Nicholas Ross Smith
Four years after launching its Indo-Pacific Strategy, the EU still isn't seen as a serious geopolitical player in the 'region'. Closing this perception gap, not building more capability, argues Nicholas Ross Smith, is Brussels' real challenge Read more
Amir Alecperov
Amir Alecperov argues that militant democracy – the principle that a democracy may lawfully limit certain democratic rights to protect democratic constitutional order – is not only compatible with EU law but urgently necessary. Romania’s post-1989 legal framework offers a tested model. Moldova is applying it in real time Read more
Kaweh Kerami
Kaweh Kerami argues that the Taliban’s first visit to Brussels was not recognition, as the EU insists, but something politically consequential all the same: proof that repeated contact can hand an unrecognised regime real standing, one technical meeting at a time Read more
Anya Kuteleva
In June 2026, US far right figures and manosphere influencers appeared at Russian state-linked events and in military propaganda. These moments, argues Anna Kuteleva, reveal a mutually beneficial alliance: Russia offers legitimacy, platforms, and refuge, while the anti-gender right normalises authoritarianism by recasting it as culture war Read more
Marius Bales
Marius Bales and Max Mutschler argue that precision weapons do not protect civilians. Indeed, in autocratic systems, they can make civilian suffering more targeted. In eroding democracies such as Israel and the US, weakening checks on executive power may also loosen military restraint Read more
Ilan Kapoor
As states adapt through alternative trade networks, shadow fleets, and new payment systems, Ilan Kapoor reveals how sanctions increasingly impose costs without securing political compliance Read more
Dennis Shen
For decades, Europe prospered under American security guarantees, open trade and cheap external imports. That world is disappearing. Faced with a more antagonistic United States, a rising China and global geopolitical competition, Dennis Shen says the EU must either become a strategic power in its own right – or risk longer-term decline Read more
Taylan Utku Düzgün
Taylan Düzgün argues that Turkish–Russian coordination in Syria has never reflected a true strategic alliance. Instead, both sides have developed limited forms of cooperation to contain escalation while pursuing fundamentally incompatible goals. The Syrian conflict shows how rivalry and coordination increasingly coexist in contemporary international politics Read more
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