‘A lively look at current affairs by a seasoned observer of Spanish political and economic life‘. Section specially commissioned for […]
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Category: National Politics
“Shifting Borders and New Technological Frontiers: The Case of Italy”, Jean-Pierre Darnis (IAI, Italy)
IAI Commentaries September 2018 “Technology is the new frontier”. This concept is so often used that one has trouble tracing […]
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Research Paper on the Italian election campaign, Alexander Grasse and Jan Labitzke (IEP, Germany)
The days following the Italian parliamentary elections on 4 March 2018 were marked by alarmist headlines in the German and […]
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“Brexit: Salzburg makes a people’s vote more likely”, Brendan Donnelly (The Federal Trust, UK)
Over the past two years, the Conservative Party has been riven by the conflict between those who wanted the United […]
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“Spain-US relations and the transatlantic relationship”, Juan Tovar Ruiz (Elcano, Spain)
The first visit of King Felipe and Queen Letizia to the White House was the second top-level encounter between Spain and the […]
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“The Political Cost-Effectiveness of Private Vessel Protection: The Italian Case”, Eugenio Cusumano, Stefano Ruzza (IAI, Italy)
Italy has traditionally been wary of private providers of security. Still, private military and security companies (PMSCs) have recently started […]
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“Pension reform in Russia: A test of the regime’s resilience and citizens’ patience”, Jussi Lassila (FIIA, Finland)
On June 14, the day that marked the kick-off for the FIFA World Cup, the Russian government announced that from […]
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TEPSA Brief “The next generation of European farmers: solutions from Romania”, Maria Balea
TEPSA is happy to present its TEPSA Brief on “The next generation of European farmers: solutions from Romania“, written by Maria Balea in […]
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TEPSA Brief “Tackling Roma youth unemployment in Romania: the role of Youth Guarantee Programme”, Catalina Meirosu
TEPSA is happy to present its TEPSA Brief on “Tackling Roma youth unemployment in Romania: the role of Youth Guarantee Programme“, written […]
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“What Role for the Czech Republic in EU Military Missions?”, Ondřej Ditrych (IIR, Czech Republic)
Policy paper by Ondřej Ditrych seeks to capture how recent strategic trends and Russia’s assertive revisionism in the Eastern approaches […]
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“Political masquerade passed off as a democratic change of government in Georgia”, Paata Gaprindashvili, Mariam Tsitsikashvili, Gia Japaridze (IEP, Germany)
As part of the new series “Eastern European Insights”, a part of our Berlin Policy Hub project, a first commentary on […]
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“Beyond the European Council: Domestic Politics Drives the Migration “Crisis” in Italy and Germany”, Gianni Bonvicini (IAI, Italy)
EU migration policy emerged as the main bone of contention at the recent European Council meeting on 28-29 June 2018. […]
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“Relations between the US Intelligence Community and US Presidents, including the Trump Administration”, Gustavo Díaz Matey (Elcano, Spain)
Intelligence is the main response to the risks and threats facing the national security of a country. The relationship of […]
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“The Challenges of European Policies Implementation in Croatia”, Višnja Samardžija (IRMO, Croatia)
This book edited by Višnja Samardžija is result of the three-year ERESMUS+ Jean Monnet Support to Institution project “POLO-Cro28 Policy […]
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“Will the long-awaited justice prevail in Ukraine?”, Kateryna Pryshchepa (College of Europe, Poland)
Many of Ukraine’s judiciary reforms are starting to take effect. A new Supreme Court has been in place since last […]
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“Catalonia is not Scotland, despite appearances”, William Chislett (Elcano, Spain)
Catalonia and Scotland share grievances that led them to hold referendums on independence, in the first case an illegal vote in 2017, in […]
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“Should Franco’s tomb be removed from his basilica?”, William Chislett (Elcano, Spain)
More than 40 years after the death of General Francisco Franco, Spain’s dictator between 1939 and 1975 and the victor of […]
