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December 2024

There is Little Evidence Extreme Weather Events Spur Political Action on Climate Change

Extreme weather events like flooding and wildfires are often cited as evidence of the need to tackle climate change. But do these events lead to real political change? Drawing on a new study covering nine European countries, our Assistant Professor in European Politics Dr António Valentim and his co-authors find no evidence of a shift in the political attention paid to environmental policies in the aftermath of extreme weather events.

Ideologising Europe and Europeanising Ideology: Political Party Ideologies and the European Union

A new paper has been published under our Europe in Question (EIQ) Discussion Paper Series authored by our Visiting Fellow, Dr Marta Lorimer.

"There is a persistent narrative in European Union politics that presents the EU as ‘nonideological’. A closer look, however, reveals that EU integration has been (and still is) the source of multiple ideological struggles, especially for political parties. [...] This paper sets itself the task of conceptualising the relationship between political party ideology and the process of European integration."

How Far-Right Parties in Europe Used EU Resources to Gain Power

In a new article for the Politics and Rights Review, our Visiting Fellow Dr Marta Lorimer summarises her book, Europe as Ideological resource: European Integration and Far-Right Legitimation (Oxford University Press, 2024), which argues that the EU has served as a provider of financial, electoral, and symbolic resources for far-right parties.

November 2024

Professor Nicholas Barr Wins Jon Aldecoa Award for His Studies on Pension Sustainability

Professor Nicholas Barr, Professor of Public Economics at the LSE European Institute and School of Public Policy, has been awarded the Jon Aldecoa Prize by the Loreto Mutua in collaboration with the Novaster company for his studies on the sustainability of pension systems.

Join us in congratulating Nicholas Barr for receiving this prestigious recognition of his work.

Read the full story.

The EU Must Take the Territorial Dimension of Industrial Policy Seriously

Is there a misalignment between EU cohesion policy and the EU’s industrial policy? Professor Vassilis Monastiriotis and Tea Gamtkitsulashvili (Department of Geography and Environment) show that while the former targets less developed areas of the EU, the latter predominantly aids well-developed regions.

How Lunch Breaks Reduce Transparency and Help EU Leaders Reach Agreement

Discover a new blog article which draws on new research by Dr Mareike Kleine and Samuel Huntington, an EI Class of 2022 alumnus now economist at the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

What the European Left Can Tell Us About Neoliberalism

Europe’s left has traditionally championed social protection, labour rights and expansive welfare states. Yet as our Nicholas Barr Fellow in European Political Economy Gianmarco Fifi and Virginia Crespi de Valldaura explain, the left has also played a key role in sustaining and shaping neoliberalism.

Bill Phillips and the Phillips Machine

Bill Philips is known as an LSE economist and inventor, but less well-known is his adventurous early life, extraordinary war record and unorthodox entry into an academic career.

Professor Nicholas Barr remembers the adventures and achievements of his former teacher – who is most famous as the originator of the Phillips Curve – in a new article for our LSE history blog.

The Vicious Cycle of Migration Criminalisation

Rather than fostering security, restrictive measures such as the criminalisation of migration create a vicious cycle of insecurity and irregularity. So why do states increasingly turn to these measures?

Drawing from her recent research, Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina has pushlished a new article for the International Institute of Australian Affairs.

Physical and Digital Connectivity Can Protect Rural Areas from Depopulation

Many rural areas across Europe have experienced a decline in their populations over recent decades. Drawing on new research from Spain, Visiting Senior Fellow Dr María A. Prats and co-authors Fernando Merino and Carlos-Javier Prieto-Sánchez show that the provision of digital communication infrastructure should be viewed as an important priority in efforts to prevent the depopulation of small and medium-sized municipalities.

What Does a Second Trump Presidency Mean for EU and UK Trade Policy?

Our Associate Professor in International Political Economy Dr Robert Basedow writes that if the new administration stays true to its word, US trade policies will usher in a period of great instability in global economic governance and will have important implications for both the EU and the UK.

How Europe Should Woo Trump

Shell-shocked Europeans will be tempted to hunker down and hope that Donald Trump does not make good on his most extreme threats, like sweeping import tariffs and quitting NATO. But this would be a catastrophic mistake. Europeans must swallow their pride and try to capitalize on Trump’s craving for admiration, argues our Visiting Senior Fellow Philippe Legrain in a new article for Project Syndicate.

What a Tariff War by Trump on China Could Mean for EU Trade

The prospect of Trump's presidency isn’t exactly stellar for EU countries that trade heavily with China, says Professor Iain Begg in an interview for TVP World.

"On the whole, the EU is going to want to be aligned more with the US than with China. [...] There is a fear that European companies and European exporters will be hit by tariffs that Trump proposes to impose across the board," Professor Begg commented.

Watch the full interview here.

Harris or Trump? America’s Attention to Greece has Waned

As the world holds its breath over the outcome of the US presidential elections, how strong are the ties that bind the US and Greece together?

In his latest opinion piece, Professor Kevin Featherstone argues that, no matter the outcome of the US election, Greece seems less relevant to the US, even as a “friendly” ally. And a more inward-looking US is a problem for the West.

The LSE European Institute launches its 2023/24 Annual Report!

We are delighted to announce the publication of our latest Annual Report, covering the 2023/24 academic year at the LSE European Institute.  

In this edition, we take full stock of our activities, from new research and publications by our faculty and research centres, to our teaching and student engagement programme, to our external engagement through our public events and alumni outreach.

Discover our 2023/24 Annual Report.

Reeves’ Budget is Right on Strategy and Objectives

Rachel Reeves’ Budget included higher spending for public services, and higher taxes as well as borrowing in order to fund it. In a new LSE Politics and Policy blog article, Professor Nicholas Barr argues that, given the inheritance of this Labour Government, the Budget demonstrated that the Government has the right strategy and objectives, even though the policies contain an element of unpredictability and risk.

Negotiating With Your Mouth Full: Intergovernmental Negotiations Between Transparency and Confidentiality

Transparency lies at the heart of canonical theories of international negotiations and institutions—yet it is rarely directly measured or explained. This paper, co-authored by Dr Mareike Kleine and EI alumnus Samuel Huntington (MSC EIPP, Class of 2022), economist at the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, explores the potential downsides of transparency reforms in intergovernmental negotiations and institutions.

Their findings challenge received positive and normative theories about transparency in international institutions, and contribute to the literature on informal governance, negotiation studies, EU politics, and the transnational democratic deficit.

Read the full piece.

Globalisation and International Migration to the EU

Our Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina has co-edited a Special Issue in Social Sciences with Professor Leila Simona Talani (KCL), which addresses international migration to the EU in the globalisation era.

This Special Issue includes 10 articles which discuss: migration policy (including Dr Rosina's piece on the criminalisation of migration); migration and climate change; as well as migration, digilitalisation, and the labour market.

Discover all the articles here.

October 2024

Reforming the fiscal framework – ten lessons from elsewhere for Rachel Reeves

With the budget fast approaching and confirmation that Rachel Reeves will change the UK’s fiscal rules, Professor Iain Begg looks at what lessons she might learn from other countries’ fiscal frameworks in a new piece for UK in a Changing Europe.

Migrants Serving Migrants? Representative Bureaucracy at the Front Lines of Migration Management

The ways in which minority street-level bureaucrats construe their identities as state representatives and as representatives of minority clients are known to inform their discretionary behaviour toward clients, thereby shaping policy outcomes. While existing studies have examined race and ethnicity as shared identities between minority bureaucrats and clients, the role of “migrant” identity has been overlooked.

Focusing on the so-called European migration crisis of 2015–2017, our Visiting Fellow Dr Katerina Glyniadaki addresses this gap in her latest research (originally based on her PhD thesis at the EI) by drawing on qualitative interviews with migrant bureaucrats. Using a representative bureaucracy lens, she examines what happens when migrants become migration policy implementers in Athens and Berlin.

Tested by the COVID-19 Economic Shock: Peace-Positive Entrepreneurship and Intergroup Collaboration in Post-Conflict Business Recovery

Establishing economic collaboration between previously antagonistic groups during post-conflict business recovery advances peacebuilding by nurturing intergroup ties. However, we have a limited understanding of how post-conflict intergroup economic collaboration develops and how it is sustained.

To fill this gap, Professor Denisa Kostovicova and her co-authors examined the role of intergroup interactions in decision-making of entrepreneurs in post-conflict business recovery, and in response to the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, by conducting fieldwork on two micro-economies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Learn more.

Tough Decisions Loom in Britain's 1st Labour Budget in 14 Years

The countdown has begun for the new British government to unveil its first fiscal plan, which will also be the first budget since the Labour Party returned to power after 14 years. On Oct 30, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, Britain's first female chancellor, will make her budget statement to the House of Commons.

