Before anyone gets too angry about this, several things. (1) Universities in the UK, unlike the US, are pretty much under the financial and admin control of central govt. If RefUK moves to wipe them out, as they will, then some will choose life. (1/3) www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...

Slovakia's most creative marginal party leader and fraudster, Mikuláš Vareha (1962-2026), passed away. With his drive and creativity, he could have been a leading artist. His enterprises, fraudulent and legitimate, echo works by Keifer, Cattelan, or Basquiat, among others. 1/

The challenge is not just to win the election but to rebuild and reform captured and politicised institutions without further undermining rule of law - a “post-illiberal trilemma” that Poland’s liberal-centrist government has struggled with (see @jodemocracy.bsky.social article by Stanley/Bill).

Marine Le Pen is funded by Russia. "meeting yesterday with the French right wingers, including Le Pen, her husband, about refinancing the National Front Party because apparently a good part of their money comes from Russia. Two thoughts here, these guy seemed like idiots, pure Ruritania"

Magnificently steampunk

The tentacles of the Epstein case now reach into Central Europe….

Interesting point about bypassing versus capturing institutions, but slightly unnecessarily reinventing the wheel – there are indexes galore already - political scientists have been thinking in terms of “executive aggrandizement” for about 10 years . www.ft.com/content/b474...

Here’s why I think this is largely misguided: that such speedy backsliding has been achieved without *the need* for “policy changes” is not an illustration of the resilience of institutions: it shows how compatible with autocracy those institutions were to begin with. www.ft.com/content/b474...

“What the United States is planning for Venezuela is basically to run the country as a vassal state.”

asked the AI “If the Comparative Method was a noble house, what would its coat of arms be?”. Good job.

Interesting profile of Hungarian opposition Peter Magyar. Long interview in English (which Magyar speaks well) with veteran BBC reporter Nick Thorpe who really knows his stuff in Hungary /CE. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Your helpful reminder from Jakub on why democratic restoration is such a can of worms.

"The world trading system ...was a rules-based system, in which everyone considered the U.S. a reliable, trustworthy partner. But now US economic relations with other nations have turned abusive ...this will make Americans measurably poorer." @pkrugman.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

When a politician like Fico comes away shaken after meeting Trump and privately says the US president is out of his mind, we do have to worry. www.politico.eu/article/dona...

Green gain.

Some striking national differences though and national differences which don’t lineup in an East/West or north-south kind of way

A new survey has found that Europeans are feeling downbeat about the state of the world. Overall, 65 percent of those polled think their country is heading in the wrong direction. Check out where your country sits in the ranking 👇 🔗 www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Well, I guess this is what you might call populist pole-arisation.

Well, goodbye to Boris Johnson then.

🎬 SSEES Film Festival! Vol 1: "Resistance" will bring a powerful lineup of films that explore courage, resilience and the fight for change. Screenings are free and open to all. 🗓️ 25 Feb - 25 March 📍 UCL Main campus ➡️ Register for free: www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit...

Disappointing that Gramsci didn’t really write of a “time of monsters” (very, very loose translation it seems) but “morbid/pathological phenomena”. Still, this supposed quote has had me reaching for The Prison Notebooks.

🇵🇱⚖️ We've reached a crucial point in the Polish rule-of-law crisis: a court found a divorce null and void due to a "neo-judge" presiding over the proceedings. Given how quick, easy, and fast access to divorce is in the country, this story will make waves. 1/

Interesting about the influx of (opportunistically) radicalised ex-Tories is radicalising the base - and generating factional conflict. I guess Farage a more radical and conspiracist party to his right to draw off this element and underline his own supposed respectability.

“In short, the central issue [in Latin America and Eastern Europe] may be not so much building democracy as preventing authoritarianism.” Valerie Bunce (1996). Although some of the post-communism literature of 1990s is, understandably, badly dated, this seems in hindsight very much on the money

I wrote about what political science research suggests about democracy building in Venezuela after the way Nicolás Maduro was removed: blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20... We'll see what comes of María Corina Machado's meeting today with Trump-

How long before he is sacked by Nigel Farrage I wonder.

Donald Trump has shown that he is no exception to the history of US presidents looking to special operations to solve their national security problems. buff.ly/u2Hkepa

💥It’s official: Hungary’s parliamentary election will be held on April 12, just three months from now. Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz is trailing the opposition by 10–18 points, yet few believe he wouldn’t do whatever it takes to cling to power. Now he has backing from both Putin and Trump. A dangerous mix.

Plaid the clear go-to anti-populist party in Wales.

Is it time for public ownership of water?

Far-right Czech speaker of CZ parliament Tomio Okamura stirred controversy with virulently anti-Ukrainian New Year message. Now faces a challenge from Jindřich Rajchl, whose smaller PRO party, elected on Okamura’s ticket, seeks separate poll recognition. www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/domac...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's approval ratings suffered following a contentious move in July 2025 to curb the independence of anti-corruption bodies, triggering widespread protests in Ukraine.

A Russian historian's take on what prompted Stalin to leave his son in a German concentration camp, based on the recently declassified interrogation of Yakov Dzhugashvili, Stalin's eldest son.

‘russian world’ in occupied Luhansk oblast: no heating and deliberately cut off from mobile telephones and Internet khpg.org/en/1608815413

Telling. Expect no change.

"With so much written on disinformation and misinformation over the past decade, original research on these topics has become rare. But Daniel Silverman’s 'Seeing Is Disbelieving: Why People Believe Misinformation in War, and When They Know Better' is genuinely novel," reviews Thomas Colley.

It’s all getting a bit Man in the High Castle. One day in the not too far future, I guess, we may be wondering what the US would like if it was a democracy…

#BBCNews - What Trump's vision of the new world order means for Europe www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... By Allan Little

Earlier this week, we set out the steps Donald Trump could take to seize Greenland. Now here’s the flip side: What Europe can do to stop him 👇 #[politi.co/4qMglbx

They started rebuilding in 2025, before Donald Trump’s most recent bid for hemispheric dominance

Incoming Czech populist coalition government reportedly plans to scrap civil service law. denikreferendum.cz/clanek/23836...

Czech PM Andrej Babiš rules out another presidential run. Who you wonder will his candidate be? The search for a Czech Pelligrini begins. As yet unclear if current independent president Petr Pavel will run again.

Guardian picks up on the academically well-rehearsed topic of big city mayors as force for democratic resilience - the issue of an emerging metropolitan / provincial cleavage lies unaddressed www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

🇭🇺🇸🇰 The new year breathes fresh life into an established fact that doing anything related to politics and law in CEE without a degree in history or an adjacent field is extremely difficult.

It's not a myth: leaders sometimes intentionally undermine their governments’ ability to govern. How and why do these leaders seek to dismantle the states they lead? Read "Why Populists Hollow Out Their States": muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/a...

Universities also take note. Pragmatic arguments about reaching people increasingly unconvincing - and morally and politically unsustainable.

Comparison of tweets from comrade @jeremycorbyn.bsky.social on Ukraine & Venezuela. -Russia "enters", USA makes "illegal attack" -Russia actions excused cos of NATO. USA accused of wanting oil -Russia created a "crisis" & offered diplomacy. USA "should be condemned by everyone"

Sometimes the British tabloids just tell it like is.