Europinion

🎥 We are excited to announce the release of the first documentary produced by Volta, the Europinion Group’s documentary wing! 🇸🇩 Our mini-documentary, “Sudan: Protesting the War”, highlights the powerful voices of Sudanese protestors in Manchester, United Kingdom, calling for an end to the devastating conflict in Sudan. For over 500 days, Sudan has been ravaged by conflict between the RSF and the military, resulting in the largest displacement crisis in the world. Now, famine and flooding have only added to the suffering. The protestors in Manchester are demanding an end to the violence, Western accountability, and for the world to pay attention to this ongoing humanitarian disaster. This mini-documentary is a precursor to our feature-length documentary, which is set to release in Summer 2025. We extend our gratitude to Graeme Smith, Samson Page, Cyrus Larcombe-Moore, and Amro Shaaeldin for their incredible contributions to this project. Watch the mini-documentary here: https://lnkd.in/eJ_ZtRU5 Learn more about Volta here: https://lnkd.in/e-nkt88F #Sudan #Sudanwar #Conflict #News #Protest #Manchester #UK #War #Africa #Documentary

Politics and violence have been inseparable throughout history, and remain so in much of the world today. Nevertheless seen as a thing of the past across the global community, political violence has increasingly reared its head in even the most stable of political democracies. Nishika Pishu Melwani explores our aversion to, and the unrelenting presence of, violence in politics from the Civil Rights Movement through to the Capitol and racist riots of the US and UK respectively. Contrasting the two lays the ground for a detailed and soul-searching hunt for when, if ever, political violence is the answer. Ultimately, Melwani contends that violence in politics can indeed be justified as a recourse of last resort, leaving it justifiable by criteria beyond solely moral ones. #Politics #Violence #PoliticalViolence #CivilRights #Riots https://lnkd.in/erSb3dmQ

On Tuesday, I had the distinct pleasure of chairing Europinion and the Europinion Institute for Research’s panel at the UACES (University Association for Contemporary European Studies) 54th Conference in Trento, Italy, titled “The Greenlight to Accession: Integrating Moldova and Ukraine through Knowledge, Expertise, and Communications.” We were privileged to hear from our panellists: Cecilia Jastrzembska (Europinion, Young European Movement UK), Dr. Jan Grzymski (Jagiellonian University, Kraków), and Petra Pavlovicova (Europinion). They provided key insights as Moldova and Ukraine begin their accession negotiations with the EU. The panel focused on significant challenges, particularly the EU’s need to challenge long-standing Russocentric narratives about the post-Soviet area, counter disinformation, and reshape its political and social knowledge of Ukraine and Moldova. Our discussions also explored how academics, civil society, and stakeholders can collaborate to resist disinformation and produce reliable knowledge to support Ukraine and Moldova’s European integration. A fantastic session with thoughtful dialogue on European enlargement in a shifting political landscape! #UACES #Moldova #Ukraine #Russia #EuropeanUnion

The US Election was hurled off its axis by the unexpected ascension of Kamala Harris to the candidacy just over a month ago. The paradigm shifts she initiated - in everything from the democratic campaign's vibrancy to the prioritisation of 'vibes' over policy - have indubitably already decreased the likelihood of a Trump return. Harry Ollington argues this Harris-precipitated change in political battlegrounds is as important as the change in presidential candidate. He reveals an almost wholesale abandonment, eagerly embraced by Trump, of fighting politics around policy. Ollington sounds a warning call throughout, contending cogently that Trump has the advantage once the debate moves away from policy, not least as he has been playing the feelings over facts game for ever so much longer. https://lnkd.in/e9Szk-9F #UnitedStates #KamalaHarris #DonaldTrump #Election2024 #USelection2024

Fewer than a hundred spare prison places remain for a prison population now larger than the British army. The state of law and order itself depends on addressing this shocking, decades-long failure of government. Zoe Wreford details the deluge of slapdash policies initiated by both parties, each little more than "a flimsy plaster" for the "blistering wound" in British justice that is our crowded and crumbling prisons system. Neither party - nor the longer sentences and de-prioritisation of rehabilitation to which they seem so unthinkingly devoted - emerges unscathed from Wreford's critique. Ultimately, through forensic analysis of British policy and comparative analysis of Norwegian policy, Wreford establishes that the crowding crisis is not an insoluble problem, though no government in recent memory appears to have noticed. https://lnkd.in/essZuQYx #UnitedKingdom #Norway #Prison #Justice #Law #Rehabilitation #Criminal

