Predictions of regime collapse in Iran often misunderstand the Islamic Republic’s internal mechanics, says Williamkery Gaddam. Authority is not centralised but distributed among clerical bodies, security organisations, and political institutions. This enables the regime to manage elite competition and absorb external shocks, making externally driven transformation far harder than many observers assume
The attack on Iran by Israel and the US can be seen as an attempt to force regime change. Yet, says Cristian Pîrvulescu, authoritarian regimes rarely collapse when leaders fall. Systems built around institutions often survive because they reproduce power through structures that organise coercion and coordinate elites
Political analysis often conceptualises religion as a conservative force opposed to gender rights, incompatible with feminist politics and progressive change. Yet a growing body of research on religious feminisms and gendered religious agency challenges this assumption. Alberta Giorgi invites scholars of politics to rethink how they conceptualise and analyse religion
Andrew Richard Ryder argues that Trump is intent on political vandalism that will undermine the postwar rules-based international order. That order may not have been perfect, but Trump's administration desires a return to interwar dog-eat-dog expansionism and virulent nationalism. Forthcoming elections in Hungary in April, and the USA in November, represent an important opportunity to thwart these regressive ambitions
In 1963, the Munich Security Conference was founded to strengthen West Germany’s integration into NATO. The 62nd annual Conference, which took place 13–15 February 2026, shows the increasing influence of civilisationist politics on transatlantic security, argues Josefin Graef
On 10 February 2026, Russia began throttling the instant-messaging service Telegram, later announcing its full blocking from 1 April. This, says Anna Khan, is no routine act of digital sovereignty. For years, Telegram was a central conduit for the Kremlin's propaganda. Restricting it signals not strength, but an attempt to contain the regime's decentralised nationalist momentum
Global crises place extraordinary strain on international cooperation. Benjamin Faude and Kenneth W. Abbott examine how global governance performs under pressure, arguing that resilience depends on combining robust institutions with flexible arrangements, effective leadership, and the capacity to learn and adapt during crises
Steffen Hurka and Yves Steinebach reveal that EU climate legislation has become so complex that even well-resourced member states struggle to put it into practice. Longer, more detailed laws create implementation failures regardless of administrative capacity, suggesting the EU's climate ambitions may be undermined by how laws are written
Following Israel’s 12-day air campaign in Iran in June 2025, casualty figures varied across media sources, official reports, and humanitarian organisations. Narges Qadirli examines how short urban air warfare exposes structural constraints in the recording, measurement, and verification of civilian harm across conflict datasets and casualty reporting systems
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is supposed to defend democracy from extremist threats. But new statistical evidence suggests that branches of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland are most likely to be labelled extremist in regions where the party is electorally strongest. This pattern, says Henning Schäckelhoff, raises a difficult question: is militant democracy protecting the constitution – or shaping political competition?
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