"It's an opportunity that might never be replicated to do some of the tough things because they have both a large majority and still some goodwill from having won the election so comprehensively just a few months ago," Professor Iain Begg commented. Labour has four and a half years to fix the economy and the British society before facing judgment in the next election in 2029, he added.

Read the full piece.

Criminalising Migration: The Vicious Cycle of Insecurity and Irregularity

Recent years have witnessed growing emphasis on exceptional measures to address unauthorised arrivals. In her latest article, our Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina unpacks the relationship between migration policies, irregularity, and insecurity, by examining the consequences of a specific, yet often neglected, measure: the criminalisation of irregular migration (namely, the introduction of the “crime of irregular migration”). Investigating the cases of Italy and France, two of the countries with the most severe sanctions in Europe, Dr. Rosina argues that criminalisation led to a two-fold feedback loop.

Read the full article.

The International Economy: "Grading the Negative Rate Experiment"

The central banks’ experiment with negative interest rates is over, but the debate remains. The world economy survived a global financial crisis and is still functioning well. Pushing interest rates close to the Effective Lower Bound in case of need has become part of the central banks’ toolkit. Yet, such a move remains controversial and likely contributed to inflating asset bubbles and imbalances (an “unnecessary free money distortion”).

Our Visiting Professor in Practice Lorenzo Codogno’s commentary on the topic has been featured in The International Economy’s latest issue of “Grading the Negative Experiment”.

Learn more.

The 'Future' as Politics: A Conversation with Jonathan White

Deputy Head of the European Institute and Professor in Politics Professor Jonathan White, was recently interviewed by Sumit Sharma Sameer on ink & insights podcast to discuss how the concept of 'future' shapes and defines political discourse.

Watch here.

September 2024

Europe's Future as Seen by British Academic

Italian economist Mario Draghi's report was eye-opening for Europe as to whether the continent still counts as a major global player. But are all the recommendations in the publication itself valid?

Don Arleth speaks with our Professorial Research Fellow, Professor Iain Begg, on what Europe has to do keep up with the U.S. and China.

Watch here.

Women in Politics are Less Risk Averse Than Men

Women are often assumed to be more risk averse than men, but is this also true of politicians? Drawing on a study of candidates in Portuguese elections, Dr Miguel Pereira, our Assistant Professor in European Politics, has co-authored a blog with fellow researcher Pedro C. Magalhães, summarising their finding that, on the contrary, women standing for election tend to be substantially more willing to take risks than the men running against them.

Inventing and Re-inventing Populism to Protect Europe: The Case of the Italian Partito Democratico, 2007-2022

Dr Gianmarco Fifi, our Nicholas Barr Fellow in European Political Economy, has published a new paper Open Access in The International Spectator, which studies the Italian Partito Democratico (PD) to understand how populism has been used by its critics to support European integration.

Dr Fifi argues that, as a relatively empty signifier, ‘populism’ affords parties scope to adapt to different circumstances, as evidenced by the evolving use of the term in relation to shifts in policymaking paradigms at the European level.

Read the full article.

Turkey Holds Key Interest Rate Again

Dr Orkun Saka has been interviewed by CentralBanking.com about the tight monetary policy recently pursued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.

“There still seems to be some interference on the exchange rate market by the Turkish central bank that artificially keeps the Turkish lira overvalued. Once that interference ends, there will again be upward pressures on import prices due to the devalued lira, which may initiate another difficult cycle of inflationary dynamics,” Dr Saka commented.

Cohesion and Industrial Policy in the EU

Professor in Political Economy Vassilis Monastiriotis’ paper with Tea Gumtkisuasvili, “Cohesion and Industrial Policy in the EU” has been published in the EU Industrial Policy Report 2024 produced by the LUISS Hub for New Industrial Policy and Economic Governance (LUHNIP) (see Chapter 7).

The report can be downloaded here or here and it is also available as a flipbook.

The Tools of External Migration Policy in EU Member States

External migration policies, in which states cooperate with third countries to help manage migration, are now increasingly common. In a rapidly changing world, countries are forging unexpected alliances to tackle irregular migration. From Italy’s recent partnership with Albania to the EU’s collaboration with Egypt and the UK’s ties with Rwanda, a new migration system is emerging, centred on enhancing the “external dimension” of migration policies.

Drawing on this new research, our Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina has co-authored a new EUROPP blog with Iole Fontana which sheds light on the key tools used by EU member states to implement these policies.

Serious Starmer Leads a Roundhead Revival

Instead of categorising Keir Starmer as left or right, it is possible to understand him in an older British political divide, which goes back to the civil war of the 1640s: Roundheads versus Cavaliers.

In this new Financial Times article, Professor Stefan Collignon comments on this parallel, arguing that this divide remains visible on the UK’s political map today.

Read here.

Gold-plated Public Sector Pensions Cost Every Household £173,000

The value of pensions already guaranteed to workers in Britain has reached close to £5 trillion, projections suggest. This leaves every household with a bill of £173,000 to fulfil promises made during decades of generous final salary schemes. Professor Nick Barr, expert in public economics, told The Telegraph that public sector pensions should be monitored, like private schemes are, to make sure they’re affordable.

Read here.

Report: EU Facing Existential Risk Without Investment

A new report ordered by the European Commission warns that the EU faces an "existential challenge" unless it vastly increases investment and reforms its industrial policy. Speaking to the BBC, our Visiting Professor Lorenzo Codogno warned that gathering the necessary political support to implement the recommendations of the “provocative and bold” report would be “extremely challenging”.

Read here.

World Insights: British PM Recalibrates Ties with EU, Seeking More Consensus

Eight years after Brexit, Starmer's choice of Germany and France for his first visits signals a desire to reset strained relations with the EU. Professor Iain Begg told Xinhua that he sees this approach as the right choice for Britain, as the EU represents an important source of potential cooperation on critical issues.

How the Gaza War is Bringing Turkey and Egypt Together

Turkish President Erdogan used to describe his Egyptian counterpart el-Sissi as a "murderer" — but now uses "brother" instead. The recent rapprochement is in part driven by a shared perspective on the Israel-Hamas war. Our Visiting Fellow Dr Selin Nasi told Deutsche Welle how the outbreak of the war in Gaza made Egypt become increasingly important for Turkey.

Read here.

August 2024

What Does the Worst Rioting in 13 Years Say About U.K. Society and Politics?

Britain's newly-elected Starmer government is facing a major test as violent social unrest flares across the country. The administration has blamed disinformation and far-right influence for the U.K.'s worst rioting in 13 years.

In this CGTN broadcast, Professor Ian Begg discusses the potential underlying causes and consequences of the riots, noting: "It's not systematic political violence, it’s opportunistic. And that opportunism is a key part of the story."

Watch the full discussion here.

Past news (View archive)

How Was Vladimir Putin Covered by State-controlled Media While the Regime Became Increasingly Centralized?

Drawing on transcripts from a popular television network and news source in Russia, JUSTINT Research Officer Lanabi La Lova has published new research which examines how a present-day autocrat attempts to optimize the intensity of state-controlled propaganda.

Read in Political Communication Journal.

Rachel Reeves Should Rethink the Fiscal Rules

During her first big speech as Chancellor, Rachel Reeves re-committed to following the fiscal rules during Labour’s time in government. Professor Iain Begg examines the shortcomings of the fiscal framework Reeves has inherited and argues that the UK should learn from its European counterparts when it comes to using public expenditure to advance the Government’s priorities.

Beyond the North-South Divide: Transnational Coalitions in EU Reforms

Prominent accounts assert that the Euro Area is deeply divided between North and South, with Central Eastern European member states being ignored. Can transnational coalitions in EU help bridge this divide?

Check out a new publication resulting from the Policy Crisis and Crisis Politics “SOLID” European Research Council Project, co-authored by Visiting Professor Waltraud Schelkle and Research Officer Dr Zbigniew Truchlewski on the stability of transnational coalitions in EU reforms and the North-South divide in the Euro Area.

Read the full article here.

UK-EU Ties to Dominate European Political Community Summit

With the topic of UK-EU relationship likely to dominate talks at the European Political Community Summit, Professor Iain Begg told Euronews this will be a good opportunity for “constructive engagement” between the two parties.

Read more here.

Will a Land Development Shake-Up Boost Labour’s Housebuilding Plans?

Visiting Senior Fellow Dr Thomas Aubrey has been quoted in a Financial Times article on Labour government’s attempt to drive down land prices and free up more money for affordable housing and infrastructure. His report on the Land Value Capture policy estimated that it could generate an extra £10.7bn a year to help fund infrastructure and affordable housing.

