Border crises are reinforcing rather than breaking a pan-EU governmental consensus on border security, according to the Migration Policy Centre’s James Dennison and Andrew Geddes. In this post they point out the many new political problems which this focus on border protection creates.

Facebook has morphed into Meta – a metaverse company – amid much hype. In this post, PhD researcher Francisco de Abreu Duarte explores what should be done to prevent the surrender of digital spaces to private and commercial actors.

The recent meeting of US President Joe Biden with the Pope is likely to revive controversy over whether Biden, a devout Catholic, should be excluded from receiving Holy Communion due to his political stand on abortion. In this post, EUI alumnus Radosław Michalski explains the options for defusing the issue, from a doctrinal perspective.

Ambitious emissions reductions are on the agenda at the COP26 summit starting in Glasgow this weekend. In this post, Principal Investigator of the PASTRES project, Ian Scoones, points out some common misconceptions about the relationship between livestock and climate change, and why differentiating between extensive and intensive livestock production and their contrasting contributions to greenhouse gas emissions is so important.

The Taliban’s grab of power in Afghanistan also has repercussions for international justice. Law scholar and EUI alumna Sophie Duroy draws attention to a recent statement by the International Criminal Court Prosecutor that essentially lets the US off the hook for crimes committed in the war against terror.

Are smart glasses a threat to privacy, data protection or even human rights? Law Department researcher Natalia Menéndez González reviews the product’s unconvincing ‘privacy’ features and highlights initial concerns raised by European data protection authorities.

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.