Can anyone explain to me what the Blue Labour justification for this is? Who out there will vote Labour because Mahmood prevented a Sudanese Chevening Scholar? And to be honest, why won’t the PM simply overrule her?
🤫 Unconfirmed rumors of paper shredders working overtime in some Orbán government-funded GONGOs, as well as mid-tier bureaucrats of state institutions stocking up on compromising material (on their own bosses) to help save their jobs in case of a government change
Kind of incredible that Putin's former MFA interpreter is now a Senior Advisor to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and attended a Needs Assessment Mission to Hungary ahead of their parliamentary elections.
Although, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised
www.falter.at/zeitung/2026...
#PublicationoftheDay 📚 "New Approaches to Defending Global Civil Society", a new report by the @europeandemocracyhub.epd.eu and edited by @richardyoungs.bsky.social and @elenepanchulidze.bsky.social.
Access it here 🌐 europeandemocracyhub.epd.eu/new-approach...
When it comes to this policy field, it is getting to the point where there is little to distinguish this Labour government from the conservatives and Reform. This will only keep driving more Labour voters into the Lib Dem and Green columns.
"The question is no longer whether the South Caucasus will be affected by the war in Iran. It already is. The question is whether Yerevan and Baku are prepared to manage that reality together."
Folks, it's here: the first mini-episode introducing you to
Balkanomnicon, my new international affairs & Balkan politics podcast w/ @odgovor.bsky.social. Listen now on YouTube, RSS, Apple Music & in a few mins also on Spotify & all other major streaming platforms. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDJ7...
Independent tech researchers accuse the Trump administration of trying to silence them with threats of visa revocations and deportation. It's leading some to change the focus of their work, self-censor, and even leave the country.
If I had a nickel for every time Franz Ferdinand was involved in the precursor events of a world war, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird it happened twice
I’m briefly in India. This is a facile observation, but Americans have barely scratched the surface in understanding how the rest of the world is reacting to this war. It’s already an Iraq War-style disaster in the global imagination, underscored by the thuggishness and caprice of the Trump approach
Russian Signal/WhatsApp hacking campaign in the news.
1) Hackers are mimicking support to gain credentials; don't trust unprompted support messages
2) Installing Signal/WhatsApp on your desktop increases the risk; don't use them outside your phone if you can
www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/03/09/r...
Academic friends: A colleague at another institution is looking for syllabi on the rule of law. I'm sure many folks (not just that person) would benefit given <gestures wildly> - please share a link if you're willing!
Spare a thought to Danish PM Frederiksen, who called a snap election as the Danish rallied behind her over Trump's threats on Greenland, and now suddenly has an election on 24th of March during a global energy crisis.
An executive at a large global hedge fund with a presence in Dubai said: "We have been exploring how to evacuate people but it's not easy." He added: "It's pretty scary - this is going to have implications for some of my guys... The trade was not that you were getting exposed to geopolitics when moving to Dubai. It was not a consideration. People have moved families. This element of concern is new."
so many people in finance who seem to have only just learned that the middle east is a tad spicy
The Discourse has become sort of numb to the fact that the richest guy on earth and owner of a major social media platform just routinely spits out the kind of nakedly white supremacist shit that until a decade ago you rarely saw outside of places like Stormfront.
Perhaps the only thing dumber than thinking Chalabi would be a good leader for Iraq in 2003 is thinking some Shah is going to survive a few days in Iran.
Iran has been doing "outsourced" vandalism/sabotage/transnational repression stuff in this part of Europe for a couple years now
“People in Washington may be clueless,” Abrahamian said, “but Mossad [Israel’s spy agency] is smart enough to know that . . . you can’t just parachute the Shah in and say, you know, change a regime.”
www.ft.com/content/a5b2...
Proud to have worked on this investigation, just shortlisted for @gijn.org's 2026 Sigma Awards.
It details how an affiliate of a Danish company appears to have taken part in Russia’s pillaging of stolen Ukrainian grain from two occupied ports on the Sea of Azov.
www.occrp.org/en/investiga...
Friends, I am happy to share some exciting news with you. I have partnered with Odgovor.ba to produce a new English-language international affairs podcast with a Balkan accent. It's called Balkanomnicon and the first mini-episode drop will drop this week. Stay tuned!
Ten years and counting and media and commentators are still doing "Trump won't rule out *whatever*".
Completely hopeless.
If the main US and Israeli war aim is simply to destroy the Iranian state and economy then that's more achievable than many on this site think
Trump talking about getting to pick who governs Iran makes it a lot tougher for US to push back against Putin's stated desire for regime change in Ukraine as part of a deal. Of course, that's if we are actually trying to push back against his maximum objectives.
For anyone based in Vienna, the Dialogbüro is organizing a wonderful animation workshop with the incredibly talented Ukrainian animation director Polina Poddubni. Her latest film "My grandmother is a skydiver" premiered at Cannes last year.
Sign up here:
dialogbuero-vienna.at/tpost/animat...
You hate to see it happen.
Strange how decreases in oil prices don't affect gas prices for months, while increases in oil prices affect gas prices within a day. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/b...
📢New on Ballhausplatz 🇺🇦🇪🇺🇭🇺👇
The arrest of seven Ukrainian nationals in Hungary has sharply intensified the already fraught relationship between Budapest and Kyiv, with far-reaching potential consequences for the Hungarian election campaign.
ballhausplatz.substack.com/p/seven-arre...
Stop blaming Neo-Cons for every foreign policy blunder. They were last in power in 2008. If Bob Gates is considered one, then 2011. That's between 18 and 15 years.
Who could have guessed the board of peace would backfire horribly on everyone daft enough to join it??
1956: Hungary's communist leaders phone Moscow for help
2026: Hungary's postcommunist leaders phone Moscow for help