Read the full article here.

Efforts to Form a New French Government Drag On

As France’s MPs are expected to form a coalition government this week, what would be a likely scenario going forward? Visiting Fellow Dr Joseph Downing discusses the current deadlock surrounding the selection of a new French prime minister in a recent interview with France24.

Watch here.

Discursive Interaction and Agency in Transitional Justice: A Conversation Analysis Perspective

In a new article from the 'Justice Interactions' JUSTINT European Research Council Project, Dr. Denisa Kostovicova sets out how agency in transitional justice is facilitated or constrained at the micro level of communication in formal and informal settings based on patterns of interaction in the Croatian Parliament.

Read the full article here.

Six Messages to the New Government for How to Restore the UK

The new Labour government faces an enormous task of restoring the wounds to the UK economy and public services caused by Brexit and the austerity years, among other things. Professor Nicholas Barr offers six pieces of advice for how to make the job a little easier.

Read the full piece at the LSE British Politics and Policy Blog here.

How Labour can Fix our Broken Public Services

As part of a five-part LSE British Politics and Policy blog series, Dr Abby Innes and Gwyn Bevan have co-authored an article arguing that besides more funding, the way Labour can improve the country’s broken public services is by improving their governance.

Read more here.

How Markets are Ready to 'Do the Dirty Job' of Fighting Le Pen

In a new Telegraph article, Professor Iain Begg warns that markets will be rattled if Le Pen secures a majority in the ongoing French elections.

Read more here.

Grandstanding Instead of Deliberative Policy-Making: Transitional Justice, Publicness and Parliamentary Questions in the Croatian Parliament

Check out a new publication resulting from the 'Justice Interactions' JUSTINT European Research Council Project, co-authored by Dr. Denisa Kostovicova and Research Officer Lanabi La Lova on the publicness of transitional justice processes. The authors undertake a quantitative study of parliamentary questions to demonstrate how the public nature of post-conflict transitional justice undermines its normative goals.

Read the full article here.

On Labour's Empty Rhetoric of The Long Term

Professor Jonathan White has published an article for The New Statesman critiquing Labour Party’s empty rhetoric in the long term, in an era of emergency politics.

Read the full piece here.

France’s Hard-Right Wants to Cut the EU’s Budget – Brussels Should Be Worried

Jordan Bardella, the president of National Rally, wants to cut France’s contribution to the EU’s budget by nearly £2.5bn, to keep the money in Paris. However, achieving cuts to the EU budget contributions may prove easier said than done.

“They would face an immediate sanction from a case being put in the European Court of Justice, which would find France very rapidly in breach of its obligations,” Professor Iain Begg told The Telegraph.

Read the full piece here.

What Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Tell Us About Crisis Management?

The EU responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with an unprecedented set of measures, including its Next Generation EU recovery package. Dr Gianmarco Fifi, Nicholas Barr Fellow in European Political Economy, examines what the EU’s response can tell us about crisis management.

The Seesaw Relationship between Turkey and Israel

In her latest article, Visiting Fellow Dr Selin Nasi discusses Turkey’s policy shift towards Israel and explores the implications of its government’s pro-Hamas stance.

Read here.

Europe Must Fight the Far-Right Surge

After the far right’s gains in the European Parliament elections, mainstream parties can either sit idly by or tackle the problem head-on, as French President Emmanuel Macron seems to be doing. Calling the populists’ bluff offers the best chance of victory by showing how their radical policies could backfire, argues Visiting Senior Fellow Philippe Legrain in a new piece for Project Syndicate.

Can the French centre hold against Jordan Bardella and the National Rally?

Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call a snap legislative election in France has been viewed as a major political gamble. Can the French centre hold against Jordan Bardella and the National Rally?

Visiting Fellow Joseph Downing argues the election could represent the culmination of two decades of decline for French mainstream parties.

Read on EUROPP Blog.

Changes to the European Parliament

"Despite the expectations that the far-right would gain enormously, it really has not. The generally pro-European parties in the centre of the European Parliament have maintained 63% of the seats. They constitute, therefore, a working majority for getting most of the European Union's business that relies on the parliament happen."

Listen to Professor Iain Begg's full analysis of the recent changes, or lack thereof, within the European Parliament on TVP WORLD.

Professor Iain Begg Interviewed About Impact of EU Elections on Economic Policy

Professor Iain Begg has recently completed a series of interviews discussing the results of the European Parliament elections and their potential impact on economic policy in the EU. He argues that far-right gains are unlikely to disrupt EU policies significantly.

Watch on CGTN Europe and on TVP World here and here.

Reinforcing Each Other: How the Combination of European and Domestic Reforms Increased Competition in Liberalized Industries

There is a consensus over Europe’s transformation into a highly competitive economy through a series of ambitious pro-competition reforms. However, both the European Commission and national actors have legislative authority over competition policies.

In this new research, EI Phd student Tommaso Crescioli examines who the critical actors behind this legislative and economic transformation in this multi-level system are. Focusing on the liberalization of state-owned industries and using a staggered difference-in-differences approach, the paper shows that the effectiveness of European directives in decreasing firm-level market power increased with the extent of preceding domestic pro-competition reforms.

Read here.

The Two Sides of Giorgia Meloni Ahead of the European Parliament Elections

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy are expected to significantly increase their share of seats in the 2024 European Parliament elections. Visiting Fellow Marina Cino Pagliarello argues that Meloni could soon face a choice between leading the opposition in the European Parliament or embracing her pragmatic side in the hope of securing a greater voice over key decisions.

What’s behind the rise of the far right in Europe?

Dr Marta Lorimer was recently invited to discuss the rise of Europe's far right and how it is influencing mainstream politics on Al Jazeera English together with Professor Cas Mudde (University of Georgia).

Watch now.

How Voters’ Preferences and Policy Priorities Have Shifted Ahead of the European Elections

The five years since the last European Parliament elections have seen multiple crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the related energy crisis.

Visiting Professor in Practice Lorenzo Codogno and Mara Monti write that these shocks have prompted changes in the policy priorities of both the EU’s institutions and its citizens. However, while a shift to the right in the European Parliament may not threaten the integration process as in the past, it could still undermine the balance needed to face future challenges.

Read here.

The External Dimension of Italian Migration Policy in the Wider Mediterranean

Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina has co-authored a new article providing the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of the external dimension of Italy’s migration policy (EXMIPO) in the Mediterranean over the past 30 years.

Building on an original dataset spanning over 30 years and 125 instruments, we investigate how and to what extent Italy cooperated with countries of origin and transit in the management of migration flows.

Explainer: Fiscal Frameworks

In this new piece, Professor Iain Begg and European Institute MSc student Daniel Cicak explain what fiscal frameworks are and why they are important, using the UK and Germany to illustrate distinctive approaches.

Read here.

The EU’s Finances: Time for Genuine Change?

The European Commission will soon start the protracted process leading towards its next Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) settlement. In a new piece for Encompass Europe, Professor Iain Begg asks: "Can the EU break out of the status quo trap that has bedevilled previous deals since 1988?"

Read Professor Begg's four propositions for change here.

To Report or Not to Report on Research Ethics in Political Science and International Relations: A New Dimension of Gender-Based Inequality

In a new article Dr Denisa Kostovicova and Dr Ellie Knott (LSE Methodology) find that women drive research ethics reporting in political science and IR, shape knowledge of research ethics and do so differently than men.

How Ideas of the Future Can Help Us Find Time for Democracy

In his new book, Professor Jonathan White explores how ideas of the future are integral to politics and democracy. We need to retain our commitment to longer-term thinking to counter the sense that time is running out, he argues.

The EU’s Future Prosperity: What Role for the Fiscal Framework?

Public investment in Europe has been low in recent years, resulting in shortcomings in infrastructure and other public assets capable of underpinning economic growth and competitiveness. Could better fiscal frameworks be part of the solution to shortcomings in European competitiveness?

Discover a new article discussing the EU's future prosperity by Professor Iain Begg and European Institute MSc student Daniel Cicak.

Read here.

Digitalizationa and Democracy in the West Balkans

Check out a new publication resulting from the 'Justice Interactions' JUSTINT European Research Council project by Dr Sanja Vico on the role of social media in enabling dialogues about war crimes legacy, including policy recommendations.

This publication by the Aspen Institute Germany provides an overview of the recommendations developed at their Podgorica conference as well as the input papers that guided the discussions. This includes a paper by Dr Vico entitled 'Polarization and Dialogue on Social Media'.

Access the publication here.

