The arguably most controversial sports event of this year is only a few days away: the 2022 football world cup will kick off on Sunday, the 20th of November in the Qatari city of al-Chaur at a stadium that didn’t exist before 2015. As it became clear that none of the 32 football associations considered boycotting the event, the big question was passed on to the public: to watch or not to watch.

Since Russia launched a full-scale military invasion into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, ongoing attacks have caused over three thousand civilian deaths and internally displaced over seven million people, according to UN statistics. Alongside this irreversible destruction comes the imminent threat to Ukraine’s rich cultural heritage. The conflict has destroyed sites such as a Gothic revival library in Chernihiv and the Kuindzhi Art Museum in Mariupol. Monuments, museums, art, and culture represent sources of collective memory as well as powerful identity.

Russia launched a military operation against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and this operation turned into a war with devastating effects. Russia's intervention in Ukraine has led to extraordinary disasters in Ukraine, such as the killing of civilians, their abandonment of their country, and the destruction of cities. Besides, the Ukraine war affected the security environment of Europe. Sweden and Finland, which are not NATO members, began to be seriously worried about Russia's military actions and applied for NATO membership in order to ensure their security against a possible Russian threat.

As Finland and Sweden announced their bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) ranks, Turkey has warned to veto the membership of the Scandinavian allies unless they meet some diplomatic preconditions first. This is nothing new for NATO as new countries being admitted depends on the approval of all of its existing members. In this situation, Turkey is putting its foot down against its allies as a bid to counter terrorism.

The Conference on the Future of Europe is one of the most important events affecting the European Institutions. The Conference allowed European citizens and beyond to become involved in the debate on what Europe they want to see, setting priorities. By creating a space for debate it allowed citizens to discuss current topics such as climate change and environment, digital transformation and human rights. It also built an ideal bridge between Europe and third countries.

The new future of social media is the Metaverse. Social networks take it to a next level by introducing the Metaverse, a virtual environment where people can interact, learn and play using technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Smart Glasses. But the implementation of these features is problematic as they are susceptible to cyberattacks, fraud, sexual harassment, privacy concerns and an increase of social exclusion.

Salvador de Madariaga's (1886-1978) contributions to the Theory and History of the European Union are of outstanding importance, often ignored and must be claimed. Beyond the myth of the man – poet, man of letters, diplomat, statesman, university professor – the work of the Spaniard transcends for being the gaze of Spain in front of the European Union.

As the Russian military, after failing to swiftly occupy Ukraine, turns to its now traditional tactics of attacking the population in the occupied territories, a wave of anger towards Russians is following the wave of solidarity with Ukrainians. In a well-intentioned attempt to shield the Russians from discrimination, the West falls into a dangerous trap of substituting collective guilt with collective innocence. Both are a blessing for the propaganda machine built by the Kremlin over the years.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised the issue of the EU’s dependencies on Russia. For this reason, an European Gas Policy will be introduced by next month. “REPOWER” represents a plan to make a more affordable, secure and sustainable energy in Europe, anticipating the future Gas Policy key points.

While the situation in Ukraine escalates we have asked our members to share their thoughts on the international reactions to the crisis.

The latest European Citizens Initiative that made headlines and managed to pass over 1 Million signatures was the Stop Finning - Stop Shark Trade Initiative. The initiative has the aim to legally ban the trade of shark fins in Europe. However, up until the rise of the initiative and its push on social media platforms such as Instagram, the issue was barely recognised and only was a problem European conservationists, and environmentalists knew of, not European citizens. The factuality of the latter points to a larger problem within the EU which is its lack of attentiveness and transparency when it comes to its species protection and nature protection laws.

In Turkey's upcoming 2023 legislative election, the youth is seen as a key to salvation from an authoritarian regime and to promote democratization. The election is planned to take place exactly 10 years after the Gezi Park protests, which was the biggest reaction against the establishing authoritarian course. Last year, the role of youth was decisive in politics for election promises and the effects were felt in public discussions. Under worsening economic circumstances, President Erdogan's vote base consolidation is no longer easy.