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“Turkey’s choice: an election that might be too close to call”, Ilke Toygür (Elcano, Spain)
How can one write a pre-election comment when there is so much at stake, society has become so polarised and […]
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“Shifting trafficking routes for illicit narcotics and the importance of Spain-US counter-narcotics cooperation”, Eric L. Olson & Nina Gordon (Elcano, Spain)
Counter-narcotics cooperation between Spain and the US is of growing importance to both countries but remains limited in scope. Flows […]
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“Moroccans and the second generation among Jihadists in Spain”, Fernando Reinares & Carola García-Calvo (Elcano, Spain)
A large majority of Jihadists in Spain are either Moroccans or descendants of Moroccans. But it is more likely for […]
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“Italian and Spanish approaches to external migration management in the Sahel: venues for cooperation and coherence” (Elcano, Spain; IAI, Italy)
This paper is the result of a joint project by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (Rome) and the Elcano Royal Institute, promoted by […]
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“The Trump Administration’s National Security Strategy”, Carlota García Encina (Elcano, Spain)
At the end of 2017 the US published a new National Security Strategy (NSS), replacing the previous NSS of 2015 […]
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TEPSA Brief: “Making the invisible visible: the EU’s impact on the lives of Slovenian people”, Maja Bučar
TEPSA is happy to present a new policy brief on “Making the invisible visible: the EU’s impact on the lives […]
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“It’s the rules, stupid!”: Estonia in the EU MFF negotiations”, Piret Kuusik (EVI, Estonia)
The European Union is currently in the early stages of its negotiations about the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for […]
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“The Role of Innovation Policy in Building National Competitiveness: The experience of Slovenia and Montenegro”, Maja Bučar and Danijela Vojinović Jaćimović (CIR, Slovenia)
The book offers a fresh insight into contemporary challenges in the area of innovation and innovation policy, with a focus […]
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TEPSA Brief: “Spain’s firm Europeanism in an age of uncertainty”, Ignacio Molina & Salvador Llaudes
TEPSA is happy to present a new policy brief on “Spain’s firm Europeanism in an age of uncertainty” written by Ignacio Molina […]
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TEPSA Brief: “Talking Europe: How did Italians do it in the latest election campaign and what will come next?”, Nicoletta Pirozzi
TEPSA is happy two present a new policy brief on “Talking Europe: How did Italians do it in the latest […]
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“The Conte Government: Radical Change or Pragmatic Continuity in Italian Foreign and De-fence Policy?”, Alessandro Marrone (IAI, Italy)
The new Italian government headed by Giuseppe Conte relies on a parliamentary majority formed by the Five Star Movement (Movimento […]
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“Scotland and London: a constitutional crisis over Brexit?”, Andrés Ortega (Elcano, Spain)
Last week the Scottish parliament rejected the Brexit or EU withdrawal bill. A majority of Scottish lawmakers want a substantial […]
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“Religion’s waning influence in Western Europe”, Andrés Ortega (Elcano, Spain)
In general –despite the fact that several countries in the EU have some form of Christianity as their official state […]
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“Spain ups its global presence”, William Chislett (Elcano, Spain)
Spain was ranked 11th out of 110 countries in the 2017 Elcano Global Presence Index, which measures the results of […]
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“Spain is not Italy”, Andrés Ortega (Elcano, Spain)
Italy and Spain are not only highly different, if anything they have become more so. This has become even more […]
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“The sustainability of the questionable US presidency: The Trump era might last longer than expected”, Mika Aaltola (FIIA, Finland)
The 2020 US presidential election could be a close call with a narrow margin of victory. Many key factors underlying […]
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“Italy’s new maverick government: Mixed signals for the EU, bad news for asylum seekers”, Marco Siddi (FIIA, Finland)
The economic agenda of the new government in Rome is preoccupying Italy’s EU partners. However, this should not become an […]