Croatia: The 2024 European Parliament Elections – The First Test for a New Government

The European Parliament election in Croatia will be held just two months after the country’s parliamentary election in April. Visiting Fellow Ivor Sokolić writes that much of the debate from the parliamentary election is likely to continue during the European vote.

Read on the EUROPP Blog.

Dr Denisa Kostovicova Awarded Honorable Mention for Best Book Rothschild Prize

Join us in congratulating Dr Denisa Kostovicova for receiving an Honourable Mention for the prestigious Best Book Joseph Rothschild Prize in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies for her book Reconciliation by Stealth: How People Talk About War Crimes.

This prize is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Nationalities for an outstanding book published in the previous calendar year on Russia, Eastern Europe or Eurasia, in which substantial attention is paid to questions of ethnicity and/or nationalism.

Buy the book.

Rise of the Far Right: Is EU Stability at Risk?

The past few years have seen the normalisation of far-right parties across Europe. Mark Owen spoke to Dr Marta Lorimer, Fellow in European Politics at the European Institute, who argues that the far-right is here to stay and that mainstream politicians must address the root cause of the rise of the far right, rather than adopt its ideology.

Watch the full interview on France 24.

Turkish Central Bank Raises Inflation Forecast

Dr Orkun Saka has recently been interviewed by Central Banking about the political pressures on Turkish central bank.

“There is definitely indirect, implicit political pressure,” Dr Saka says, given the “many negative spillovers of raising interest rates in the short-term”.

Read the full article here.

Europe as Ideological Resource: European Integration and Far-Right Legitimation in France & Italy

We are pleased to share a discussion hosted by Professor Jonathan White which dives into Dr Marta Lorimer's new book: "Europe as Ideological Resource: European Integration and Far-Right Legitimation in France & Italy."

Joining us for this fascinating exchange are also Professor Sofia Vasilopoulou (King's College London) and Dr Stijn van Kessel (Queen Mary University of London).

Watch or listen to the podcast.

European Elections, National Repercussions: Analysing the 2024 European Parliament Elections in Italy

Dr Marta Lorimer will be joining a roundtable discussion about the European Parliament elections in Italy hosted by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute.

When: Mon 20 May (6:00-7:00PM CEST)
Where: Online

How Much Should We Spend On the NHS?

"When inflation is higher, the NHS budget needs to rise accordingly. In recent years, even that low hurdle has not been met."

There is an apparent paradox when it comes to NHS funding: the government is spending a record amount of money on it, and yet it is underfunded. Professor Nicholas Barr explains why NHS costs are rising faster than inflation and outlines what would have to change for the NHS to be fully funded.

Read on the LSE British Politics and Policy Blog.

Did the Euro Reduce Market Power?

Academics have argued that changes in product markup trends show that the European markets, abetted by the adoption of the Single Market and stronger antitrust enforcement, have become more competitive over the last half-century, whereas American markets have become more concentrated.

Assistant Professor in European and International Political Economy Dr Angelo Martelli and PhD candidate Tommaso Crescioli have published new research which argues that a study of labor market power in Europe muddles the picture of higher competition in Europe.

France: The 2024 European Parliament Elections – A Pre-Presidential Election?

Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National is predicted to be the big winner from France’s European Parliament election. Dr Marta Lorimer writes that while many will be tempted to interpret the outcome as a sign that Le Pen could win the 2027 presidential election, it would be ill-advised to read too much into the results.

Post-Brexit Border Fees Could Drive Up UK Food Inflation

As post-Brexit border checks for plants and animal products imported from the EU come into effect, Mark Owen talks to Professor Iain Begg about the impact on food inflation. They also discuss post-Brexit migration policy as Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris says Ireland will not “provide a loophole for anybody else’s migration challenges”.

Watch here.

Dr Matilde Rosina's Article Becomes The Most-Read Piece in Policy Studies

Join us in congratulating Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina, whose article titled, "Migration and Soft Power: The EU’s Visa and Refugee Policy Response to the War in Ukraine," has become the most-read piece in Policy Studies this past year!

Read the full article.

Democracy Has Run Out of Future

Professor Jonathan White's new book, In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea, has been reviewed in Foreign Policy.

Read the book review.

Varieties of Ideology. Reassessing Europe’s Open Society and Its Enemies in the Euro Area

A new paper has been published under the EI's EIQ discussion paper series authored by Stefan Collignon and Davide Orsitto.

"The coherence of ideological narratives in the Euro Area is a necessary condition for the sustainability of the monetary union. Narratives shape political preferences and if they diverge persistently, cooperation between member states becomes impossible. We measure the evolution of ideological narratives in member states of the Euro Area over half a century in a two-dimensional space."

Read the full paper.

UK Labour Party May Hit Bank Deposits at BOE, UBS Analysts Say

Professor Paul De Grauwe has been quoted in Bloomberg UK discussing the implications a Labour government would have on the amount commercial banks earn on deposits held at the Bank of England.

Explaining gendered political participation after victimisation in post-war Kosovo

Join our next Europe@LSE Seminar featuring Dr Elodie Douarin, Associate Professor at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at UCL, and chaired Dr Denisa Kostovicova from the LSE European Institute.

While most of the research to date has failed to investigate gendered differences, where they have been investigated, researchers have evidenced stark differences in the relationship between victimisation and political participation between genders, revealing gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms linking the two, as post-traumatic growth does not imply gendered outcomes.

When: Tues 30 April, 12.45 - 2.00pm
Where: CBG.1.07, LSE Campus and ONLINE

Learn more.

Greece’s Prime Minister Wants His Nation to be the Comeback Story of the Decade

Professor Kevin Featherstone has been quoted in a TIME profile on the Greek Prime Minister's plans for making "his nation [...] the comeback story of the decade".

Read here.

Special Issue: Higher Education During Times of Crisis in Türkiye

How is Higher Education in Türkiye responding to the country's recent and ongoing crises?

It's a topic the LSE Higher Education Blog is exploring all this week in a special issue with Contemporary Turkish Studies and the LSE European Institute.

Read here.

The Effects of Wars: Lessons from the War in Ukraine

Dr Matilde Rosina has co-authored a new article in a special issue published in Policy Studies which proposes a heuristic framework to map the effects of war in Ukraine terms of ripple and backwash across a range of interconnected layers of societies. Through this framework, the article then introduces a set of empirically rich and theoretically informed studies from across multiple disciplines which examine the first consequences of the war in Ukraine.

How has the far right gained power across Europe – and did European integration have anything to do with it?

Dr. Marta Lorimer will be presenting her new book, Europe as An Ideological Resource: European Integration and Far Right Legitimation in France and Italy, at the upcoming LSE Research Showcase this month.

When: Tues 30 April, 11 - 11.30am
Where: Shaw Library, LSE Campus

Dr Gianmarco Fifi Receives a MSCActions Global Fellowship

Join us in congratulating Dr Gianmarco Fifi, the Nicholas Barr Fellow in European Political Economy at the LSE European Institute, for receiving a Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Global Fellowship for his project on the Left and European integration through crises at UC Berkeley and the European University Institute.

WhatsApp Government: On Technology, Legitimacy,and the Performance of Roles

Mobile instant messaging is widely used in governing circles today. In his latest article, Professor Jonathan White considers the implications for political le-gitimacy, examining how far the technology encourages those in authority to act consistently with the obligations that comewith their roles. It looks at several recent political scandals in which officeholders are alleged to have transgressed public normswith their use of instant messaging.

Read here.

Mayoral Shutdown of the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels

Professor Iain Begg commented on the mayoral shut down of the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels on LBC News.

Listen here.

The End of Peacekeeping

Dr Denisa Kostovicova will be joining a panel discussion hosted by the Department of Gender Studies and the LSE Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) about Professor Marsha Henry's new book, The End of Peacekeeping.

Unlocking Better Regulation in Europe

Has the quality of EU regulation worsened in recent years and why?

Visiting Professor in Practice Anthony Teasdale was interviewed on the Centre for European Reform podcast to evaluate von der Leyen's term as Commission President.

Listen here.

Most Countries Do Not Take a Fair Share of Refugees – Here’s How We Could Incentivise Them

The refugee convention outlines what states must do to offer protection and support and to whom. It does not, however, have any mechanisms to make sure responsibility is equally shared between states. In her latest piece, Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina proposes different ways to incentivise states to take more responsibility, without a legally binding system.

Read here.

Italy’s Economic Miracle is Not What It Seems

Is Italy experiencing a new economic miracle? Visiting Professor in Practice Lorenzo Codogno has written a new commentary piece for OMFIF, an independent think tank for central banking, economic policy and public investment.

