FPC Briefing: How to Maintain Integrity of Elections during the Covid-19 Pandemic
As the world faces its worse pandemic in over a century, there is little doubt where the virus originated and how it spread to the rest of the world. Nevertheless,…
Articles, Briefings and Essays
The views expressed in the articles are those of each respective author and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the Foreign Policy Centre.
A global and deadly virus becomes a tool for political repression in Azerbaijan
Beaten students, poor hospital facilities, changes in legislation, arrests of political foes - this is how Azerbaijan has been dealing with COVID19 pandemic that has reached the country’s borders in…
Passing on the authoritarian torch: power transition in Central Asia
Three decades after gaining independence, the Central Asian republics have recently experienced changes in their leadership. The rulers that were in charge before the collapse of the Soviet Union are,…
The last year in Azerbaijan: the highs and lows
2019 was a year not without its highs and lows in the land of fire - Azerbaijan. From a snap decision to dismiss the national parliament, to the release of…
Protest as a Tool for Political and Social Change
Protests play an important part in the civil and political life of democratic societies. Georgia’s civil society has long been a good example of an engaged and informed citizenry, with…
Hungarian opposition takes a crucial step, but still a long way to go for the left
Gergely Karácsony defeated ruling party-backed incumbent István Tarlós in the Budapest mayoral election this Sunday. With 99% of votes counted, Karácsony gained 50.9% of the votes against the 44.1% for…
Back to the Future – Why a Human Rights-Focused Foreign Policy must keep up with Technology
“Technology is, of course, a double edged sword. Fire can cook our food but also burn us.” Jason Silva, the Venezuelan-American filmmaker and public speaker Last year marked the 70th…
Far from a pro-Russian dove, Volodymyr Zelensky enters office a Russia hawk
With his inauguration today, the presidency of Volodymyr Zelensky is upon us. Zelensky, a political outsider who ran on an explicitly anti-establishment platform and ousted incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in…
Lessons from Brexit: (Re)balancing Euroscepticism
As the Brexit process appears to be drawing to an uncertain close, there are still lessons to be learned from the past three years for the United Kingdom and the…
Academic Freedom in Hungary’s Authoritarian State Capitalism
Authoritarian leaders find it hard to tolerate independent voices, and academic freedom is no different. After Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán announced the year of the ‘culture war’, the…