In this commentary, Fatema Jafari, a former Policy Leader Fellow at EUI, calls on the European Union and the rest of the ‘international community’ not to tolerate Taliban brutality but to keep up the pressure on Taliban leaders to respect fundamental human rights and political freedoms.

Initially the COVID-19 crisis appeared to put a halt to street protests and other forms of citizen engagement in Europe. But the pandemic has also increased the value of solidarity, motivating involvement on behalf of people at risk. EUI research fellow Ioana-Elena Oana and colleagues have explored the ways in which perceived threats and ideological predispositions have shaped how and when people mobilise.

Progressive taxes could be one positive outcome of Covid-19, as people demand fiscal fairness following a crisis. SPS researcher Jakob Frizell explores the parallels with war-time fiscal politics and the constraints on governments today to meet such demands. Taxing the rich, he concludes, is still the wise choice.

The Taliban’s ascent to power in Afghanistan marks the end of US state building efforts and perhaps of liberal interventionism. The US and its European allies failed to establish legitimate governance, and thousands of Afghans suffer the consequences. SPS researcher Wolfgang Minatti points out why the Taliban now face a similar challenge.

Policy Leader Fellows Diana Rusu and Nikhil Dubey walk readers through the process of innovation, suggesting some take-aways from a recent roundtable on the concept.

The EU’s capacity to coalesce into a single geopolitical actor is limited on many fronts. However, as Jan Lepeu explains, sanctions have become an effective foreign policy instrument which, beyond serving explicit objectives, also contribute to the European Union’s international standing.

What does peace look like? In their edited volume Making and Breaking Peace in Sudan and South Sudan: The Comprehensive Peace Agreement and Beyond, Sarah M.H. Nouwen and Sharath Srinivasan look at conflict in the two Sudans to demonstrate how the claim to ‘success’ in peacemaking initiatives is actually fraught and contested at multiple levels.

In this article, Policy Leader Fellow Gideon Sarpong encourages West African states to mainstream blue carbon into all policymaking on climate and the environment, including their goals for the Paris Accord.

Policy Leader Fellow Ibrahim Magara walks readers through the security crisis in Somalia, where the terrorist group Al Shabaab adds greater instability to the factious political scenario.

In this article, SPS researcher Elena Pisanelli illustrates the flawed approach to artificial intelligence, where we are training the innovative tool at our disposal to codify and legitimate systemic biases rooted in the past.