Alexander De Juan
Dictators depend on committed bureaucrats to stay in power. To instil loyalty, some indoctrinate through enforced military service. Alexander De Juan, Felix Haaß, and Jan Pierskalla warn that this strategy can backfire. Rather than creating truly convinced cadres, conscription can help bureaucrats get better at faking loyalty Read more
Dionysios Stivas
‘Securitising’ an alleged external threat can be a convenient tool for political leaders to justify extreme measures and policies. Dionysios Stivas looks at the case of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s handling of asylum seekers in 2015 Read more
Akudo McGee
Escalating rule of law crises in Poland and Hungary have led to calls for their expulsion from the European Union. Yet, argues Akudo McGee, such calls overlook the fact that the true losers of Polexit or Hungexit won’t be unruly governments Read more
Veronica Anghel
Major cities in Central Eastern Europe have elected liberal and progressive mayors. But, writes Veronica Anghel, socially conservative attitudes and voting patterns are unlikely to shift at national level across the region Read more
Isak Nilsson
Recent statements denying genocide and spreading hate in Bosnia and Herzegovina are hampering an already difficult process of national reconciliation. A law banning genocide denial is a step in the right direction, writes Isak Nilsson Read more
Ekaterina Rashkova
Following the stalemate produced by April's elections, Bulgaria has just gone to the polls for the second time this year. Ekaterina Rashkova-Gerbrands argues that these elections have resolved nothing, leaving Bulgaria in a dilemma Read more
Dragomir Stoyanov
Dragomir Stoyanov analyses the outcome of recent Bulgarian elections, which, just like the April elections a few months ago, have failed to resolve the power struggle between parties of the establishment and new protest parties. The prospect now looms for combined presidential and parliamentary elections in autumn Read more
Vassilis Petsinis
Euroscepticism manifests itself in different ways in the Balkans. Why? Vassilis Petsinis argues that grasping the differences between attitudes in different Balkan nations helps explain Serbia’s long and complex EU accession process Read more
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