At Davos 2026, world leaders no longer spoke as architects of a shared international order, but as actors positioning themselves amid its visible unravelling. Assertions of raw sovereignty stood alongside anxious appeals to law, values, and legitimacy. This, says Süleyman Güngör, reveals a global system drifting decisively away from rules, and towards power
Left-wing populists tend to be inclusionary and egalitarian towards ethnic minorities. But Ugo Gaudino points out that their defence of Muslim communities’ religious grievances often clashes with their secular agenda. While they may de-securitise Islam, they frame other issues and groups as urgent security threats, in line with the populist friend-versus-enemy conception of politics
Russia continues to rely on its sub-strategic nuclear arsenal, and NATO is therefore hoping in vain for sub-strategic nuclear arms control negotiations. For three decades, says Wannes Verstraete, the Alliance has merely been 'waiting for Godot'
Nelson Santos, Sofia Serra-Silva, and Tiago Silva analysed voting patterns in Portugal’s parliament. They found that the legislative behaviour of populist radical-right Chega contradicts the party’s anti-system rhetoric. Meanwhile, conflict has reached unprecedented levels in what was historically a consensual parliament
Hungary is gearing up for national elections in April 2026. The authoritarian Fidesz party – in power for over fifteen years – is campaigning hard in the online realm. Alíz Nagy puts these developments in the broader context of digital authoritarianism
Michael Asiedu argues that in Guinea and Gabon, judges are doing more than routine certification. By validating post-coup elections, courts transform military rulers into constitutional presidents — without requiring genuine democracy
You might think that most people have misperceptions about immigration. Yet many false beliefs are merely low-confidence guesses, rather than firmly held views. Drawing on new Swiss survey evidence, Philipp Lutz and Marco Bitschnau show that this distinction has important implications for understanding public opinion, and for the quality of democratic debate
On 24 December 2025, Algeria passed a law recognising French colonisation as a state crime, and calling for restitution and reparations. The law is primarily domestic and symbolic. But Morgiane Noel argues that it signals a significant postcolonial shift that could influence African politics, Europe–Africa relations, and discussions of historical justice in international law
On 3 January 2026, US military invaded Venezuela, capturing and removing president Nicolás Maduro. But Vasabjit Banerjee and María Isabel Puerta Riera caution that beyond the ousting of Maduro, the Trump administration doesn't appear to have a plan for sustaining a democratic regime
The US capture and extraction of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on 3 January 2026 was an act without precedent. But Ruairidh Brown argues that recent events in Caracas were only the second Act in an unfolding post-exceptionalist world order
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