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“The defence of Finland and Sweden: Continuity and variance in strategy and public opinion”, Charly Salonius-Pasternak (FIIA, Finland)
At state strategic decision-maker and public opinion levels, Swedish defence politics fluctuates more than its Finnish counterpart. During the past twenty-five […]
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“Welfare Democracies and Party Politics : Explaining Electoral Dynamics in Times of Changing Welfare Capitalism”, Philip Manow, Palier, Bruno Palier, Hanna Schwander (SciencesPo-CNRS, France)
Read it here
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“The ‘New Turkey’ as a NATO Member: Domestic state transformation and competing strategic cultures”, Toni Alaranta (FIIA, Finland)
FIIA Working Paper 103, May 2018 This study uses the concept of ‘strategic culture’ to analyze how Turkey’s incumbent Justice […]
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“Basque terrorist group ETA disbands after 60 years”, William Chislett (Elcano, Spain)
It has been a long time coming, but finally the Basque separatist group ETA has dissolved itself, ending one of […]
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“The best of all possible worlds”, Andrés Ortega (Elcano, Spain)
«The best of all possible worlds» is a simplistic expression stemming from the philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s complex 1710 Essays […]
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“Turkey’s snap elections: Why in such a hurry?”, Ilke Toygür (Elcano, Spain)
A clear victory for President Erdoğan might not be so sure if the economy turns bad, national pride fades away […]
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“Putin after Putin”, Mira Milosevich-Juaristi (Elcano, Spain)
What have been the keys to the victory of Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections held on 18 March? Does […]
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“Costa Rica: big election surprises, increased polarisation and eroding governability?”, Saúl Weisleder (Elcano, Spain)
The parliamentary elections in Costa Rica, together with the first round of the presidential elections, have opened up a new […]
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“Gibraltar, a possible solution: diffused sovereignty and shared functions”, Ignacio Molina (Elcano, Spain)
Brexit opens a small window of opportunity to attempt to resolve the status of Gibraltar. Read it here
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“Political culture and parliamentarism in Ukraine: current state and main problems” (Razumkov Centre, Ukraine)
The issue №3-4(2017) of the National Security and Defence Journal “Political culture and parliamentarism in Ukraine: current state and main […]
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“Sixth interview of the “Klartext“-series: Open data in Ukraine and the challenge of providing reliable data” (IEP, Germany)
Within the framework of the project “Platform for Analytics and Intercultural Communication” (PAIC) the fifth interview from the series “Klartext” […]
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“Spain’s protests over pensions: no room for populist measures”, William Chislett (Elcano, Spain)
Old age pensioners (OAPs) have been protesting across Spain at their ‘miserable’ pensions which since 2014 have stopped being automatically […]
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“Italy’s 2018 Elections: A Hung Parliament and Four Government Scenarios”, Alessandro Marrone, IAI Commentaries, 18:15, March 2018 (IAI, Italy)
The Italian elections have sanctioned the success of the conservative coalition – made up of an alliance between the Lega, […]
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Fifth interview of the “Klartext”-series: “The public administration reform in the Ukrainian ministries is making considerable progress” (IEP, Germany)
Within the framework of the project “Platform for Analytics and Intercultural Communication” (PAIC) the fifth interview from the series “Klartext” […]
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“Brexit Takes a Back Seat in Northern Ireland”, Jessica Ní Mhainín, IAI Commentaries, 18:18, March 2018 (IAI, Italy)
Northern Ireland stands to lose the most from Brexit, but recent months have seen the Irish language – […]
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Annual Analytical Conclusions and Predictions “Ukraine 2017-2018: New Reality, Old Problems” (Razumkov Centre, Ukraine)
Razumkov Centre presents a new issue of the annual analytical conclusions for the past year and predictions for the next […]
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“Maximizing the outcomes of Spain´s political engagement with the UN”, Jessica Almvist (Elcano, Spain)
With its current seat on the Human Rights Council (2018-20), Spain should strive to continue and revitalise its foreign policy […]