The American election psychodrama has, at the least, two more riotous months left to run. If the attempted assassinations and last-minute candidate depositions don't continue, any number of Trumpian bigotries and Democratic gaffes will certainly continue to dominate the headlines. Andrés De Miguel takes us beneath the media churn and into the profound paradigm shifts going on at the heart of American politics: the theft, by the Democrats, of the 'normal' and 'patriotic' party mantles from the Republicans, and the Democratic return to being the party of hope. De Miguel's whistle-stop tour of the seismic political shifts which would have been unthinkable earlier this year leaves one wondering how on earth Kamala & co can be stopped, whilst reminding us that it could all change in the blink of an eye. https://lnkd.in/eKRhAbvq #US #Politics #KamalaHarris #DonaldTrump #Election

🚀 We are thrilled to announce the launch of the first article by the Europinion Institute for Research (EIR)! 🔍 Explore our debut piece: "EU enlargement and rule of law promotion in the Western Balkans" by Adrian Waters. This comprehensive analysis delves into the pivotal role of EU enlargement in advancing the rule of law in the Western Balkans, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. 👉 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eu-5vgPT Join us as we embark on this journey to provide in-depth research and insightful perspectives on European policy and governance. #EU #WesternBalkans #RuleOfLaw #Enlargement #EIR #EuropeanPolicy #Governance

Israel-Palestine, and most of all the ever-suffering Gaza, have resolutely rebuffed each and every attempt at a resolution to hostilities. No matter how wall to wall the press coverage, fervent the protesters, and patient the politicians, Gaza in particular continues to present a seemingly intractable problem. Rafael Holmberg - marshalling an eclectic mix of Vietnam War history, a Foucauldian deconstruction of Greek sexuality's oddities, and a probing socio-theoretical analysis of the figures purportedly attempting to fix Gaza - believes he can explain why generations of practical solutions have ended up being anything but solutions or indeed practical. He charges the policymakers, academics, and journalists of the world with a complex myopia which, created by an overfocus on practicality, leaves them blind to the sort of discourse and arguments which actually comprise and produce practical solutions. Ultimately, Holmberg's singularly demystifying inversion of the Gaza problem leaves both author and reader wondering whether this paralysis of action through over-practicality is entirely accidental. #Israel #Palestine #Gaza #IDF #Hamas #Geopolitics #InternationalRelations https://lnkd.in/e4DxB76u

All across Europe the far-right wave has surged, flooding the continent's political systems and coursing through her veins like raw alcohol - cleansing to some, corroding to others. European political elites' responses have been mixed, with some rising to the challenge as in Spain, some floundering as in Italy, and some tearing themselves asunder in the process as France's grand old Gaulliste party has done. Andrés De Miguel deplores the inadequacy of the old continent's response to an old evil, and cogently puts forth an alternative found in East London's political history. Drawing on New Labour's remarkable late 2000s fightback against the British National Party, De Miguel constructs a model for breaking the far-right wave across Europe. De Miguel presents a local reconnection strategy whose efficiency, adaptability, and simplicity make it a must-read for any opponent of the far-right. #UnitedKingdom #Farright #Europe #AltRight #BNP https://lnkd.in/egk2VtXm

The Labour government is considering cracking down on outdoor smoking by, amongst other things, banning smoking at pubs. Reducing preventable deaths and the burden on the NHS are touted as commanding reasons for doing so. Will Kingston-Cox finds this latest sin tax guilty of political, economic, and social sins itself. Channelling Daniel Sillett’s usual polemical Friday fervour, Kingston-Cox lays bare the economic incoherence and mindlessly nanny state instincts of this Labour regime. The Starmer that emerges from Kingston-Cox’s vivisection is one slavishly devoted to the bean counting proposals put in front of him, and entirely disconnected from the everyday pleasures that help many get up in the morning and smile going to bed. #Labour #Starmer #UnitedKingdom #smoking #economics #tax https://lnkd.in/ekpXw6VZ