Tag: geopolitics


  • Mahdi Ghodsi – Iran on the Streets: Economic Collapse and the Fight for Change

    Across Iran, a powerful wave of anti-government protests is making headlines. Driven by soaring prices, a collapsing currency, lack of social freedom, and deep political frustration, people are taking to the streets in record numbers. While some see this as the beginning of the end for the current regime, the state has met the movement…

  • denkfabrik talk with Mahdi Ghodsi

    Across Iran, a powerful wave of anti-government protests is making headlines. Driven by soaring prices, a collapsing currency, lack of social freedom, and deep political frustration, people are taking to the streets in record numbers. While some see this as the beginning of the end for the current regime, the state has met the movement…

  • Alexander Mitrofanenko – Scorched Earth: Uncovering the war’s environmental toll in Ukraine

    Armed conflict is inherently destructive. Beyond the immediate human suffering, war leaves behind a toxic legacy: it devastates ecosystems, endangers human health, and threatens long-term recovery. What does international experience tell us on the lasting impact of war on environment and what can Ukraine learn from it to overcome it? To get the answers, we…

  • denkfabrik talk with Tamara Kusimova

    Traditionally, many saw the rise of a stable middle class as a key to political democratization—and Russia was no exception. Yet just a decade after the onset of civil protests of 2011-2013, many of the well-educated, urban professionals were within the ranks of Putin’s authoritarian state machine. What has become of those on whom so…

  • Milana Bagdasarian – From Moscow’s Grip to Washington’s Embrace: Armenia’s Internal Transformation and its Turn to the West

    After years of dependence on Russia as its main security guarantor, Armenia is entering a new and uncertain chapter. The peace deal with Azerbaijan has reopened old wounds while forcing the country to rethink its alliances. For many Armenians, the idea of looking West is no longer abstract but a matter of survival and political…

  • denkfabrik talk with Adam Pontius

    In 2010, the Republican Party in the US stood for free markets, constitutional governance, and the transatlantic alliance. A decade later, it had changed beyond recognition following Trump’s rise to power. How did the Republican Party transform from a mainstream political force into a personalized movement centered around Donald Trump? To guide us through this…

  • denkfabrik talk with Milana Bagdasarian

    After years of dependence on Russia as its main security guarantor, Armenia is entering a new and uncertain chapter. The peace deal with Azerbaijan has reopened old wounds while forcing the country to rethink its alliances. For many Armenians, the idea of looking West is no longer abstract but a matter of survival and political…

  • Branimir Jovanović – Strings Attached: How Big Powers Use Finance to Court the Western Balkans

    In recent years, the Western Balkans have found themselves caught at the center of a geoeconomic rivalry. The EU, China, Russia, and the United States all use their financial power to advance in the region by giving loans, grants, and buying strategic assets. What do these financial flows reveal about the economic game of influence…

  • Olga Malashkina – Occupied but Empowered? How the Soviets tried to Redefine Women in Austrian Politics

    April 1945. Europe, covered in blood and rubble, tries to rebuild itself. Among them Austria – a divided nation, occupied by the Allies. With the country trying to reestablish a republic, women’s votes suddenly become important for political parties. So much that the Soviet Union tried to exploit the feminist agenda to gain influence. How…

  • denkfabrik talk with Branimir Jovanović

    In recent years, the Western Balkans have found themselves at the center of a strategic contest between the EU, China, Russia, and the US. Much of that contest happens behind the closed doors through grants, loans, and investment funding. What do financial flows reveal about the economic game of influence played by the Great Powers?…