When manipulated, Codogno argues, numbers can say anything you want them to. But there are limits. And if we leave the demagoguery aside, the figures still do not seem to offer much hope for Italy’s long-term economic prospects.

Dilemmas and Challenges Around the EU Budget

The EU budget needs extensive reform both to resolve longstanding shortcomings and in anticipation of a further enlargement of the Union, argues Professor Iain Begg in a new insight piece for the Centre for European Reform.

Read here.

Book Review: Criminalisation Does Not Deter Irregular Migration: Evidence from Italy and France

Phd Candidate Daniela Roxana Movileanu has reviewed Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina's book, The Criminalisation of Irregular Migration in Europe: Globalisation, Deterrence, and Vicious Cycles.

"The strongest assets of the book are its interdisciplinary approach and its rich analysis of the effects of criminalisation laws, which have so far eluded rigorous scholarly scrutiny," writes Daniela.

Read her full review here.

Jonathan White on the Politics of the Future and What It Means For Democracies

Professor Jonathan White was invited to speak on The UK in a Changing Europe Podcast with Professor Sarah Hall about his new book, In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea, the relationship between technology and democracy, his thoughts on direct democracy and much more.

Listen here.

What Have Fourteen Years of Conservative Rule Done to Britain?

Dr Abby Innes' new book, Late Soviet Britain: Why Materialist Utopias Fail, has been featured in a new article by The New Yorker discussing the last fourteen years of Conservative rule in Britain.

Read here.

Performance Framework for the EU Budget - Concepts and Practices

Professor Iain Begg has co-authored a new study requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets (BUDG) on performance-based budgeting, an integral element EU spending governance.

This study looks at the principles behind this approach and explores how it is being implemented in Cohesion Policy and the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The analysis reveals marked differences between how performancebased budgeting functions in these two frameworks and sheds light on both benefits and drawbacks in their implementation.

Read here.

Shaping and Sharing Knowledge to Tackle Global Challenges: Universities as ‘Informal’ Diplomatic Actors?

Join us in congratulating Dr Marina Cino Pagliarello who will be joining the Loughborough University Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) as Visiting Fellow in May 2024 to continue her research on informal dipomacy.

Dr Pagliarello will deliver a hybrid seminar on their research, fully titled "Shaping and sharing knowledge to tackle global challenges: universities as ‘informal’ diplomatic actors?," on 14 May 2024 from 2:00-3:00pm.

Mais, Maybes and May Nots – Rachel Reeves and the UK’s Fiscal Rules

In a new blog article for UK In A Changing Europe, Professor Iain Begg has analysed Rachel Reeves' Mais lecture and her proposals on fiscal rules.

"The worry must be that by accepting the current debt rule, with its manifest flaws, Reeves will miss the opportunity to bring in a better fiscal framework," Professor Begg writes.

Social Media, Stereotypes, and the Acknowledgement of War Crimes

Dr Sanja Vico, a Research Associate at LSEE, has published a new JUSTINT academic paper which explores how people discuss war legacies to understand the role of social media in promoting justice and peace.

Read here.

In Conversation With Dr. Marta Lorimer About Her New Book

How did far-right parties go from the margins to the mainstream and did Europe have anything to do with it?

We sat down with Dr. Marta Lorimer, Fellow in European Politics at the LSE European Institute, to discuss her new book coming out on March 28, “Europe as Ideological Resource: European Integration and Far-Right Legitimation in France & Italy”.

Coming out 28 March 2024.

Watch the video. | Pre-order here.

Student Protests Go On as Greece Passes Private Universities Law

Professor Kevin Featherstone, Professorial Research Fellow at the LSE European Institute and Director of the Hellenic Observatory, has been quoted in a Times Higher Education article discussing the latest student protests in Greece against the new private universities law.

The War in Ukraine and the Geopolitics of Migration

In the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU gave temporary protection rights to Ukrainians fleeing the conflict and suspended a visa facilitation agreement with Russia.

Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina writes the response to the conflict illustrates the importance of migration policies for the EU’s soft power.

Read on EUROPP.

Macron’s Flawed Plan to Protect France From Le Pen and the Far Right

Marine Le Pen is leading Macron in the polls for June’s European elections. Will the far-right leader translate that support into winning the presidency in 2027?

Critics argue that Macron has helped legitimize the party and normalize its leader. “He said that he was going to be the anti-Le Pen candidate,” says Dr Marta Lorimer who researches the far right. “All he has done is essentially suggest that Le Pen is the only possible alternative to him, which is a terrible message to be sending.”

“Un-sustainable” Development Goals as a New Dimension of the European Monetary Union Core-Periphery Dualism

A new paper has been published under the EI's EIQ discussion paper series authored by Roberta De Santis, Lorenzo Di Biagio and Piero Esposito.

"While the persistent core-periphery dualism within the European Monetary Union (EMU) has been extensively studied, its relationship to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains unexplored. [...] Our findings shed light on the interaction between the SDGs and the EMU's internal cohesion, offering preliminary interesting policy insights."

Read the full paper.

EU Far-Right 'Rising Steadily' For Decades As Centrists Embrace Their Policies, 'Give Them Traction'

Dr Marta Lorimer was invited to discuss the surprising rise of the new far-right Chega party in Portugal on FRANCE 24.

"The causes for its success are multiple, but a lot of it had to do with corruption scandals that touched the other political parties, and with the leader who is a fairly respectable former centre-right politician, who's quite well-known across the country," Dr. Lorimer commented.

Watch here.

Upcoming LSE World Café Featuring Dr Marta Lorimer

Our Fellow in European Politics Dr Marta Lorimer will be speaking at LSE's next World Café on ‘What’s the future for democracy?’ alongside fellow experts from the LSE Department of Media and Communications, LSE Department of Anthropology and the LSE Electoral Psychology Observatory. ️

In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea – Review

Professor Jonathan White's new book, In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea, has been reviewed by Dr Aveek Bhattacharya on LSE Review of Books.

Read here.

How judges make decisions on difficult asylum cases

When judges assess difficult asylum cases, what guides their decision-making?

Drawing on a new study, our LSE Fellow Dr Katerina Glyniadaki shows how judges can experience a conflict between their role and their personal identity when dealing with “grey area” asylum cases.

Read on EUROPP.

Professor Jonathan White On His New Book "In The Long Run"

Ideas of the future were central to the making of the modern world and are reshaping today’s societies in an age of emergencies and existential concern.

We spoke to our EI Deputy Head and Professor in Politics Professor Jonathan White about his new book, In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea.

Join us on Monday 11 March 2024, for a book launch duo at the LSE European Institute, which brings together social and political theorists to explore what the future means today, how we got here, and what’s at stake.

Watch the video. | Register for our event.

Has the UK Saved 191 billion Pounds By Not Participating in the EU Covid Recovery Fund?

Professor Iain Begg was invited on BBC Radio 4 to respond to Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg's claim that the UK has saved 191 billion pounds "by not being part of the EU's covid recovery scheme".

Find out here.

Four Questions About the West’s Future Support for Ukraine

As the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, the West appears divided over how to support Ukraine.

In his latest article for the EUROPP Blog, Associate Professor Dr Spyros Economides assesses four key questions underpinning the role of the West in the war, arguing that for future support to be effective, western leaders must found their actions on pragmatic concerns rather than moralism.

The Discipline of Hope: Abolishing the Prison of Immobility in Post-Deportation Narratives

Dr Niina Vuolajärvi has published a new article in The Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (JEMS) examining the role of hope in the stories of people with experiences of deportation collected during a photojournalistic research project following deportees from Europe.

Drawing on the political philosophy of hope, specifically Ernst Bloch, this article explores the complex and ambiguous presence of hope and despair in the stories of deportees.

Europe Must Rearm Now

The growing likelihood of an unhinged Donald Trump returning to power and acting on his threats to withdraw the United States from NATO should serve as a wake-up call for Europe, writes Visiting Senior Fellow Philippe Legrain in Project Syndicate. Instead of hoping for the best, European countries must boost their military spending and establish a robust defense union.

"Is Democracy Future-Proof?" New Podcast with Jonathan White and David Runciman

2024 is set to be the biggest election year in history but what happens to politics when it’s always about the next election? We lose our sense of perspective, says Professor Jonathan White — and to our peril. The erosion of medium to long-term political thinking and the decaying of our political attention span has not only warped our political priorities, but has, he argues, endangered a pivotal idea central to democracy: the future.

In conversation with host of the Past, Present, Future podcast, David Runciman, Professor White draws from his recent book, In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea, to make the case for looking further ahead than your next 'x' at the polling station.

Listen here.

