines is under serious challenge. In 2025, six state parties — Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Ukraine — began the procedure to withdraw from the convention. Henrique Garbino and Priscyll Anctil Avoine argue for a critical assessment of the rationale behind this decision, and its consequences Read more
Alexander Kondakov
In 2024, Georgia adopted a new legal framework that mirrors Russia’s ‘gay propaganda’ ban. Alexander Kondakov and Sandro Tabatadze explore how this law blends Russian-inspired anti-gender policies with homegrown political logic. It is reshaping Georgia’s identity and challenging its Western ties, while raising broader implications for global authoritarian movements Read more
Adérito Vicente
The rise of China as a nuclear peer to the US, amid deepening strategic ties with Russia, poses an unprecedented 'two-peer challenge' to NATO. Adérito Vicente examines how this shifting landscape endangers alliance cohesion. Here, he argues for a fundamental rethinking of Europe’s deterrence and defence posture Read more
Fadhilah Primandari
Feminist scholarship is warning of a backlash against gender equality and women’s political inclusion. But if anti-gender backlash constitutes democratic deconsolidation, why has it been possible to declare a democracy consolidated without women’s democratic inclusion? Fadhilah Primandari revisits our understanding of democratic consolidation and asks whether it is biased towards men’s political domination Read more
Michael Ganslmeier
Michael Ganslmeier and Tim Vlandas have developed a new approach to measure the fragility of findings in political science. Showing that empirical results can change substantially when researchers vary reasonable and equally defensible modelling choices, they advocate for greater use of systematic robustness checks Read more
Ankita Mukherjee
India’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine challenges the norms of principled foreign policy. Ankita Mukherjee shows how, while claiming to defend sovereignty, India has deepened ties with Moscow and capitalised on discounted Russian oil. She argues this delicate balancing act signals a shift from Cold War non-alignment to pragmatic multi-alignment in a multipolar world Read more
Robert Nordström
Has Japan really swung to the right? Robert Nordström explores how the collapse of one-party dominance has fuelled European-style populism — and opened the door to wider social change Read more