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“A guide to undestanding Italy: the 2018 elections and beyond”, Ilke Toygür (Elcano, Spain)
The Italian elections of March 2018 –which have become a case study for populism– have caused much anxiety in Europe; […]
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“Towers and walls against multiculturalism: Hispanics and Spanish in the Trump Presidency”, Ángel Badillo Matos (Elcano, Spain)
The election of Donald Trump has generated new tensions around the public use of Spanish in the US and, above […]
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Uncertainty in the Italian election: Towards a political stalemate?, Marco Siddi (FIIA, Finland)
On 4 March, Italians will elect a new parliament. While forming a government will prove difficult, a radical change in […]
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Trump’s first year at the helm: Towards a zero-sum world?, Ville Sinkkonen & Mika Aaltola (FIIA, Finland)
Donald Trump’s first year as President has been marked by continuity in US security policy, a partial challenge to the […]
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Yearbook article “Italy” (IEP, Germany)
On 4 March 2018, Italy elects a new parliament. In their article from our “Yearbook of European Integration”, Alexander Grasse […]
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What happened to Europe’s left?, Jan Rovny (CNRS-SciencesPo, France)
in: Blog LSE – EUROPP – European Politics and Policy, February 2018 Only a handful of European states are currently governed by […]
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Three lessons from the Czech presidential election, Jan Rovny (CNRS-SciencesPo, France)
in: Blog LSE – EUROPP – European Politics and Policy, February 2018 Miloš Zeman won a second term as Czech President on […]
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Data Platforms and Cities, Anders Blok, Antoine Courmont, Rolien Hoyng et al. (CNRS-SciencesPo, France)
in: Tecnoscienza, February 2018, vol 8, n° 2, p. 183-190. This section offers a series of joint reflections on (open) data platform […]
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“Franco-German cooperation: A compromise between vision and reality?”, Paul Schmidt (ÖGfE, Austria)
The problems with forming a government after the 2017 German federal election have provided an opportunity for French President Emmanuel […]
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“The Czech Republic: Receiving the First Relevant Chinese Investments”, Rudolf Fürst (IIR, Czech Republic)
The new report prepared by the European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC) contains a chapter from our senior researcher and […]
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“Charting the EU–National Strategic Constellation: Understanding EU Strategy Through Member States’ Strategic Partnerships—an Analysis of the Czech Case”, Benjamin Tallis, Michal Šimečka (IIR, Czech Republic)
That the national foreign policies of EU member states impact on the EU’s strategy and strategic performance as a (global) […]
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“Lack of Engagement? The Spectrum of EU Member State Policies Towards Kosovo”, Tomáš Dopita, (IIR, Czech Republic)
Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February 2008 resulted in a deep division within the European Union. While 23 EU members […]
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“Bulgaria”, Johanna Deimel (IEP, Germany)
in Yearbook of European Integration 2017 Bulgaria has, for the first time in its history, taken over the EU Presidency. […]
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Issue 4/2017 of “integration” published (IEP, Germany)
In the new issue of integration, Funda Tekin explains the basic principles and concepts of differentiated integration in the Area […]
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“GEPS No 01/18: France: Germany’s Indispensable Ally in European Policy-Making”, Ulrich Krotz/Joachim Schild, January 2018 (IEP, Germany)
This German European Policy Series by Ulrich Krotz, European University Institute, and Joachim Schild, University of Trier, examines the importance […]
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The three constituencies of the state: why the state has lost unifying energy, Desmond King, Patrick Le Galès (Sciences Po, France)
British Journal of Sociology, November 2017, vol 68, n° S1 We address resurgent populism by examining structural processes of state transformation […]
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Policy analysis in France, HALPERN, Charlotte, HASSENTEUFEL, Patrick, ZITTOUN, Philippe (dir.) (Sciences Po, France)
Series: International Library of Policy Analysis. Bristol : Policy Press, 2018. 352 p. Policy analysis in France lays the foundation […]
