Amir Alecperov
Amir Alecperov argues that Russian emigration after 2022 has not produced a break with imperial thinking – it has exported it. From Central Asia to the Baltic states and Germany, a troubling pattern emerges: Russians abroad carry the same mentality that enabled the war. Host states have the right, and the tools, to respond Read more
Sabine Volk
In countries across Europe, Pride events celebrating LGBTQI visibility face threats of violence. This, warns Sabine Volk reveals the transnationalisation of far-right activism and the mainstreaming of trans-hostile discourse. Democratic states, she says, are failing to protect marginalised communities Read more
Maike Bernhard-Rump
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 Read more
Dominika Remžová
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 Read more
Maya Ikene
The EU's ambition to strengthen defence cooperation is exposing new tensions at the heart of EU leadership. Maya Ikene argues that the Future Combat Air System reveals the limits of the Franco-German 'engine' of European integration and why future European defence initiatives may require broader coalitions beyond Paris and Berlin Read more
Shamsoddin Shariati
Europe’s support for the US-Israeli war on Iran, in the hope of securing American backing for Ukraine, is a strategic mistake, argues Shamsoddin Shariati. Rather than buying goodwill in Washington, European leaders are undermining their own security, credibility, and strategic autonomy Read more
Henning Schäckelhoff
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? Read more
Lisa Brünig
Germany recently passed incremental liberalisations to its abortion law. Yet access to abortion remains under threat, and far-right and conservative forces blocked its partial legalisation. Lisa Brünig explains how the erosion of reproductive rights in Germany is symptomatic of broader democratic backsliding Read more
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