The crushing defeat of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz in Hungary’s 2026 elections gives the EU a rare opportunity to reform its enlargement policy. Iveri Kekenadze Gustafsson argues that this moment can accelerate candidates’ path to membership and prevent single states from derailing the process for domestic or bilateral political gain
Philipp Lutscher, Jonas Bergan Dræge, Carl Henrik Knutsen and Karsten Donnay draw on three survey experiments across Venezuela, Turkey and the United States to show that visual strongman propaganda can deter opposition movements and mobilise supporters. Its effectiveness, however, depends on regime type and political context
Maike Bernhard-Rump argues that citizens’ trust in elections is shaped less by actual risks than by how they imagine them. Drawing on evidence from Germany and Austria, she shows why perceptions of voting security — not digital threats — play a decisive role in shaping electoral confidence
For decades, European democracies have celebrated rising gender equality in parliaments, cabinets, and party leadership. These gains matter. But if we look only at elite politics, argue Catherine Bolzendahl and Hilde Coffé, we miss a quieter, equally consequential story: how ordinary women and men take part in democratic life
Maya Ikene argues that the Iran war is not just disrupting gas markets, but redrawing Europe's energy alliances. As Italy and Spain both rushed to buy Algerian gas, the scramble reveals an uncomfortable truth: the green transition is underway, but not fast enough to prevent the next crisis
Sonja Priebus argues that the key to Péter Magyar’s landslide victory lay in the incumbent regime’s vulnerability. Magyar’s emergence on the political scene in 2024 caused a crack in the system, and triggered a shift in expectations that enabled Tisza’s victory
In social media, while documenting what gets said is important, understanding who posts which sources to raise their visibility is also key. Katharina Tittel, William Allen, and Pedro Ramaciotti use immigration in France to show how far-right users of X cite sources strategically to achieve their goals
As security tensions rise in the Gulf, Kuwait's Al-Arfaj flower has emerged as a symbol of resistance, unity, and resilience. Eiman Alabdulghani explains how the bloom has quickly become a focal point of public sentiment, galvanising citizens and residents in a powerful display of solidarity with the forces tasked with defending Kuwaiti sovereignty
Donald Trump’s forthcoming visit to Beijing in May follows trips by Canada’s Mark Carney, the UK’s Keir Starmer, and Germany’s Friedrich Merz. The agreements reached, says Dominika Remžová, reflect not only the interests of political elites but also how economic structures shape each country’s China policy
Aikerim Bektemirova analysed 120 posts on the social media platform ‘Threads’, focusing on Kazakhstan’s March referendum. Her findings reveal that critical narratives spread further than supportive ones. Here, she argues that digital platforms amplify emotional and confrontational content, creating unbalanced online political debate
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