Brexit-Like Rhetoric On Immigration No Longer Works

Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina has co-authored a new article with Dr Cristina Juverdeanu which has been published on the LSE British Politics and Policy Blog.

The article examines the current Government's rhetoric on curbing immigration, which has strong echoes of the Brexit campaign. As they point out, the same themes, keywords, and even graphics are being used by the Government that were originally used by Brexit campaigners. The only difference is, this time the campaign doesn’t seem to be working.

A Two-Tier System of Reserve Requirements to Fight Inflation More Fairly and Effectively: Answers to Our Critics

Professor Paul De Grauwe has co-authored a new article with Professor Yuemei Ji (UCL) for VOX EU which responds to criticisms from observers of the proposal to introduce a two-tier system of minimum reserve requirements in order to reduce the size of transfers to banks.

Read here.

Can the UK Learn From the New EU Approach to Fiscal Governance?

Professor Iain Begg has published a new blog which discusses the new approach to fiscal rules and obligations for member states that EU finance ministers have agreed on and whether there are lessons for the UK.

Read here.

Deciding On Asylum Dilemmas: A Conflict Between Role And Person Identities For Asylum Judges

Fellow in International Migration Dr Katerina Glyniadaki has published a new article in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (JEMS) examining how asylum judges in Germany and Greece make decisions under conditions of high uncertainty.

Drawing on original interview data with lay and administrative judges from the respective capitals, the study focuses on ‘grey area’ asylum cases and sheds light on the decision-making mechanisms used by judges.

Read here.

The Tools of External Migration Policy in the EU Member States: The Case of Italy

Visiting Fellow Dr Matilde Rosina has co-authored a new article with Iole Fonatana which has been published in the Journal of Common Market Studies (JCMS).

The article explores the external dimension of migration policy in the EU member states, through a policy tool approach. It offers a new analytical framework for conceptualising member states' EXMIPO, and builds on an original dataset spanning over 30 years. Through the case of Italy, the article demonstrates that member states have developed an intense external action at the bilateral level in the field of migration, which has expanded quantitatively and qualitatively, alongside (and despite) EU initiatives.

Read here.

How Can Public Policies Facilitate Local Cooperation? Insights From the EU’s Wine Policy

Dr. Kira Gartzou-Katsouyanni, a PhD graduate of the European Institute, has published a new journal article which develops an account of Facilitative Overarching Institutional Frameworks (FOIFs) as macro-level institutions that abate the obstacles to local cooperation. Through qualitative evidence collected via fieldwork, it is shown that the EU’s wine policy is a good example of a FOIF, and that it has crucially contributed to the puzzling emergence of demanding forms of local cooperation in the Greek wine sector.

Professor Simon Glendinning Reviews Alan Montefiore's Book

The book review of Alan Montefiore's book, Philosophy and the Human Paradox: Essays on Reason, Truth and Identity, by Head of the European Institute Professor Simon Glendinning has been published in the journal MIND: A Quarterly Review of Philosophy.

Read here.

In The Long Run — Jonathan White On How Democracies Are Losing Faith In The Future

Professor Jonathan White's new book, In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea, has been reviewed on The Financial Times' list of "The best books of the week".

Read the book review.

In Conversation With Dr. Abby Innes About Her New Book

Why has the United Kingdom, historically one of the strongest democracies in the world, become so unstable?

We sat down with Dr. Abby Innes, Associate Professor of Political Economy at the European Institute, to discuss her new book, Late Soviet Britain: Why Materialist Utopias Fail.

Want to hear more? Join us on Thursday at our public event to launch Dr Abby Innes’s book! Dr Innes will be joined by Rafael Behr, journalist and political columnist at The Guardian, for a discussion chaired by Head of the European Institute Professor Simon Glendinning.

Watch the video. | Register for our event.

Call For Papers - 5th LSE Workshop On 'Political Economy of Turkey'

Submission deadline: Friday 1 March 2024
Full papers required for submission
Email your submission to: o.saka@lse.ac.uk

The workshop will take place on Friday 7 June and will feature a number of selected presentations/discussions and will culminate in a public keynote lecture. The event will provide a platform for researchers and policymakers to discuss new research and to identify areas where further academic policy-oriented work is needed.

Hosted by Contemporary Turkish Studies, the LSE European Institute and the LSE School of Public Policy

Find out more

Technocratic Myopia: On The Pitfalls Of Depoliticising The Future

Professor Jonathan White has published a new article in the European Journal of Social Theory, in which he makes the case for the "technocratic myopia thesis" – the possibility that technocratic institutions have their own distinctive drivers of short-termism - and discusses the implications for how contemporary societies govern the future in key domains of public policy.

Dr. Marta Lorimer To Present New Book at The 'Future of Ideologies' Webinar Series

Dr Marta Lorimer will be presenting her new book, Europe as Ideological Resource, in the 'Future of Ideologies' webinar series at the University of Nottingham's Centre for Ideas and Ideologies on Wednesday, 31 January from 5 - 6:30pm (UK local time).

Q&A With Jonathan White On "In The Long Run: The Future As A Political Idea"

LSE Review of Books spoke to Professor Jonathan White about his new book, In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea, which investigates how changing political conceptions of the future have impacted societies from the birth of democracy to the present.

On Tuesday 30 January 2024 LSE staff, students, alumni and prospective students can also attend a research showcase where Jonathan White will discuss the book.

Read the Q&A.

Late Soviet Britain: How British Politics Is Mirroring the Failings of Soviet Socialism

The latest issue of LSE's Research for the World is out featuring an article by European Institute Associate Professor of Political Economy Dr Abby Innes discussing her new book, Late Soviet Britain: Why Materialist Utopias Fail.

British politics today, and particularly Conservative politics, is repeating the mistakes of Soviet socialism, despite appearing its ideological opposite, argues Dr. Abby Innes.

Read here.

Why Europe Should Back the UNDP’s “Türkiye Compact” for Refugees

The United Nations Development Programme has proposed a “Türkiye Compact” that would see Turkey receive trade facilitation if it agrees to provide better formal employment opportunities for refugees living in the country. PhD candidate Friedrich Püttmann and Kemal Kirişci argue the plan would have key advantages for both Turkey and Europe.

Read here.

Europe as Ideological Resource: European Integration and Far Right Legitimation in France & Italy

Dr Marta Lorimer's new book, Europe as Ideological Resource: European Integration and Far Right Legitimation in France and Italy, will be released on March 31, 2024.

How did the far right go from illegitimate fringe to contender for public office, and did Europe have anything to do with it? In this upcoming publication, our Fellow in European Politics argues that European integration functioned as an ideological resource for far right parties looking for legitimation because it enabled them to refashion their political message in a more acceptable form, while maintaining the allegiance of their existing supporters.

Preorder now.

An Interview With Professor Simon Glendinning

Professor Simon Glendinning has been interviewed by the Philosophical Rambler about his life in academia. From his motivations to study philosophy, to his insights from the discipline into the study of Europe, to his thoughts on the future of the continent, get to know the Head of the European Institute!

Read here.

Dr Spyros Economides Appointed As Visiting Scholar at Harvard University

Dr Spyros Economides has been appointed as a Visiting Scholar at Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) at Harvard University from 1 March to 1 June 2024. He will be working on a project which is currently entitled ‘Geopolitics, Values and the Re-emergence of “the West”’, which looks at the persistence of the ‘the West’ in international relations and its use in both contemporary academic literature and public commentary.

Dancing with the devil? Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen and the articulation of a new political divide in France

Dr Marta Lorimer has co-authored a new article with Dr Lise Herman (University of Exeter) investigating how political challengers articulate new political divides in European political party systems and with what implications for representative democracy. Looking at the case of France, they identify the strategies that Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron have used to construct a new divide beyond left and right.

Read here.

Op-Ed: Time for a New Ambition for the Greek University System

Professor Kevin Featherstone, Director of the Hellenic Observatory at the European Institute, has published a new opinion piece arguing that "Greece has long been constrained by its university system [which] has constituted a structural weakness of the economy."

Read here.

Optimal Public Deficit and Tax-smoothing in the Spanish Economy, 1850-2022

A new paper has been published under the EI's EIQ discussion paper series authored by Emilio Congregado, Vicente Esteve and Maria A. Prats.

"The paper provides a formal test of Barro's tax-smoothing model, using Spanish data covering the period 1850–2022. The Spanish case proves to be of special interest given the permanent difficulties experienced when balancing the government budget over time."

Read the full paper.

Professor Vassilis Monastririotis Appointed to NCRTI

Professor Vassilis Monastririotis has been appointed to the Scientific Council for Social Sciences of the Greek National Council for Research, Technology and Innovation (NCRTI).

