Maria Merkouraki
EU digital diplomacy during the Russia-Ukraine war has led to the rise of hard-power discourse, writes Maria Merkouraki. The war has disrupted traditional pro-European soft messaging, and shifted the EU's approach to digital diplomacy Read more
Bernardo Jurema
Bernardo Jurema places the recent BRICS expansion into appropriate historical context. It is, he argues, a project to de-westernise the world, opening up new possibilities, including de-colonialisation along the lines of previous historical attempts. It may not be everything that is needed, but it is a significant step forwards Read more
Aida Halilovic
Aida Halilovic argues that Putin’s (flawed) narrative of his invasion of Ukraine is best understood through a historical lens. She highlights the substantial minorities who now live in non-kin states in Europe, and their place in the security landscape of Europe To understand Russia’s rhetoric, it is important to grasp the role that minorities have […] Read more
Valentina Ausserladscheider
Germany's recently announced increase in defence spending reflects a broader European shift in response to the war in Ukraine. Using the concept of path dependency, Valentina Ausserladscheider believes that this shift breaks with the founding idea of peace in the European Union Read more
Steven Langendonk
Steven Langendonk contests the idea that Brussels’ new China strategy is indicative of greater agency. Instead, he says, the EU-China relationship is firmly grounded in internal struggles. The pressure is on to manipulate member states' sentiments and to provide a new political narrative for a changing relationship. Read more
Samuel Brazys
China seeks to control the international narrative on its role in the pandemic. But while Beijing cannot always deflect criticism, its mask diplomacy efforts and external propaganda streams do affect China’s image, write Samuel Brazys, Alexander Dukalskis and Stefan Müller Read more
Franziskus von Lucke
The pandemic still dominates headlines, yet political attention must soon refocus on a crisis even more fundamental: climate change. Franziskus von Lucke argues that to deal with the climate crisis, actors such as the EU must recognise different understandings of global climate justice Read more
Kristin Haugevik
When states are criticised, they normally recognise, reject or counter the critique. Yet they could listen to and contain criticism without directly rejecting or recognising it. Using criticism of Norway’s Child Welfare Services as an example, Kristin Haugevik and Cecilie Basberg Neumann show that diplomatic containment can prevent conflict accelerating and then damaging bilateral relations […] Read more
The Loop
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