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Spiritual genocide is taking place here, András Inotai (IWE, Hungary)
In: Hungarian Spectrum online Read it here
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Cycles of nationalisation and privatisation, and the role of the state in Ireland, Annamária Artner (IWE, Hungary)
In: Acta Oeconomica, Vol. 67 (4), pp. 557–583 (2017) The article examines how the roles of state institutions and state […]
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The Price of the Russian Elections: Easy to achieve, Putin’s victory will have huge costs, Arkady Moshes (FIIA)
Voters will give Vladimir Putin the mandate to continue great power politics. This does not augur well for any deconfliction […]
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After the Election of No Alternatives: The Kremlin’s domestic political challenges from 2018 onwards, Jussi Lassila (FIIA)
Whereas the presidential election in March 2018 hardly poses any serious challenges to Vladimir Putin, after the election the Kremlin […]
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Latvian Foreign and Security Policy Yearbook 2018, Andris Sprūds & Ilvija Bruģe eds. (LIIA, Latvia)
The Latvian Foreign and Security Policy Yearbook 2018 aims to contribute to the understanding of Latvia’s foreign and security policy […]
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“Brexit is a blank sheet of paper that can never be filled in”, Donnelly, Brendan, December 2017 (The Federal Trust, UK)
The Federal Trust’s director Brendan Donnelly argues that the ambiguous and variously defined terms “soft” and “hard” Brexit have outlived […]
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“A new referendum, but this time about reality?”, Donnelly, Brendan, January 2018 (The Federal Trust, UK)
The Federal Trust’s director Brendan Donnelly explains why he thinks why there will be and should be another referendum before […]
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“Foreign investors on Slovenian business environment: Research results of the 2017 survey among companies with foreign equity”, Andreja Jaklič, Iris Koleša and Matija Rojec, December 2017 (CIR, Slovenia)
For the past 10 years Centre of International Relations (CIR) has been conducting an annual survey among firms with foreign […]
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“Sedition in Catalonia (1): on the brink”, Miguel Otero-Iglesias, December 2017 (Elcano, Spain)
Catalonian crisis has become an earnest issue for the whole Spanish population. A lot of actors are involved in this […]
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“Sedition in Catalonia (2): nationalism vs. cultural diversity”, Miguel Otero-Iglesias, December 2017 (Elcano, Spain)
One of the most popular opinions about what is the trigger of the Catalonian independence process comes from the idea […]
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“Sedition in Catalonia (3): a solution”, Miguel Otero- Iglesias, December 2017(Elcano, Spain)
Finding a solution for the Catalonian crisis is becoming a serious concern. A lot of questions hover around the Catalonian […]
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“Libya s sinking even further into the abyss”, Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde, December 2017 (Elcano, Spain)
Whether one looks at the humanitarian situation, or at politics or at security, the overwhelming impression is that Libya is […]
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“Catalonia secessionist parties regain control of the region´s parliament”, William Chislett, December 2017 (Elcano, Spain)
Despite of the attempts of Rajoy to call elections in Catalonia in order to stop the secessionism reclaims. Once […]
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“Trump and what caused him”, Andrés Ortega, January 2018 (Elcano, Spain)
Why did Trump arrive in the White House is still at the heart of the debate. The plenty of causes […]
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“The Strategic Review of French National Defence and Security in 2017”, Félix Arteaga, December 2017 (Elcano, Spain)
This Strategic Review focuses on the defence and armed forces of France, and not on country´s national security. The […]
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“Venezuela and PDVSA: killing the goose that lays golden eggs”, Asier Achutegui, January 2017 (Elcano, Spain)
In a country that depends almost entirely on its oil exports it seems very strange that its leaders despise the […]
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“Latin America at the beginning of a decisive electoral triennium (2017-19)”, Rogelio Núñez, December 2017, (Elcano, Spain)
The elections that will take place in Latin America between November 2017 and the end of 2019 will serve to […]
