31 March 2025
Call for Authors – Fragile Europe
With current geopolitical tensions and unprecedented technological developments, the European Union faces increased risks of foreign actors attempting to disrupt democratic processes.
With current geopolitical tensions and unprecedented technological developments, the European Union faces increased risks of foreign actors attempting to disrupt democratic processes.
With current geopolitical tensions and unprecedented technological developments, the European Union faces increased risks of foreign actors attempting to disrupt democratic processes.
This project will identify the main threats and costs of foreign influence on European democracy. Different forms of political influence activities will be analyzed by experts from different European countries. The main objective is to improve the understanding of how foreign actors conduct political influence activities against Europe and how liberals, both at the European level and at the level of member states, can defend themselves against this influence and stand up for emancipation and democratic renewal. The project will consist of an expert workshop, a publication and a conference/launch event.
The project will look at Russian influence – a follow-up to the “Putin’s Europe” project – but also at China and other state and non-state actors (radical groups from the Western world and beyond).
Apply here.
Scope and objectives:
The main objective is to improve the understanding of how foreign actors (state and non-state) conduct political influence activities against Europe and how liberals, both at the European and national level, can and strive towards resilient democracies
Specific objectives:
1. Identify what foreign political influence means for European liberals (identify the problem, its main characteristics and consequences).
2. Present liberal and European solutions (from different perspectives: social, economic, political, etc.).
Target:
The publication will be written in a plain, journalistic language and visually attractive, and therefore it can become a source of information for journalists, students and others looking for reliable information about current political and social situation in the EU and its member states.
Topics:
Each chapter should be problem-specific, analyzing the issue of foreign influence from different angles. Suggested topics include (but are not limited to):
| Introduction | Introduces the topic and the identified gaps, and anticipates the rest of the chapter. |
| General assessment of foreign influence from a specific angle | Defines the topic from a certain angle; presents the complexity of the problem, the main issues; presents existing knowledge or literature. It should be European or universal; single country examples are fine if more general conclusions can be drawn from them (it is ok to have a chapter based on the Danish example, but a chapter focusing only on Denmark will not be appreciated). |
| Liberal answers – policy recommendations | Key component. Presents liberal answers to address the problem; proposes solutions, advises, might suggest policies. |
| Conclusion: Future challenges and options | A more general comment on the topic and future challenges. |
| References | See author guidelines |
Expected length of contributions around 4.000 – 5.000 words. Ideally each contribution includes at least one visual (graphic, table, map, etc.).
Timeline:
Author’s fee: EUR 700 (gross)
If you are interested, please apply here.