It's New Year, so time to look back and forward. These are 10 things I think we need to recognise in 2026. It’s a response to what I think are profoundly damaging mistaken assumptions I’ve heard and read from practitioners, journalists, and analysts in 2025. Warning: very long🧵
PF2026
To all of you out there.
What role does ‘foreign policy specialisation’ play for small EU member states in international negotiations?
In their article, @tomasweiss.bsky.social & Sandra Fernandes define it as a deliberate, enduring prioritisation of a region or topic in national foreign policy.
📄 👉 rdcu.be/eSvP8
The paper is behind a paywall, unfortunately. Contact me if you cannot access it.
It's part of a SI on #CEE actorness. Thanks to the editors @karolinapomorska.bsky.social & Emilian Kavalski. And @mariannalovato.bsky.social, @adinaakbik.bsky.social, @gnoutcheva.bsky.social, Jožo Bátora, Stefan Cibian, Konstantinas Andrijauskas, Magda Góra and @natsty.bsky.social for comments!
The text concludes that the context is as important for the recognition of specialisation as the effort #small states put into it. This finding is relevant for small state scholarship and for foreign policy practice.
The article compares two specialisations in #Czech foreign policy in the EU. It examines resources, discourses, and social networks. It argues that the crowdedness of one of the policy areas explains the difference.
‼️ New publication in Cambridge Review of International Affairs ‼️
My article asks when small state foreign policy specialisation gets recognised by others.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
@ims.fsv.cuni.cz @fsv.charlesuni.cuni.cz @unikarlova.cuni.cz
The article compares two specialisations in Czech foreign policy in the EU. It looks at resources, discourses and social networks. It argues that it was the crowdedness of one of the policy areas that explains the difference.
Are you interested in Teaching & Learning? This is the event for you.
Many are concerned about the return of Babiš to the top of Czech politics. While the results of this weekend's Czech legislative election poses its concerns, I am an optimist. I think Babiš's victory is rather Pyrrhic. Here are some thoughts: blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...
Let us know what you think!
And check our acknowledgments (missing in the article) in this Linkedin post.
www.linkedin.com/posts/tom%C3...
We also identify new research questions that our definition may help address, be it on the specialisation itself, its origins and changes, the domestic politics of specialisation, and the international impacts of specialisation.
We propose a definition of small state foreign policy specialisation. We trace the concept of specialisation across academic literature and policy practice of EU small states.
Read our newest open-access publication in JIRD on small states' foreign policy specialisation:
doi.org/10.1057/s412...
#smallstates #research #EUstudies #academics
#UACES2025 starts on Monday in Liverpool. Once again, a range of brilliant panels. Many of them in our themed track on European security. I hope to see many of you there to discuss foreign interference, small state specialisation, and many other topics.
@uaces.bsky.social @seceur-uaces.bsky.social
Interesting read, even if worrying. Much more reliance on paid WoS in Czechia. But some promotion models started going the Scholar way. Maybe a mistake…
IMS alumni
Jednou IMS, vždycky IMS.
@ims.fsv.cuni.cz
This is great reading. It offers a very limited hope that European defence may ever work, but it does not rule it out entirely, so that's a relief. It's also slightly depressing research-wise. The complexity of it all almost prevents any meaningful understanding. In any case, go and read it!
I really look forward to reading this! Congrats!
My almost 30 minutes on Trump, Russia, Transatlantic relations and all that jazz on the Czech public radio (in Czech).
plus.rozhlas.cz/trump-naslou...
And this, dear readers, is why people go to social media. Not for disinformation and venting their rage, but for exciting analyses of issues they actually never cared about until reading the threads.
A very thought provoking essay. What is the reason we ask students to write?
This is a great post. Students often do not understand the importance of the research question. This post explains it so well!
I am going to save this and go back to it every single time I need to write an abstract. My future me will love me for doing it.
Evidence that humanities help us better understand the world around us.
If you are interested in small states, you mustn't miss the current issue of Small States & Territories, which offers 25 articles on how small states offer answers to big questions. Edited by Hillary Briffa and Anna-Lena Högenauer, it's all open access.
www.um.edu.mt/sst/currenti...
This is such a good story!
Yep. As she says. But Sauna!!!
I think it's a mixed design leaning toward the "classroom" setting. And my guess would be the need to fit all 200 MPs plus the government into a relatively small hall, which was listed. I don't think there is seating organised depending on whether the parties are in government or in opposition.
