See also our regular co-branded publications/ policy briefs on the – Stuart Austin sits on its Editorial Board.
Teaching Difficult Histories: Key Principles For Democracy
Stuart Austin
July 2024
This project report details the discussions and findings of the Teaching History Programme of the Ratiu Forum from 2023 to 2024. The workshops and conferences engaged with History teachers of post-communist Europe to address the challenges of politicised History curricula and explore methods for teaching difficult and dark pasts – facilitating and improving cross-border understanding within the region.
The Return of History: Countering the Decline of Democracy in Europe
Stuart Austin
August 2023
This article summarises discussion held at the Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy conference, held in Cluj (Romania) on 15-16 June 2023. Contributors to the discussion were: Dr Radu Albu-Comanescu, Prof Christopher Coker, Dr Adrian-Gabriel Corpadean, Prof Sumantra Bose, Prof Christopher Dandeker, Prof Michael Burleigh, Dr Mois Faion, Dr Marcin Fatalski, Dr Alexander Gerganov, Maja Kurilić, Prof Dominic Lieven, John Lloyd, Bálint Magyar, Prof Slobodan Markovich, Dr Oana-Cristina Popa, Wojciech Przybylski, Richard Ralph CMG CVO, Nicolae Ratiu, Emilia Șercan, Louisa Slavkova, and Dr Eric Weaver
Agata Mazurkiewicz and Wojciech Michnik (eds.)
May 2023
This policy research paper aims to serve as an invitation for a broader discussion about the political, social, economic, military, and security consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine from the perspective of Central and Eastern Europe. As the paper introduces a ‘frontline state’ concept as an analytical lens, it focuses on reactions, narratives, and perceptions of the selected ‘frontline states’ towards Russia’s war in Ukraine. Particularly it analyses initial responses to the war in these states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia), including societal and governmental support for Ukraine. The paper also attempts to shed light on propaganda, as well as the cyber and disinformation domains of the war, looking not only into the strategies of, but also into, Ukrainian’s predominant narrative. In the conclusion, there is a brief assessment of the consequences of the aggression faced by the ‘frontline states’, with a special emphasis on regional and transatlantic security dynamics.
Aliaksei Kazharski
January 2023
Against the background of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the engineered migration crisis on the European Union (EU)-Belarus borders became much less visible. Yet, subversive activity also carried on as the Polish border guard continued to report having turned back dozens of people from Africa and Asia trying to cross the border into the EU. This weaponisation of migration undertaken by the regime in Belarus should be understood in a much broader context and placed alongside other authoritarian strategies, capitalising on various vulnerabilities. This analysis focuses on the examination of how authoritarian regimes exploit the various vulnerabilities of the contemporary world, with particular attention to energy and food interdependence, ‘whataboutisms’, and the Belarus-Poland border crisis.
The Russian Diaspora in the Baltic States: The Trojan Horse that never was
December 2021
Thirty years ago this month, the world shook as one of the only two Superpowers unexpectedly collapsed, creating enormous ramifications for the 25 million ethnic Russians who found themselves as non-titular citizens outside the borders of the newly formed Russian Federation. This ‘beached diaspora’ has been left marginalised and treated with fear, by the Baltic States in their nation-building policies and has left many to think of this community as ‘ripe’ for Russian influence. This Strategic Update will analyse Russian soft power policies and the development of ‘Russkii Mir’ as a tool for utilising this diaspora to further its foreign policy. Tools, which have been seemingly unaffected to a community of autonomy seeking citizens.
Authoritarian protectionism in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe: diversity, commonality and resistance
July 2021
Authoritarianism has become a major buzzword of global politics today. But the public debate has often focused on headline-catching cases of democratic decline. In the European Union (EU), Hungary and Poland, have tended to dominate discussion and critique with the implication that a modern-day ‘containment’ strategy might suffice to withstand the authoritarian advance. This report seeks to provide a wider regional contextualisation through the examination of Hungary and Poland in tandem with four other case studies in the region: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia.
Trianon: 100 Years After
April 2021
The Central and South-East Europe Programme and Babeş-Bolyai University, Romania have launched their 2020 report exploring the impact and legacy of the Treaty of Trianon in Hungary and Romania.
A Sea Change? The Impact of the US Presidential Election on Central and South-Eastern European Security and Defence
March 2021
Corina Rebegea, Wojciech Michnik and Ivan Vejvoda assess the likely impact of the new Biden administration on security and defence in the Black Sea, Balkan and Central European regions.
From Russia With Love? Serbia’s Lukewarm Reception of Russian Aid and Its Geopolitical Implications
June 2020
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reached the Balkans, Serbia has energetically taken its partnership with China to the next level. However, while Russia has supplied aid to Serbia to combat the pandemic, it has not received the same attention from the Serbian leadership and public the way China did. Vuk Vuksanovic examines Serbo-Russian relations during the coronavirus pandemic and its geopolitical implications.
Axis of Convenience? Israel and China in a multipolar world
February 2020
Despite being one of the most important allies of the United States in the Middle East, Israel has been building a new partnership with China since 2013. Vuk Vusanovic explores the new partnership between Israel and China in this Strategic Update, and what this means alongside Israel's alliance with the United States.
Europe 30 Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall
June 2019
This report follows the first annual workshop which was hosted by the Central and South-East Europe Programme Desk on 17 and 18 June 2019 at the Political Science Faculty of Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Our Visiting Fellow during the 2021/22 academic year was Professor Marcin Fatalski from the Jagiellonian University. Prof Fatalski graduated from the Faculty of History at JU, holds a Ph.D. in political science and works at the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora of JU. His research focuses on international relations, especially U.S. policy towards Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe in international politics and nation-building policy. He has conducted archival research supporting studies in politics and diplomacy.