The generation gap does in not going to close, according to the ruling coalition AKP-MHP’s future projection. This is also the most important indicator of the collapse of Erdoğan’s pious youth project that has been applied for many years. However, young people in Turkey struggle with severely restricted individual freedoms and harsh economic conditions.

As NATO is bracing for the potential next round of escalation of the war conflict in the east of Ukraine, countries heavily reliant on Russian fossil fuels, like Germany, constantly seem to fail in prioritizing the integrity of NATO and the security of its allies first. If the Western democracies are to remain strong and independent, they have to realize that the danger posed by the collaborationists within is by no means smaller than that from the external opponents of the liberal order.

The growing rivalry between global superpowers, the US and China, continues to make strategic geopolitical choices for states in the Indo-Pacific rather difficult. With the announcement of the European Union (EU’s) joint Indo-Pacific strategy in September last year, the trading bloc expresses a clear objective to reposition itself in the region. Whilst many remain sceptical of its capacity to play an active role in a multipolar system, some believe the EU could provide a promising balancing alternative for middle players in the Indo-Pacific. Arguments on either side vary depending on one’s conceptualisation of the international arena and the spheres of influence within.

The EU's perception of political elites and society in Turkey has taken a very negative turn in recent years. The main culprit of this state of affairs is the fact that the AKP, which has been ruling the country for two decades, has been administering the country in an authoritarian way. However, the negative perception that the EU has of Turkish society is not limited to this authoritarian trend. According to the research survey of the GMF, although the EU represents a way out for the Turkish youth, most of the people continue to look at the EU with suspicion.

Whether you are celebrating Christmas or not, going home for the holidays often means that some dinner with family or friends is bound to happen. We know how talking with your family can easily become a political discussion in which someone might get hurt.
Inspired by BridgeUSA and their advice to ‘talk politics at Thanksgiving’ in today’s short Blog post we would like to reach out to you with a few pieces of advice for good practice when talking about politics at the Christmas table. Collected by our members, for you.

The EU’s internal discussion about the future energy policy threatens to become yet another issue that will divide the Union. As the European Commission wants to update its list of sustainable energy sources, the inclusion of nuclear energy in the document is a certain fiasco for the German government and its allies in the argument. Germany’s successful lobbying for natural gas is an even bigger problem for the EU’s green future (and, possibly, future in general).

The EU, as it often claims, is based on a “strong commitment to promoting and protecting human rights…” not only amongst its member states but also in international politics. Art. 21 of the Lisbon Treaty, in fact, claims that “the Union’s action on the international scene shall be guided by the values that have inspired its own foundation”. Thus, not only are human rights important in defining the EU globally, but they represent essential blocks upon which the Union itself is founded. Nonetheless, recent trends have shown that the block’s cohesion behind human right issues might be frailer than imagined. Before one can assess the EU as an international actor who upholds human rights, attention must be turned to the situation within.

The harms of environmental degradation and climate change occur mostly in the long term, and if no action is taken, the negative consequences will increase even more. In this respect, the European Green Deal can be seen as an important step towards both preventing and raising awareness of climate change. Nonetheless, for the Green Deal to be implemented action must be taken without delay. While the overall aim of the Green Deal is to transform Europe into world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050, economic, political, and social factors come into play in the development of a coherent plan. It is important to take concrete steps early, as policies, methods and tools will take their ideal form throughout the process.

As the pandemic of new coronavirus powerfully hit the EU countries, many governments took measures that usually are associated with non-democratic regimes, such as retail closures, curfews, and bans of mass meetings. This naturally resulted in a growing rift between those valuing individual responsibility and those supporting central regulation. The extremists seem to be the only ones to profit.

America is in a state of crisis. No matter where we look, there are challenges that serve as indictments of our democracy. The pandemic has claimed over 330,000 lives. Working class people face the worst economic prospects since the Great Depression. Racial wounds have been exposed as people voice their anger and frustration towards injustice. Simply put, America does not appear to be living up to its highest ideals. The one thing that seems to unite a highly divided American people is that the current situation is unsustainable, to say the least. That’s a bad predicament for the future of our democracy.