Ph. Far-right demonstration on the streets of Paris on 18 January 2026. Pierre Laborde/Shutterstock Deniz Torcu, IE University Across Europe, an emerging pattern is unsettling the assumptions of liberal educators and policymakers alike. Students who study in multiple countries, speak three or four languages, and graduate from globally ranked institutions are gravitating towards
Richard Youngs, University of Warwick Compounding the alarm triggered by Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the erratic unpredictability of the second Trump administration has made the need for European security autonomy obvious. On a number of occasions over the past year, Donald Trump has loosely intimated that he might leave the Nato
Pier Luigi Parcu, European University Institute Europe has spent years building effective tools to measure media pluralism within its member states. This made sense because newspapers, broadcasters, regulators, ownership structures and public service media were organised within national borders. But the media environment is changing. News is now distributed through global digital platforms,
Christine Abdalla Mikhaeil, IÉSEG School of Management When Amazon Web Services (AWS) went down globally in October 2025, millions of users were abruptly reminded how invisible yet indispensable cloud technology has become. From banks and hospitals to airlines and retail platforms, entire sectors slowed or came to a standstill. The disruption followed a
Ph. PM Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have reset the UK-EU relationship – but UK alignment would take things a step further. Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock Ursula F Ott, Nottingham Trent University It is now almost a decade since the UK voted for Brexit and since the tariffs of US president
A lecture hall explodes with sound as the electronic dance hit I Like to Move It by Reel 2 Real blasts through the speakers. A class of 11-year-olds in fluorescent vests bounce through their own version of jumping jacks, urged on by some of Europe’s leading researchers at the front of the room.
Theresa Reinold, EDHEC Business School One of the most striking aspects of the war with Iran is the extent to which it has highlighted the irrelevance of international organisations and multilateral approaches to resolving global conflicts. If we take war as an indicator of the viability of the rules-based international order established after
Jean-Pierre Darnis, Université Côte d’Azur The situation in the Middle East represents a negative framework for Italy, which, like its European partners, is a mere spectator watching a conflict that it does not endorse. Italy is both an exporting nation, sensitive to global economic cycles, and a country characterised by its dependence on
Ph. Iran has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil export routes. Aomkanae sawatdinak/Shutterstock Sergi Basco, Universitat de Barcelona After the US and Israel began their military strikes on Iran on February 28, oil and gas markets were plunged into chaos and energy prices shot up. As
For researchers at the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) in Slovenia, the realisation that gender-balanced research is better research hit home in 2024. That year, scientists at JSI’s space medicine laboratory, working with the European Space Agency, were testing ways to improve astronauts’ health – but only on men. Around that time, US astronaut