Learn more.

A Century of Labour

The Labour Party first took office on 22nd January 1924. In the century that followed it has only had six prime ministers and been in power for a total of 33 years.

With an election due this year, all political parties will be preparing their manifestos and presenting their vision of the future. Professor Jonathan White was invited to speak on BBC Radio 4 alongside political scientist Jane Green and Labour MP Jon Cruddas. While the democratic electoral cycle foregrounds short term policies, White argues it’s time for politicians to consider long-term solutions.

Listen here.

n the Long Run: The Future As A Political Idea

Professor Jonathan White's new book, In the Long Run: The Future As A Political Idea, will be released on February 1, 2024.

In this upcoming publication, the Deputy Head of the European Institute investigates how politics has long been directed by shifting visions of the future, from the birth of ideologies in the 19th century to Cold War secrecy and the excesses of the neoliberal age. White argues that a political commitment to the long-term may be the best way to safeguard democracy.

Preorder now.

On the Life of Former German Statesman Wolfgang Schäuble

Visiting Professor Anthony Teasdale was interviewed about the life of former German statesman Wolfgang Schäuble in a discussion with former European Parliament Secretary General Klaus Welle on Times Radio (37:35 - 49:10 min). Schäuble, who passed away on December 26, served as the 13th President of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2021 and was the longest-serving member of any democratic German parliament with 51 years of service.

"He delivered. And that was I think one of the key characteristics of Wolfgang Schäuble, he was a deliverer. He delivered on German unification, which was critical, he delivered during the Eurozone debt crisis [...] In a way, he was the conscience of fiscal conservativeness not only in Germany but in Europe," commented Anthony Teasdale.

Listen here.

A Serious Crisis That Didn't Go to Waste? The EU, the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Role of Ambiguity in Crisis-Management

Was the European response to the Covid-19 crisis coherent to the challenges posed by the pandemic?

In his new paper, Dr Gianmarco Fifi, the Nicholas Barr Fellow in European Political Economy at the LSE European Institute, argues that the response to the pandemic had little to do with the characteristics of the crisis at hand and was rather linked to pre-conceived priorities of key actors in Europe (particularly surrounding the need to foster the green transition).

Euro Turns 25 Today: Economic Success or Political Failure?

Professor Iain Begg was invited to speak on GBNews on January 1st, which marked the 25th anniversary of the euro being introduced in the euro area, the single currency adopted by 20 of the 27 member states of the European Union.

Watch the full broadcast.

Constructing an Effective Fiscal Framework – Challenges for Rachel Reeves

Professor Iain Begg has published a new blog which sets out the history of fiscal rules in the UK and explores the options available to Labour Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves should Labour get elected.

Read the full paper here.

Inter- and Intra-Ethnic Dialogues on War-Time Violence and its Legacies

Dr Denisa Kostovicova, Dr Sanja Vico, and
Dr Ivor Sokolić have co-authored a new JUSTINT policy paper in which they share their research and exchange ideas on inter- and intra-ethnic dialogues about legacies of violence with civil society practitioners from the Balkans.

Read the full paper here.

Options for a Stronger and More Agile EU Budget

Professor Iain Begg has co-authored a new study requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets (BUDG) on how to arrive at a stronger and more agile EU budget.

Professor Begg commented: "Thirty-five years on from last major reform, is it not time for a substantial overhaul of the EU's finances? Will radical solutions find favour?"

Read the full paper here.

LSE PhD Candidates Selected as the Nova Best Humanities and Social Science Students for their Work on Foreign Policy

PhD students Benedetta Morari from the European Institute and Emanuele Errichiello from the Department of International Relations have been selected as the Nova Best Humanities and Social Science Students for their work on EU foreign policy.

Commenting on the award, Benedetta said: "Having my work recognised as the Nova jury’s choice in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences is humbling, but most importantly, it is a testament to the importance of EU foreign policy studies in the current state of international affairs. This further motivates me to contribute, through my PhD work and the European Institute’s stimulating environment, to both theory and practice in the field."

View the full list of winners here.

The Criminalisation of Irregular Migration in Europe: Globalisation, Deterrence, and Vicious Cycles

Dr Matilde Rosina recently spoke to LSE Review of Books about her book, which investigates the realities and consequences of criminalising irregular migration in Europe, taking Italy and France as case studies.

Read the full interview here.

Late Soviet Britain: Why Materialist Utopias Fail

Dr Abby Innes has just released a new book adressing why the United Kingdom, historically one of the strongest democracies in the world, has become so unstable. In her latest work, Innes explores for the first time how the 'governing science' in Leninist and neoliberal revolutions fails for many of the same reasons.

Buy the book here.

Profits, Wages and Inflationary Dynamics in the Euro Area and the US in the Context of Uncertainty

A new paper has been published under the EI's EIQ discussion paper series authored by Stefan Collignon.

They write: "A sequence of severe shocks has brought inflation back to Europe and America, but unemployment is still at record low levels. Is higher unemployment required to bring inflation down? The challenges are the same for both economies across the Atlantic, the policy tools resemble each other, but they apply to different economic landscapes. What can we learn from each other? Who has been more successful? The paper looks at basic facts, the nature of shocks, and the efficiency of policy tools."

Read the full paper here.

Professor Paul De Grauwe visits the Bundesbank

What consequences does the remunaration of central bank reserves have for the profits of commercial banks and central banks?

Professor Paul De Grauwe addressed this topic as part of a talk given at the Bundesbank earlier this month for an event organised by the Bundesbank's Research Centre.

Learn more and watch the event recording here.

Towards monetary policies that do not subsidise banks

Professor Paul De Grauwe has co-authored a new paper alongside Dr. Yuemei Ji from University College London entitled Towards monetary policies that do not subsidise banks that has been published by the Centre for European Policy Studies.

Read the full article here.

Women's discursive agency in transitional justice policy-making: A feminist institutionalist approach

Dr Denisa Kostovicova and Dr Vesna Popovski have recently published an article in the Review of International Studies which looks at women’s impact on transitional justice policy-making in institutions using a feminist institutionalist perspective that makes visible gendered norms, rules, and discourses in institutions. In a short summary video featured by the British International Studies Association (BISA), the authors go through the key arguments from their latest article.

Click here to watch the full video.

Exhibition - At the Heart of War: Ukrainian Resiliance and Resistance through art

Dr Denisa Kostovicova co-organised an exhibition with Professor Tomila Lankina and Dr Mariia Zolkina on the war in Ukraine. Hosting works by Ukrainian artists and photographers, the exhibition is on display in the Atrium Gallery, LSE Old Building until 8 September 2023.

Click here for full details.

Interactions of fiscal and monetary policies under waves of optimism and pessimism

Professor Paul De Grauwe and Dr Pasquale Foresti have published a new article in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, examining fiscal and monetary policies interaction under the assumption that agents have limited cognitive capabilities. To this aim, they employ a behavioral New Keynesian model in which agents’ beliefs generate endogenous waves of optimism and pessimism.

Read the full article here.

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The De-Institutionalisatoin of Power Beyond the State

Professor Jonathan White has been awarded Best Article in the European Journal of International Relations 2023 for his article on how crisis politics has seen institutions such as the European Union subordinated to and reshaped by individuals and the networks they form.

Read it here.

Professor Iain Begg

The EU’s Increasingly Complex Finances: A Ticking Bomb?

Professor Iain Begg has recently published a paper for CESifo that looks at the challenges facing the EU's finances and how they have become more complex because of a proliferation of off‑budget mechanisms alongside the traditional budget.

Read here.

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A New Era for Europe

Dr Orkun Saka has recently contributed to a policy report published by the European Commission on "A New Era for Europe: Emerging Challenges". Based on their joint research, Dr. Saka and his co-authors discuss in the report how Covid-19 crisis may impact public trust in EU institutions in the long-term. Final report is publicly available and can be downloaded here.

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Book Review - Alt Finance: How the City of London Bought Democracy

Joseph Ganderson has reviewed a book co-authored by Marlène Benquet and Théo Bourgeron that traces the influence of a class of ultra-Eurosceptic financiers on the Brexit referendum for the LSE Review of Books.

Click here to read the review.

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Turkey’s Economic Problems and Solutions

Dr Orkun Saka co-organised a workshop along with Professor Yaprak Gusroy (Chair, LSE Contemporary Turkish Studies) and the LSE Systemic Risk Centre on Turkey's economy, politics and institutions.

Read the full programme here.

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Rising Rates, Spiralling Costs

Dr Angelo Martelli hs been interviewed by the Italian newspaper La Stampa on the European Central Bank and labour markets in the Eurozone.

Read the interview here.

