Very excited about this next @crexuio.bsky.social and CANSES webinar on the best way to apprehend the use of AI by extremist actors, with Stephane Baele and @lewysbrace.bsky.social on Feb 19 🤩

For an international audience: Forum for Democracy (FvD) is showing its true colors in many ways recently, amongst others by having candidates from extremist extraparliamentary organisations on its local lists

Call for papers for our workshop on electoral politics at the Poletmaal2026 in Ghent on June 11-12. Please join Amber Voets, Chloe de Grauwe, and myself for great discussions of our changing electoral landscape and explanations for voter behavior politicologenetmaal.eu/workshops-20...

Coming out in June. (when @casmudde.bsky.social & I will be presenting it at the @ces-europe.bsky.social conference in Dublin)

I mean, if one psychopath is worried about the state of mind of another, that seems worrisome, right? www.politico.eu/article/dona...

A tragedy. Two million casulties. A war now lasting almost as long as World War I. A Putin led war, enabled by too many other leaders. 🇺🇦 💪🏽 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...

It's worth highlighting, again and again, that several House Democrats without a backbone voted alongside Republicans this week to approve the DHS funding bill, which funds ICE, among others.

Top-notch research from top-notch researchers

📢 New publication! Luke March and I analyse how European radical left parties politicise the Israel–Palestine and Russia–Ukraine wars, comparing positions across 25 parties. Free access (for a limited time) with this link www.tandfonline.com/eprint/2KQ5C...

Meloni sticking to her usual strategy, which so far has worked just fine for her. Moderation in foreign affairs; a stable, predictable rapport with the EU Commission; throwing some bones to her electorate and party members on matters related to migration and asylum...

📢 New publication! Luke March and I analyse how European radical left parties politicise the Israel–Palestine and Russia–Ukraine wars, comparing positions across 25 parties. Free access (for a limited time) with this link www.tandfonline.com/eprint/2KQ5C...

Czech PM Andrej Babis just stressed he ordered a big Globus for about 600€ to find where Greenland is. No, this doesn’t appear to be a joke…

Here is only at first paradoxical reaction I believe we will see more of - AfD member of the Bundestag Kay Gottschalk argues the US tariffs over Greendland call for more European sovereignty, a European military alliance, a German nuke and ends his video with the slogan "Long live Europe".

⏰ Reminder: deadline tomorrow! Submit your abstract for the MIDEM workshop “Polarized Democracies: New Lines of Division in Europe” (11–12 June 2026, Dresden). Especially for Early Career Researchers including postdocs.

Roger Waters is sort of a Mearsheimer of rock music. Why would anyone still care about his idiotic opinions on…pretty much anything?

Grüße from the Beach 🇦🇹

Very happy to share this OPEN-ACCESS article on 'left populism in office', examining Podemos' policy impact while in a coalition government in Spain (2020-2023) 👇 Very short summary below (1/5): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I’m organizing (late) a panel on gender and political parties in southern Europe for the upcoming ECPR general conference. Please contact me if you would like to be included. Deadline is Friday, so pls contact me asap. Thanks!

Don’t know what to make out of 🇨🇿 PM Babis’s statement that he doesn’t need to explain to vd Layen the 🇨🇿 far-right’s leader Okamura (currently the chair of the chamber of deputies) statements about her, as she doesn’t know who Okamura is. Is he suggesting that Okamura is a useless nobody? I hope so

Just imagine being an IR Realist this morning

Hot off the press: M. Weisskircher and S. Volk. “The People Against the Sun? Ideology and Strategy in Far-Right Parties' Climate Obstruction of Solar Energy”. In: Environmental Politics online first (2025), pp. 1-32. dx.doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2025.2458380.

I wrote my usual “looking-ahead-at-the-new-year” piece for my friends at @voxeurop.bsky.social — available in 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹🇪🇸

Donald Trump is unpopular in Europe, according to the new POLITICO Poll. Even among the supporters of right-wing populist parties he sees as allies.

"From Sweden to Spain, researchers found that extremist messaging was woven through cultural aspects of everyday life, both online and offline. (...) These cultural elements serve as gateways, at times helping to reel people into extremism, Kondor said."