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“Austria in Europe: dynamic perceptions and ambiguous politics”, Paul Schmidt (Elcano Iinstitute, Spain in collaboration with ÖGfE, Austria)
Trust in national and European politics has suffered simultaneously over the past decade in Austria. Euroscepticism and discontent with the […]
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“Germany‘s New Instability” – CIFE Policy Paper N°63, Hartmut Marhold (CIFE)
The political system of the Federal Republic has been one of the most stable and solid among Western democracies since […]
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“Democracy’s Eleventh Hour: Safeguarding democratic elections against cyber-enabled autocratic meddling”, November 2017, Mika Aaltola (FIIA, Finland)
Recent elections in the US, France and Germany indicate an emerging practice whereby autocracies meddle in democratic elections by hacking […]
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“A Resilience Approach to a Failed Accession State: The Case of Turkey”, Sinan Ülgen (IAI, Italy)
The concept of “building resilience” in Turkey can be defined as improving the capacity of institutions and society to withstand […]
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“Is there a new institutional response to the crimes of Communism? National memory agencies in post-Communist countries: the Polish case (1998–2014), with references to East Germany”, Georges Mink (CoE, Natolin Campus)
in Nationalities Papers, Vol. 45, No. 6, 2017, pp. 1013-1027. Post-Communist Europe has not chosen to imitate the Truth and […]
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“Reform efforts in Ukraine’s education sector ” – The third interview of the “Klartext” series with Ukrainian think tanks, Mathias Jopp (Ed), (IEP, Berlin)
In the context of the project “Platform for Analytics and Intercultural Communication” (PAIC), the third interview of the “Klartext” series […]
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“Slovenia’s Foreign Policy Opportunities and Constraints: The Analysis of an Interplay of Foreign Policy Environments”, Ana Bojinović Fenko and Zlatko Šabič, (CIR, Slovenia)
Ana Bojinović Fenko and Zlatko Šabič, both from Centre of International Relations at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of […]
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“The Russian Su-57 and the ‘Fifth-Generation’ Challenge”, Michael Eric Lambert (IIR, Prague)
Fifth-generation aircraft – characterised by being stealthy, manoeuvrable, and multi-role and possessing advanced avionics and data processing capacities – are […]
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“Principles of Russian Military Thought”, Nicolò Fasola (IIR, Prague)
The aim of this paper is to identify the enduring principles at the basis of Russian military thought, which offers […]
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“ILR: Kurdistan and Catalonia as New States?”, Tamás Lattmann (IIR, Prague)
During the recent weeks, two major referenda have taken place with a serious ambition: to create new states by secession, […]
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Papal Geopolitics: The World According to Urbi et Orbi, Petr Kratochvíl & Jana Hovorková (IIR, Prague)
“The Catholic Church (or the Church, in this article) is, despite appearances, one of the most influential geopolitical actors in […]
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Could Austria join the Visegrád Group?, Paul Schmidt (Austrian Society for European Politics – ÖGfE)
The leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), Heinz-Christian Strache, has previously proposed that Austria could join the Visegrád […]
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“The “combination”: an instrument in Russia’s information war in Catalonia, Mira Milosevich-Juaristi, (Elcano Institute)
During the independence referendum in Catalonia, Russia used the ‘combination’ (kombinaciya), an operation can integrate instruments such as cyber warfare, […]
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Key Issues and Policy Recommendations by The Third International Conference “Governance and Reform of State Security Services: Best Practices” , Razumkov Centre, Kyiv
This publication offers the Key Issues and Policy Recommendations based on the results of the Third International Conference “Governance and […]
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Key Issues and Policy Recommendations by The First International Conference “Monitoring Ukraine’s Security Governance Challenges: Status and Needs”, Razumkov Centre, Kyiv
This publication offers the Key Issues and Policy Recommendations based on the results of the First International Conference “Monitoring Ukraine’s […]
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