'Glocalisation' of Music Streaming within and across Europe

A new paper has been published under the EI's EIQ discussion paper series authored by Will Page and Chris Dalla Riva.

They write: "British artists accounted for all the Top Ten of the end-of-year singles chart of 2022 – for the first time since the charts were published over 50 years ago. A quick glance across the continent uncovered a similarly intriguing trend. Many of the top ten acts in Germany were German, many in Italy were Italian and all the top ten songs in Spain were in Spanish, although the vast majority were Latin American. These observations prompted us to ask a pertinent question: has the ubiquity of streaming increased or decreased the threat of homogenisation?"

Read the full paper here.

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Criminalising the sex buyer

Dr Niina Vuolajärvi has penned a piece for LSE's social science magazine, Research for the World. In it she examines the debate of legalisation of sex work as legislation is presented in the European Parliament. Vuolajärvi urges policy makers to distance themselves from ideological stances and centre the experiences of sex workers in the design of policies and services.

Read here.

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The extraordinary generosity of central banks towards banks

Along with Yumei Ji of University College London, Professor Paul de Grauwe has penned a piece for the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). They look at the policies Central Banks have adopted in Europe in relation to private banks in order to tackle inflation.

Read here.

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The Myth of Peace and Statehood in European Integration Theory

Dr Eva Polonska-Kimunguyi has published a new article in the peer-reviewed journal, European Foreign Affairs Review. The article looks at early EU integration through the postcolonial lens and argues that both EU self-image and EU theory do not consider colonialism and empire and have silenced the violence committed outside Europe.

Read here.

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Reconciliation by Stealth

Dr Denisa Kostovicova has a new book out, published by Cornell University Press. The work advances a novel approach to evaluating the effects of transitional justice in postconflict societies.

Buy the book here.

The Welfare States of Hungary’s Fidesz and Poland’s Law and Justice: Explaining the Surprisingly Divergent Trajectories

A new paper has been published under the EI's EIQ discussion paper series authored by Jakub Tomášek.

They write: "the Fidesz-led government in Hungary and the Law and Justice-led government in Poland have shared important similarities since assuming power in the last decade, from party ideology to selective engagement with collective bargaining institutions. Yet, their approach to the welfare state has markedly contrasted, with Poland expanding and Hungary retrenching welfare provision. This paper uses the method of difference to address this conundrum."

Read the full paper here.

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Trauma as Revelation

For the April/May issue of The World Today, Professor Yaprak Gürsoy has penned an article looking at the effects the February earthquakes may have on President Erdoğan and the upcoming Turkish elections.

Read here.

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The Risk of Isolating China

Lorenzo Codogno, Visiting Professor in Practice, has written an article for Domani on the the greater risks posed to the world economy of the isolation of China over Russia.

Read the original article here, and English translation here.

The Impact of Russia's Invasion on European Attitudes

A new paper has been published under the EI's EIQ discussion paper series authored by Margaryta Klymak and Tim Vlandas.

They write: "Despite historically low levels of interstate conflicts in the second half of the 20th century, the European continent is once again facing the threat of war at its doorstep. Public opinion plays a crucial role in shaping public policies so whether and how the Russian invasion has affected the attitudes and views of citizens in other countries will be an important factor in European governments’ continuing humanitarian and military support to Ukraine."

Read the full paper here.

Accounting for Net Zero

Gijs de Vries, Visiting Senior Fellow, for the IMF Blog looks at the existential risks of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution and how they should lead influential bodies to upgrade their audits and join the global net-zero coalition.

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Brothers no more?

Serbia and Kosovo have both given approval to an EU-brokered agreement on normalising their relations. Dr Denisa Kostovicova assesses the significance of the agreement and what a resolution to the Kosovo dispute would mean for Russia’s power in the Balkans in a new EUROPP Blog entry.

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Earthquake economics

Dr Orkun Saka has recently been interviewed by Arirang News (a Korean news channel broadcasting in English) on the potential economic consequences of the recent earthquakes in Turkey.

The interview and the related news can be watched on YouTube here.

Professor Iain Begg

Social tracking methodology for the EU budget

Professor Iain Begg has completed a recent study requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets (BUDG) that explores what the current state of social tracking in the MFF and RRF is, how it could be improved & put forward a proposal for a theory-based monitoring for EU social spending tracking.

Read more here.

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Monetary policies, bank subsidies

Professor Paul De Grauwe and Dr Yuemei Ji (UCL) have co-written a new column for The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) that looks at how central banks pay interest on commercial banks’ holdings of cash reserves at the central bank. This column argues that a better policy would be to combine sustained sales of government bonds with higher minimum reserve requirements.

Read more here.

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Professor Kevin Featherstone awarded honorary Greek citizenship

Professor Kevin Featherstone was granted honorary Greek citizenship for his academic work on Greece and for his significant contribution to the promotion of research and debate on contemporary Greece and Cyprus.

In a special ceremony held at Maximos Mansion, on Tuesday 21 February, he took the Greek Citizen oath before the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Secretary General of Citizenship, Athanasios Balerbas.

“I was born English - surely some mistake - but today I became Greek, and it is a great honour for me to be Greek now; it means a lot to me, and I am very proud. Thanks to everyone who helped me on my journey. Greece is a country, a people, an idea that I have learned to love very much. It has given me so much. Thank you very much.”

Watch the video of the ceremony here and read the press release.

Cultural Stereotypes of Multinational Banks

A new paper has been published under the EI's EIQ discussion paper series: "Cultural Stereotypes of Multinational Banks", authored by Barry Eichengreen and Dr Orkun Saka.

They write: "The effect of stereotypes is persistent over time, stronger for less diversified banks, and weaker for target countries whose bonds appear more frequently in bank portfolios. Cultural stereotypes are particularly salient when governments are hit by sovereign debt crises."

Read the full paper here.

Community is the Strategy

A new episode from Visiting Fellow Dr Idil Elveris on her podcast "We Can Find A Way" featuring Emily May, co-founder of the NGO "Right To Be" which tackles street harassment through education and training including bystander intervention programmes.

Listen here.

Re-Politicising Merger Policy: Regulating Foreign Takeovers in Britain and Italy

A new paper has been published under the EI's EIQ discussion paper series: "Re-Politicising Merger Policy: Regulating Foreign Takeovers in Britain and Italy", authored by Bernardo Rangoni and Mark Thatcher.

They write: "While much attention has been given to ‘de-politicisation’, its reversal through ‘repoliticisation’ is also possible. We examine ‘institutional re-politicisation’ - increases in the formal powers and discretion of elected politicians’ - in hard cases - policies for regulating Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions (CBMAs), focusing specifically on Britain and Italy."

Read the full paper here.

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Cultural stereotypes of multinational banks: how biases spread and affect bank lending to governments

Dr Orkun Saka has had an article and book recommendation included in January's LSE Research for the World.

In his article, 'Cultural stereotypes of multinational banks', Dr. Saka writes: "Experts in finance tend to characterise the investment decisions of financial institutions as driven by careful evaluation of hard information. We emphasise, in contrast, that the international investment of multinational banks are also influenced by deeply held cultural stereotypes about the trustworthiness of different nationalities."

Read the article here and find Dr. Saka's book suggestion on the recommended reading list here.

Professor Iain Begg

Completing a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union

Professor Iain Begg has published a new short book with Cambridge University Press, Completing a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union.

The book examines efforts to strengthen Economic and Monetary Union in the European Union, especially over the last decade, asking if enough has been done to render it more sustainable and resilient. Drawing on a survey of 111 leading experts on the economics and politics of EMU, this Element reviews the wide-ranging reforms undertaken since the crises of the early 2010s and assesses whether they go far enough.

Find it here.

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The phone tappings shouldn’t be an excuse to disempower a PM

Professor Kevin Featherstone has written a new article for eKathimerini, discussing the impact a phone-tapping scandal might have on the next election in Greece.

He writes: "The phone-tapping scandal may determine the outcome of the next election in Greece. It ought not to reverse the changes made to the i

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Bank lending to governments influenced by cultural stereotypes in Europe

A recent research paper co-authored by Dr Orkun Saka has been featured by The Banker. The paper outlines how culturally-motivated trust biases of bank managers affect their banks’ sovereign debt investments.

Interviewed by The Banker, Dr Saka commented: “We think that the best remedy to counteract such cultural biases is to improve the national diversity of these managerial teams at headquarters making sure that all cultural views are represented in decision-making. As some cultures have positive and others have negative perceptions of the same target investment (e.g. government bonds of a target country), this would tilt decision-making towards a more balanced perspective”.

The full story can be read here and the related research paper could be accessed here.

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