EUIdeas summer break August 8-23
Dear Readers, EUIdeas will be taking a break from 8 August through 23 August 2022. We will return on Monday 24 August. You are welcome to explore our posts to date, which are always available here. Enjoy the summer.
Dear Readers, EUIdeas will be taking a break from 8 August through 23 August 2022. We will return on Monday 24 August. You are welcome to explore our posts to date, which are always available here. Enjoy the summer.
This response to John Mearsheimer’s recent lecture at the EUI delves into the validity of his central thesis, the quality of the evidence, the broader implications and the concept of academic social responsibility. It finds that Mearsheimer’s explanation of the war in Ukraine is unsatisfactory and rests on shaky empirical foundations.
The EU’s Strategic Compass for Security and Defence was approved in the midst of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. In this assessment of the Compass, Visiting Fellow Michael Sanfey underlines the challenges of internal coordination and external cooperation, and regrets the lack of clarity on the EU’s peaceful raison d’être.
Facebook and other platforms have been criticised for complying with governments that stifle dissent, under various legal guises. Policy Leader Fellow Gideon Sarpong argues that upping investments in field staff and in technology, particularly in the Global South, can do much to prevent harmful content while protecting freedom of speech and of the press.
Russia’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe will deprive the European Court of Human Rights of some of its funding, even as the caseload relating to Russia continues to grow. Law Researcher Helga Molbæk-Steensig explains the key role the Court could play in transitional justice following the war in Ukraine and calls on member states to up their contributions.