“It’s not impossible that they’re acting on behalf of Kremlin. It’s also possible that they are acting on behalf of themselves, because, of course, they are pro-Kremlin. But the end result is pretty much the same” is my quote in this new piece on the AfD🇩🇪 and 🇷🇺

Ahmed al Ahmed, the man who tackled one of the Bondi killers, became an Australian citizen 3 years ago. His deed was "his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship." He took 5 bullets, and fears he'll lose his left arm. www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

"Kiew und Moskau" 🤡

I talk about Frohnmaier and his “Kremlin love affair” in this recent piece as well www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Im Vorfeld der #Landtagswahl 2026 in Rheinland-Pfalz setzt die AfD ihre langfristige Strategie fort, lokal gegen #Windkraft zu mobilisieren. Sie versucht dabei, lokale Konflikte gezielt zu instrumentalisieren. Meine Einschätzungen für @tagesschau.bsky.social. www.tagesschau.de/inland/regio...

Fascinating read! H/T @jakubw.bsky.social

Westerners are lucky to have never lived under Ru occupation so they don't fear it. They imagine it as a distant, theoretical limit that doesn't affect individuals' lives. The leftists imagine it can't be worse than living in/under the American empire. In reality...

📣Call for panels & papers for the 2026 ECPR GC! Join the E&D‑endorsed section “Extremism in Extreme Times: Moving Beyond the Mainstream,” co‑chaired by C-REX scholar @drkondor.bsky.social and former C-REX guest researchers @gretajasser.bsky.social & Ryan Switzer. Submit now! ecpr.eu/Events/Event...

Can’t wait to be back in Oxford in a few months!

Just signed my first ever book contract! 🎉🎉 Can’t wait to work on this with the great @sarahwagner.bsky.social and Luke March

🚨 New Publication! 🚨 In this piece, I examine both the extreme and the more “moderate” factions within the AfD 🇩🇪 and compare their positions on 🇺🇦/🇷🇺 with their stances on 🇮🇱/🇵🇸. Key insights and findings👇🏻 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

This article is also part of a #SpecialIssue that I'm editing together with @manesweisskircher.bsky.social, Steffen Kailitz, and @gertpickel.bsky.social - so keep your eyes open for more work on the AfD in eastern Germany! 🔎

🎉 New publication 🎉 Why do #youngpeople vote for the #AfD? This question has kept our research project busy for quite some time, so I'm beyond excited that our first article - co-authored with @timonscheuer.bsky.social - is now out in #GermanPolitics! 🤩 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Not sure if exposing a far-right politician’s past in the porn industry will actually hurt their support, but since we now have a case in 🇨🇿, maybe we’ll soon be able to assess it empirically 🤦🏻‍♂️😅

Can't make this up: 'The AfD parliamentary group supports the trip and, according to a spokesperson, will cover the costs. The goal, they said, is to keep communication channels with Russia open.'

Terrific project on #YouthWings by some great colleagues. Read and share!

Not a bad place to spend a Friday teaching

“We are pleased to accept your paper in its current form…” 🤩

Andrej Zaslove and I wrote down our thoughts on the recent Dutch election results, noting the continuing relevance of the far right and the hollowing of the (liberal) centre. 👇 @qmul-sse-cgd.bsky.social @qmulsse.bsky.social

I am sooo ready for this

"It is this nativism that has seeped so deeply into the mainstream, rather than the populism." Excellent post-election interview with @sldelange.bsky.social 🇳🇱

I completely agree with @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social that the term "democratic fascism" wrongly insinuates that today's fascism has a "democratic" character. The fact that it operates - for now - within a democratic system does NOT make it democratic. blnreview.de/en/ausgaben/...

📊 now in English @fesonline.bsky.social: Gender gap in voting behavior in Germany📊 It's about the “big picture” since 1953 & current trends 2021-2025. The gender gap keeps growing, especially among the young. -> Longer trends are continuing & partly accelerating. library.fes.de/pdf-files/a-...

🆕 What happens when the #RadicalRight looks fondly to the past? 🇪🇸🇵🇹 @populismblog.bsky.social & @steven-vanhauwaert.bsky.social introduce #AuthoritarianNostalgia — exploring how supporters of VOX and Chega connect today’s politics with memories of 🇪🇸 and 🇵🇹 authoritarian eras. #Populism 📖

I see that some reviewers don’t even bother to hide the complete use of chatGPT anymore, like literally just copying and pasting the output of the command “describe the paper and find its strengths and weaknesses.” And I am seeing that from a position of a reviewer, (luckily) not the (poor) author.